He was also a memoirist who wrote with honesty and humor about the remarkable and strange encounters and experiences that shaped him (Uncle Tungsten, On the Move, Gratitude). Sacks, an Oxford-educated polymath, had a deep familiarity not only with literature and medicine but with botany, animal anatomy, chemistry, the history of science, philosophy, and psychology. The River of Consciousness is one of two books Sacks was working on up to his death, and it reveals his ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless project to understand what makes us human.

    Harding provides a wealth of information about the worship of the Goddess Kali. This book gives an intimate and detailed description of Kolkata's famous Dakshineswar temple and Ma Bhavatarini, the form of Kali worshipped there. Learn about the temple's festivals & daily rituals, and discover inspiring accounts of some of this traditions ecstatic saints. A great introduction to Kali worship.

    And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is towards happiness." How to get there has always been the question. He's tried to answer it before, but he's never had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we can easily understand. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.

    Amit Ray, presents a holistic, integrated, lifestyle oriented approach of meditation. With penetrating insights and wisdom, Ray reveals an integrated framework of meditation for living a happy and meaningful life. The book explains the bigger pictures of meditation as well as step-by-step techniques of meditation. By presenting the key meditation concepts clearly Dr. Ray enables readers to walk into the higher levels of meditation. Written in clear and concise language, and beautifully illustrated, the book is enjoyable to read and easy to practice. As you practice these meditations, a long lasting sense of well-being, manifests in your life. You may notice a sense of joyfulness entering your life along with an ability to appreciate the many gifts that surround you. This book will help both the beginners as well as the advanced practitioners of meditation.

    Like the songlines that bring sacred aboriginal paths to life, Goldstein’s evocative words bring the concept of metta, or loving kindness, to life for Western readers. Grounded in the basic trainings of body, speech, and mind, this mini-retreat is illuminated by the kind of humor and personal insights that inspire even seasoned travelers, while pithy practice guidelines keep the journey on track.

     Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview?In short chapters filled with intriguing historical anecdotes, personal asides, and rigorous exposition, readers learn the difference between how the world works at the quantum level, the cosmic level, and the human level--and then how each connects to the other.  Carroll's presentation of the principles that have guided the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is dazzlingly unique.Carroll shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. Our lives are dwarfed like never before by the immensity of space and time, but they are redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning.The Big Picture is an unprecedented scientific worldview, a tour de force that will sit on shelves alongside the works of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Daniel Dennett, and E. O. Wilson for years to come.

    Each entry explores a mind-body theme such as balance, strength, and resilience in a short, illuminating paragraph that can be enjoyed in the morning or at bedtime, incorporated into a yoga session, or read on the go. Featuring a serenely beautiful hardcover and a spacious, color-washed interior, the package is as calming in the hand as the readings are to the eye. Yogis will find it to be a motivating tool for personal growth and a lighthearted, gift-worthy way to share the joys of their practice with others.

    . . that can liberate our lives with meaning, connection, and clarity. What a beautiful book!” —Daniel J. Siegel, MD, author of Aware   What if you could open into a natural flow of wisdom, compassion, and joy in any moment? According to renowned meditation teacher Loch Kelly, this possibility is closer than you think. Whether you’re an experienced meditator or are new to mindfulness practice, The Way of Effortless Mindfulness offers a new and effective approach to awakening and healing.   Loch teaches “effortless mindfulness,” an advanced yet simple form of mindfulness that can liberate the deepest levels of suffering. Effortless mindfulness immediately introduces you to your awake, loving nature. By making a small initial effort of “unhooking” awareness from chattering thoughts, you can begin the journey home.   Here you will learn: How to shift out of thought and into your awake, loving nature The different approaches of effortless mindfulness and deliberate mindfulness Unique methods to liberate difficult mental and emotional states Mindful glimpses (micro-meditations) that can be done at any time with eyes open A contemporary version of ancient methods to navigate your consciousness Effective practices drawn from ancient wisdom, contemporary neuroscience, and psychotherapy How to make the "you-turn" from small self to no-self to true Self The Five Foundations of Effortless Mindfulness How to learn to return and train to remain in an awake, compassionate flow How to avoid the pitfalls to embodying awakening   This reader-friendly guide is filled with innovative practices designed to give you small glimpses of your awake, loving nature. The Way of Effortless Mindfulness shows that awakening is not only possible, but is also available in the midst of your daily life.

    How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman grapples with these questions and more over the course of this eye-opening work.Ever since Homo sapiens has walked the earth, natural selection has favored perception that hides the truth and guides us toward useful action, shaping our senses to keep us alive and reproducing. We observe a speeding car and do not walk in front of it; we see mold growing on bread and do not eat it. These impressions, though, are not objective reality. Just like a file icon on a desktop screen is a useful symbol rather than a genuine representation of what a computer file looks like, the objects we see every day are merely icons, allowing us to navigate the world safely and with ease.The real-world implications for this discovery are huge. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see.

    “3:15 A.M. Wake Up. 3:20 300 Bows. 4:00 Ma. 4:15 Sitting. 4:45 Walking.” And so it goes, for 100 days. Dobisz, inspired by her Korean Zen master’s discipline of long, solitary retreats, has decided to embark on a retreat of her own. The unfolding story of her experience is related here. The suburban-raised Dobisz weaves amusing anecdotes about learning to live a Walden-like existence — water comes from a well, wood needs to be chopped — with Zen teachings and striking insights into the miracles and foibles of the human mind when there’s nothing on hand to distract it. Entertaining and inspiring, the book is a joyous testament to the benefits that solitude and reflection can bring to all.

    We are looking for a personal breakthrough, a turning point, a revelation that brings with it new meaning. The Book of Secrets--a crystalline distillation of insights and wisdom accumulated over the lifetime of one of the great spiritual thinkers of our time--provides an exquisite new tool for achieving just that.Every life is a book of secrets, ready to be opened. The secret of perfect love is found there, along with the secrets of healing, compassion, faith, and the most elusive one of all: who we really are. We are still mysteries to ourselves, despite the proximity of these answers, and what we most long to know remains lodged deep inside. Because answers to the questions at the center of life are counterintuitive, they are often hidden from view, sequestered from our everyday gaze. In his ongoing quest to elevate our experience, bestselling author Deepak Chopra has isolated fifteen secrets that drive the narrative of this inspiring book--and of our lives. From "The World Is in You" and "What You Seek, You Already Are" to "Evil Is Not Your Enemy" and "You Are Truly Free When You Are Not a Person," The Book of Secrets is rich with insights, a priceless treasure that can transport us beyond change to transformation, and from there to a sacred place where we can savor the nectar of enlightenment. "The Book of Secrets is the finest and most profound of Deepak Chopra’s books to date. Want the answers to the secrets of life? Let me recommend that you start right here." -- Ken Wilber, author of A Brief History of EverythingFrom the Hardcover edition.

    Lorin brings us his unique perspective on each of 112 Sanskrit teachings, along with his one-of-a-kind guidance in how to meditate with, embody, and practice them—what he describes as "answering the call of the sutras you love."

    In-depth answers to the most frequently asked questions about life and death, from the author of Embraced by the Light.

    Hawkins details how anyone may resolve the most crucial of all human dilemmas: how to instantly determine the truth or falsehood of any statement or supposed fact. Dr. Hawkins, who worked as a "healing psychiatrist" during his long and distinguished career, uses theoretical concepts from particle physics, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory to support his study of human behavior. This is a fascinating work that will intrigue readers from all walks of life!

    Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives—and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.Waking Up is part seeker’s memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris—a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic—could write it.