Book picks similar to
A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles by M.J. Ryan
spirituality
poetry
non-fiction
reference
The Way of the Bodhisattva
Śāntideva
Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the bodhisattvas--those beings who renounce the peace of an individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings, and to attain enlightenment for their sake. The text is beloved by Buddhists of all traditions.Originally written in India in Sanskrit, the text first appeared in Tibetan translation in the eighth century. The fact that it has been expounded, studied, and practiced in Tibet in an unbroken tradition lends the Tibetan version of the Bodhicharyavatara a particular authority. The present version has therefore been translated from the Tibetan, following a commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden, renowned for its thoroughness, clarity, and accessibility.
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
Richard J. Foster - 1978
Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found.Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to God.Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities—and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.
A Recipe For Dreaming
Bryce Courtenay - 1992
Illuminating these musings are the superb visual poems of Anie Williams.
The Yoga Mind: 52 Essential Principles of Yoga Philosophy to Deepen Your Practice
Rina Jakubowicz - 2018
In The Yoga Mind, internationally renowned yoga expert Rina Jakubowicz takes a simple, accessible approach to the complex origins of yoga philosophy. With clear, thoughtful guidance, The Yoga Mind offers everything you need to deepen your yoga practice and discover a meaningful way of life.Your complete resource for bringing yoga philosophy off the mat and into your life, The Yoga Mind includes:
Clear explanations of core yoga principles that turn complex theories into memorable lessons
Guided meditations and simple exercises that offer clear, tangible instruction for practicing each principle in your daily life
A structured approach to vital yoga themes that brings clarity to crucial, but rarely understood, concepts
Whether you read The Yoga Mind cover to cover or skip to a certain topic, you’ll find simple actions to incorporate the principles of yoga into a yoga practice that is meaningful to you.
Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 3: Prayers for Daily Practice
Kelsang Gyatso - 2011
The author says: “Through reading and practicing the instructions given in this book, people can solve their daily problems and maintain a happy mind all the time.” So that these benefits can pervade the whole world, Geshe Kelsang wishes to give this eBook freely to everyone.We would like to request you to please respect this precious Dharma book, which functions to free living beings from suffering permanently. If you continually read and practice the advice in this book, eventually your problems caused by anger, attachment and ignorance will cease.Volume 3 Prayers for Daily Practice presents a collection of prayers for our daily practice of Sutra and Tantra, including Liberating Prayer, Prayers for Meditation, The Yoga of Buddha Heruka and Avalokiteshvara Sadhana. A Glossary, Bibliography and contact information is also provided. Through practising these prayers regularly we can develop and maintain compassion and wisdom in our daily life, and swiftly fulfil our human potential.Please enjoy this special gift from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, who dedicates: “May everyone who reads this book experience deep peace of mind, and accomplish the real meaning of human life.”With best wishes,Manuel Rivero-De Martine Tharpa Publications, UK Tharpa DirectorAbout the AuthorGeshe Kelsang Gyatso was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Tibet at the age of eight. He is a fully accomplished meditation master and internationally renowned teacher of Buddhism. Living in the West since 1977, he is the author of 21 highly acclaimed books that reveal the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment, including Buddha’s Sutra and Tantra teachings. He has also founded over 1,100 Kadampa Meditation Centers and groups around the world.Library Journal ReviewGeshe Kelsang Gyatso “is a prolific and respected author,” according to Library Journal, and in Modern Buddhism, “he again presents the thought of the Buddha in an especially accessible manner.” Library Journal calls Gyatso’s 21st book “elegantly stated” and “a delight.”
The Dalai Lama's Cat
David Michie - 2012
Why should His Holiness not have a cat?‘If only she could speak,’ continued the actress. ‘I’m sure she’d have such wisdom to share.’And so the seed was planted . . . I began to think that perhaps the time had come for me to write a book of my own—a book that would convey some of the wisdom I’ve learned sitting not at the feet of the Dalai Lama but even closer, on his lap. A book that would tell my own tale . . . how I was rescued from a fate too grisly to contemplate to become the constant companion of a man who is not only one of the world’s greatest spiritual leaders and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate but also a dab hand with a can opener.” Starving and pitiful, a mud-smeared kitten is rescued from the slums of New Delhi and transported to a life she could have never imagined. In a beautiful sanctuary overlooking the snow-capped Himalayas, she begins her new life as the Dalai Lama’s cat.Warmhearted, irreverent, and wise, this cat of many names opens a window to the inner sanctum of life in Dharamsala. A tiny spy observing the constant flow of private meetings between His Holiness and everyone from Hollywood celebrities to philanthropists to self-help authors, the Dalai Lama’s cat provides us with insights on how to find happiness and meaning in a busy, materialistic world. Her story will put a smile on the face of anyone who has been blessed by the kneading paws and bountiful purring of a cat.
Light on Life
B.K.S. Iyengar - 2005
Iyengar--hailed as "the Michelangelo of yoga" (BBC) and considered by many to be the most important living yoga master--has spent much of his life introducing the modern world to the ancient practice of yoga. Yoga's popularity is soaring, but its widespread acceptance as an exercise for physical fitness and the recognition of its health benefits have not been matched by an understanding of the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development that the yogic tradition can also offer. In Light on Life, B.K.S. Iyengar brings readers this new and more complete understanding of the yogic journey. Written with the depth of this sage's great wisdom, Light on Life is the culmination of a master's spiritual genius, a treasured companion to his seminal Light on Yoga.
Journey to the Heart: Daily Meditations on the Path to Freeing Your Soul
Melody Beattie - 1996
Journey to the Heart will comfort and inspire us all as we begin to discover our true purpose in the world and learn to connect even more deeply with ourselves, the creative force, and the magic and mystery in the world around and within us.
Power vs. Force
David R. Hawkins - 1985
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!
The Good Book: A Humanist Bible
A.C. Grayling - 2011
Consciously following the design and presentation of the Bible, in the beauty of its language and its arrangement into short chapters and verses, acclaimed philosopher Anthony Grayling has crafted an epic stimulating narrative that ultimately reveals how life--a good life--should be lived.Inspired by the thinking of Herodotus and Cicero, Confucious and Mencius, Montaigne, Bacon and so many others, Grayling has distilled the work of hundreds of authors and more than one thousand texts using the same techniques of editing, redaction, and adaptation that produced the holy books of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions. Their wit and yearnings, love and consolations are shaped into fourteen constituent parts that recall the Bible in structure--Genesis, Wisdom, Parables, Concord, Lamentations, Consolations, Sages, Songs, Histories, Proverbs, The Lawgiver, Acts, Epistles, and The Good. Opening with meditations on the origin and progress of the world and human life within it, Grayling then focuses on the questions of how life should be lived, how we relate to one another, and how vicissitudes are to be faced and joys appreciated.For a secular age in which many find that religion no longer speaks to them, The Good Book is a literary tour de force--a book of life and practice invoking the greatest minds of the past in the perennial challenge of being human.
Love It Forward
Jeff Brown - 2013
Building on the success of his first collection, Ascending with Both Feet on the Ground, Brown has put together another wondrous book, this time including many of his most profound love and relationship quotes with the reader. With a writing style that is unforgettably unique, he reminds us of the magnificent life that awaits us. And with grounded wisdoms that enhearten and elevate, he reminds us that we are never alone in this beautifully relational human dance. We become the love we have received, and we love it forward to those we touch.In an era when readers often have little time to read entire books, this brilliantly hearticulated collection of wisdoms will immediately engage your interest. And, as an added bonus, he has included some of his most inspiring blogs in the collection, including ‘You are Sacred Purpose’, ‘Apologies to my (sweet) body’, and some of the poignant inspirations he wrote for ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’. Love It Forward is a fantastic gift book and the perfect companion for anyone seeking support on their quest for a more authentic and meaningful life.EARLY PRAISE FOR LOVE IT FORWARD… “Love It Forward offers readers delicious wisdom and uplifting insights about everyday life and what really matters, like love, for instance. This book is delightful.”—CAROLINE MYSS, Author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Sacred Contracts ***“An exciting, vibrant, juicy, challenging book by one of our bravest and most illumined writers, a Lion in the making.”—ANDREW HARVEY, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism ***
Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life
Judith Hanson Lasater - 1999
In Living Your Yoga, Judith Lasater stretches the meaning of yoga beyond its familiar poses and breathing techniques to include the events of daily life—all of them—as practice. Using the time-honored wisdom of the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita to steer the course, the author serves up off-the-mat practices to guide you in deepening your relationships with yourself, your family and friends, and the world around you. Inspiring and practical, she blends her heartfelt knowledge of an ancient tradition with her life experiences as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, and yoga practitioner and teacher. The result is a new yoga that beckons you to find the spiritual in everyday life.
Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives
Wayne Muller - 1999
Constantly striving, we feel exhausted and deprived in the midst of great abundance. We long for time with friends and family, we long for a moment to ourselves. Millennia ago, the tradition of Sabbath created an oasis of sacred time within a life of unceasing labor. Now, in a book that can heal our harried lives, Wayne Muller, author of the spiritual classic How, Then, Shall We Live?, shows us how to create a special time of rest, delight, and renewal--a refuge for our souls. We need not even schedule an entire day each week. Sabbath time can be a Sabbath afternoon, a Sabbath hour, a Sabbath walk. With wonderful stories, poems, and suggestions for practice, Muller teaches us how we can use this time of sacred rest to refresh our bodies and minds, restore our creativity, and regain our birthright of inner happiness.
The Best Question Ever
Andy Stanley - 2004
We all have regrets. Yet none of us plans to mess up our lives. Why, then, does it keep happening? Life doesn’t have to be that way. You can fool-proof your life…as this book shows. God’s promise and pattern is for something better. In The Best Question Ever, Andy Stanley effectively teaches the practical and lasting value of simply asking this question about our actions in all of life’s arenas: What is the wise thing for me to do, in light of my past experience, my present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams? This book probes for honesty —it pushes us to open our eyes to reality and helps us expose the little (and big) self-deceptions we have.Prepare yourself. You are about to be introduced to a single question that will revolutionize the way you make decisions. Over the past twenty years, speaker and author Andy Stanley has shared the power of this question with thousands of students and adults all over the country. In this ground-breaking new book, Andy provides you with a filter through which to evaluate every decision in every arena of your life. As you are about to discover, the Best Question Ever will bring clarity to decisions involving your finances, your love life, your schedule, even your career. People everywhere agree that their greatest regret could have been avoided had they asked the Best Question Ever and then acted on their conclusions. A time-tested truth that has immediate application, the Best Question Ever has the power to change the trajectory of your entire life. Story Behind the BookAfter continually making decisions that were short-sighted and hasty, Andy Stanley sought counsel. In Ephesians 5:15 he read, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.” It was there that Andy discovered what he considers to be The Best Question Ever.
The Greatest Miracle in the World
Og Mandino - 1975
A great inspirational writer tells his story - a narrative that will hold you spellbound as it reveals exciting new secrets for your personal happiness and success.