For it is close attention to each of these qualities that unlocks our deepest patterns of conditioning—and removes our greatest obstacles to liberation.From the crucial distinction between "worldly" and "unworldly" feelings to practical methods for "de-conditioning" habitual responses, Goldstein elucidates the Buddha's instructions for achieving a deeper happiness and ease of being through moment-by-moment mindfulness of feelings.The Third and Fourth Foundations of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind, Mindfulness of DhammasAs you continue your exploration of the Satipat­t­hana Sutta, Goldstein brings you to the third and fourth foundations of mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind and Mindfulness of Dhammas (or "categories of phenomena"). Here, you will learn what it means to "take responsibility for your own heart and mind"—the central art of the third foundation—through the pragmatic discernment of skillful and wholesome mind states and their counterparts, and direct investigation of the higher states of mind, including "concentrated" and "liberated" mind, and more. Next, you progress through the beginning sections of the fourth foundation, with Goldstein's step-by-step guidance about working with the hindrances and the aggregates. Includes 35-page study guide.Note: Abiding in Mindfulness, Volume 3, will contain remaining talks about the fourth foundation.The author's proceeds from this program will benefit the Insight Meditation Society's Forest Refuge retreat center.Course objectives:Discuss the second foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the feelings, including worldly and unworldly feelings• Discuss the third foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the mind, including a discussion of self-judgment, as well as the contracted and distracted mind• Explore the refrain of the Sutta: including the mindfulness of reactivity, the mindfulness of arising and passing away, as well as the mindfulness of internal and external experience• Discuss the fourth foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the Dhammas, including mindfulness of the five hindrances (desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and doubt)• Explore the five aggregates, including material elements, feeling, perception and formations, formations and consciousness, as well as non-self

    The text describes the Four Foundation Practices that all practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism must complete. The nature of impermanence, the effects of karma, the development of an enlightened attitude, and devotion to the guru are among the subjects treated in this book. Three eminent contemporary Tibetan Buddhist masters—Kalu Rinpoche, Deshung Rinpoche, and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche—explain the significance of The Torch of Certainty for modern-day students and practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.

    These captivating stories, legends and yarns — passed orally from teacher to student — capture the vibrant wisdom of an ancient and still-living oral tradition. Magical, whimsical, witty and ribald, The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane unfolds a luminous vision of a universe where basic goodness, harmony, and hope prevails.

    When she subsequently lost a child to SIDS, she found courage again in female Buddhist role models, and discovered a way to transform her pain into a path forward. Through Lama Tsultrim’s story of loss and spiritual seeking, paired with her many years of expertise in mandala meditation, you will learn how to strengthen yourself by following this experiential journey to Tantric Buddhist practice. The mandala was developed as a tool for spiritual transformation, and as you harness its power, it can serve as a guide to wholeness. With knowledge of the mandala of the five dakinis (female Buddhist deities who embody wisdom), you’ll understand how to embrace the distinct energies of your own nature. In Wisdom Rising, Lama Tsultrim shares from a deep trove of personal experiences as well as decades of sacred knowledge to invite you to explore an ancient yet accessible path to the ability to shift your emotional challenges into empowerment. Her unique perspective on female strength and enlightenment will guide you as you restore your inner spirit, leading you toward the change you aspire to create in the world.

    When a Tibetan lama and a monk come to their home unexpectedly, asking to take their child away for a life of spiritual training in India, the parents must make a life-altering choice that will test their strength, their marriage, and their hearts.The Oldest Boy is a richly emotional journey filled with music, dance, puppetry, ritual, and laughter—Sarah Ruhl at her imaginative best. A meditation on attachment and unconditional love, the play asks us to believe in a world in which sometimes the youngest children are also the oldest and wisest teachers.

    Growing up American with a Tibetan twist, Sakyong Mipham talks to Westerners as no one can: in idiomatic English with stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers. Turning the Mind Into an Ally makes it possible for anyone to achieve peace and clarity in their lives.

    This work will appeal to readers with a general interest in Mahayana Buddhism, to those who wish to familiarize themselves with one of the great classics of Indian Buddhist literature, and to students who come across passages quoted in other Buddhist works and who wish to explore further. The great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna (first–second century A.D.) wrote his celebrated poem "Letter to a Friend" as a gift of advice to a South Indian king, and it has since become a monument in the Indian shastra tradition. Despite its short length (only 123 verses), it covers the whole Mahayana path, combining a practical approach to daily conduct with a theoretical exposition of the different stages leading to enlightenment. It has thus been an ideal source for many of Tibet 's great scholars seeking a scriptural authority to enhance their own descriptions of the Buddhist path. Any difficulties in understanding the poem are overcome by Kangyur Rinpoche's commentary, which turns Nagarjuna's sometimes cryptic poem into straightforward prose, expanding on each topic and ordering the different subjects in such a way that on returning to the original poem, the reader can easily make sense of the advice it contains. It includes headings to explain Nagarjuna's frequent changes in subject and full explanations of the ideas introduced in each verse. In addition to the commentary, this book presents the original poem in the Tibetan and in a new English translation that attempts to emulate Nagarjuna's lines of metric verse. Also included are Kangyur Rinpoche's structural outline (sa bchad), a Tibetan line index to enable students to locate quotations used in other Tibetan works, full notes, and a glossary.

    He examines the nature of Awakening and what it means to work toward it—helping us see, in the words of one chapter title, “Some of What Zen Practice Is, and a Little of What It Isn’t”; he offers a wise perspective on the nature of spiritual directors and enormously helpful counsel on “What to Look for When Looking for a Teacher”; and give us a seasoned look at the core practices of Zen (shikantaza and koan study) within the key principles of not knowing and “sitting down, shutting up, and paying attention.”This book explores the always fascinating issues of karma and rebirth from the deconstructing perspective of Zen—in a way that will find resonance with both conservatives and the vast audience of Stephen Batchelor’s Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist.And perhaps most significantly, the last section of the book takes a fresh and nuanced look at the Buddhist Ethical Precepts—which Ford frames as “Seven Suggestions.” There are comparatively few books on this topic, and this one will find wide audience both within the Zen world and beyond.

    Whether we have just begun our journey or are a practitioner with more experience, What is the Dharma? is an indispensable exploration of the Buddha's teachings as found in the main Buddhist traditions. Constantly returning to the question 'How can this help me?' Sangharakshita examines a variety of fundamental principles, including: karma and re-birth, nirvana and shunyata,conditioned co-production, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and insubstantiality, ethics, meditation, and wisdom. The result is a refreshing, unsettling, and inspiring book that lays before us the essential Dharma, timeless and universal.

    Shor tracks down the surviving members of this visionary expedition and entwines their remarkable stories of faith and adventure with his own quest to discover the reality of this land known as Beyul. What emerges is a breathtaking story alive with possibility, bringing the reader as close to the Hidden Land as a book possibly can. As the astounding account unfolds, the reader is sure to repeat the question constantly raised by the author in his interviews: And then what happened?A Step Away From Paradise tells the story of Lama Tulshuk Lingpa’s life and his unlikely expedition to a land beyond cares while reflecting on what this means for the rest of us. It draws on both research and extensive interviews with the surviving members of this extraordinary expedition. The book is richly illustrated with portraits of those who went with Tulshuk Lingpa and the places he traveled to. The book also delves into the tradition within Tibetan Buddhism of Shambhala and the hidden valleys, which mirror legends around the world of utopias and lands of milk and honey, thus showing that the quest for the hidden land is a universal urge of humanity.WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER Thomas K. Shor was born in Boston, USA, and studied comparative religion and literature in Vermont. With an ear for unusual stories, the fortune to attract them and an eye for detail, he has travelled the planet’s mountainous realms—from the Mayan Highlands of southern Mexico in the midst of insurrection to the mountains of Greece and, more recently to the Indian Himalayas—to collect, illustrate and write stories, with a uniquely personal character often having the flavor of fable.Shor has lectured widely on his writings and has had solo exhibits of his photographs in Europe and in India. He is the author of Windblown Clouds and can often be found in the most obscure locales, immersed in a compelling story touching upon fundamental human themes.The author’s website is www.ThomasShor.com

    Loy addresses head-on the most pressing issues of Buddhist philosophy in our time. What is the meaning of enlightenment--is it an escape from the world, or is it a form of psychological healing? How can one reconcile modern scientific theory with ancient religious teachings? What is our role in the universe? Loy shows us that neither Buddhism nor secular society by itself is sufficient to answer these questions. Instead, he investigates the unexpected intersections of the two. Through this exchange, he uncovers a new Buddhist way, one that is faithful to the important traditions of Buddhism but compatible with modernity. This way, we can see the world as it is truly is, realize our indivisibility from it, and learn that the world's problems are our problems. This is a new path for a new world.

    The authors describe the techniques and their results, based on their own experience.

    Many people understand that prior to his realization, Shakyamuni Buddha studied with many of the great yogis of his time, but most do not know what method he ultimately found leads most directly to nirvana. In Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's book, Mindfulness With Breathing, the Thai meditation master provides practitioners with penetrating insights into the Anapanasati Sutta, the canonical text which many believe is the most direct transmission of Shakyamuni Buddha's breath meditation methods. Combined with a concise translation of the sutta itself, Mindfulness with Breathing is one of the best guides to Buddhist meditation practice available in the English language.

    Gathered together by Wu-men (Mumon), a thirteenth-century master of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) school, it is composed of forty-eight koans, or cases, each accompanied by a brief comment and poem by Wu-men.Robert Aitken, one of the premier American Zen masters, has translated Wu-men's text, supplementing the original with his own commentary -- the first such commentary by a Western master -- making the profound truths of Zen Buddhism accessible to serious contemporary students and relevant to current social concerns.

    He discusses the base path and fruit of Dzogchen practice, and describes his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of direct introduction to Dzogchen. By interweaving his life story with the teachings, he both sets Dzogchen in its traditional context and reveals its powerful contemporary relevance. The book is richly illustrated with photos of Buddhist masters, meditational deities, and Dzogchen symbols.