Twenty-seven years ago, his son, Matthieu Ricard, gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism -- not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters.Meeting in an inn overlooking Katmandu, these two profoundly thoughtful men explored the questions that have occupied humankind throughout its history. Does life have meaning? What is consciousness? Is man free? What is the value of scientific and material progress? Why is there suffering, war, and hatred? Their conversation is not merely abstract: they ask each other questions about ethics, rights, and responsibilities, about knowledge and belief, and they discuss frankly the differences in the way each has tried to make sense of his life.Utterly absorbing, inspiring, and accessible, this remarkable dialogue engages East with West, ideas with life, and science with the humanities, providing wisdom on how to enrich the way we live our lives.

    In this compact, thorough guide, you’ll learn all about the fascinating history of the chakras, and how their natural powers can bring balance and harmony to your life. The various chakras explored in this guide include: The Root The Navel Center The Heart The Thymus The Throat The Third Eye The Crown For thousands of years, the Hindus have documented the various energy points located throughout the body. These psychic force fields, known as the seven chakras, emanate energy from within, and by unlocking their power one can reap the benefits of a healthier mind and balanced life. Here’s what to expect in the Beginner’s guide: What the chakras are and how they work The locations of the chakras and their various uses Steps and strategies on how to awaken your chakras Balancing the chakras How to heal damaged chakras Applying these strategies to enhance your life And much, much more! Tackle suffering, illness, and emotional stagnation at its source by unlocking the power from within. Accept positive energy back into your life by balancing and activating your chakras. The benefits of a reinvigorated aura are endless—all it takes is a little introspection. If you’re ready to reap the benefits of balance, clarity, and inner strength, then look no further than this wonderful introductory guide to the fascinating and illuminating world of the chakras. Scroll up and Click the "Buy now with 1-Click" button to get Chakras for Beginners: How to Awaken And Balance Chakras, Radiate Positive Energy And Heal Yourself and begin your journey to a better life today!

    The Practice of Saying No will appeal to anyone seeking more meaning and spirituality in their everyday lives. Barbara Brown Taylor, acclaimed author of Leaving Church and An Altar in the World (from which this eSelect is taken), writes with the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and the spiritual depth of Anne Lamott (Grace, Eventually) and reveals how to encounter the sacred as a natural part of everyday life.

    Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching, or -The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, - is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature. Traditionally attributed to the legendary -Old Master, - Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual. Today, Lao Tzu's words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life. To follow the Tao or Way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity. John C. H. Wu has done a remarkable job of rendering this subtle text into English while retaining the freshness and depth of the original. A jurist and scholar, Dr. Wu was a recognized authority on Taoism and the translator of several Taoist and Zen texts and of Chinese poetry. This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.

    In Part One, we join him on an engaging, often hilarious, and compelling personal journey.... through decades of tasting from a banquet of spiritual approaches. Through his direct experience, fierce exploration, and scintillating discernment, Brown exposes the fragmented, ungrounded and dissociative notions of spirituality that have imprisoned our consciousness and obstructed our awakening since time immemorial. In his cuttingly straight style, he reveals that much of what we have been calling "spirituality" is actually a patriarchal, emotionally bereft construct that perpetuates our self-avoidance. He then proves to us--point by brilliant point--that true spirituality is a whole-being awakening, one that wonderfully embraces our entire human experience. In many spiritual practices, emotional healing processes (blockage clearing, issue resolution, the working through of the shadow) have been bypassed and trivialized, as though the 'real' spiritual realm exists independent of our feelings. Brown makes no distinction between these realms, revealing that emotional maturity and spiritual maturity are synonymous, and that any spirituality that desacralizes our selfhood is not enlightenment at all. It is a bypass of that which is fundamentally human: our feelings, our stories, our bodies, our relationships with each other and the earth that houses us. In his words, "Detachment is a tool- not a life. If you can't find your transformation in the village, you haven't found a thing." In Part Two, Brown engages in a riveting dialogue with an ungrounded seeker named "Michael." Their dialogues unfurl in warmth, humor, playfulness, personal story, threaded with challenging confrontation and cutting truth. Hands-on exercises are dispersed throughout--providing readers with a direct experience of a new, inclusive model. Here the author lays down the tracks for a more balanced, heartfelt and relational spirituality- one that leaves us "enrealed," integrated, and purposeful. Not awakened, but awakening. Not escaping our humanness, but finding our meaning and spirituality deep within it. Out of the ashes of old ways of being, a bright new paradigm comes into view. An inclusive, self-honoring, and healing spiritual perspective that will be a welcomed relief for any seeker.In the author's words, "It's one thing to briefly detach from story in the hopes of gaining a different perspective--it's quite another to deny our storied roots altogether. What will we stand in, then? At a time when our personal stories have been shamed and shunned in the spiritual community, it is all the more imperative to revive them and makes luminous their sacred, transformative properties. The past is not an illusion, as many would suggest. It is the ground of our being, the karmic field for our soul's transformation- the mystery that threads right through our history. Story is where we come from. Story is what roots us in the present. Story is how we arrive at the next place intact. A spirituality without story is like a body without breath. Dead to the world." What we need now are models that lead us back into our hearts, into relatedness, into a deep and reverential regard for the self's journey through time. In this magnificent book, Brown endeavors to hearticulate one such path, reminding us that heaven on earth begins and ends deep within the recesses of our enlivened humanness. At long last, we can lay down our weary heads, burdened by the impossibility of transcending our human experience. Back to our roots, back into our bodies, back into all that makes us marvelously human. Home at last.

    We find everything we need for spiritual growth as we picnic with the children, go to the grocery store, and pick up the morning paper. Denise’s intimate approach invites us to recognize the grace that exists within our own lives. We needn’t pull over and look for enlightenment; the divine is always present, even in the car-pool lane.   Stories of finding wisdom in the everyday   God is in the silence and also in the noise. Spirit is in stillness and also in silliness. The Sacred is in the monastery and also in the minivan. “I don’t know how it is that days filled with children and noise and mess and clutter can seem endless, and then, when the kids are grown, it can seem as if those same days passed ever too quickly. I don’t know how many billions of stars are up in the sky or how suffering can hold the seeds of resurrection. I don’t know how to answer all my children’s questions, or my own. I don’t know how to completely let go. Life keeps inviting me to learn these things, presenting me each and every day with opportunities for growth. And it does seem that when I open my eyes and heart to others, I begin to recognize something that has been there all along. It feels like a presence, a light, a love that is unbounded by time or space or matter. It moves within us and among us, healing us, filling us, calling us to recognize that what we seek is right here in our midst.” —From My Monastery Is a Minivan   “I was thrilled to discover a soul sister in Denise Roy.  This book will be a wonderful companion to any parent, whatever their faith tradition.” —Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, author, Parenting as a Spiritual Journey “This is the kind of book that makes you want to grab all your friends and say, ‘You’ve got to read this!’ This collection of inspirational stories will lift your spirits and soothe your soul. Denise Roy’s minivan wisdom invites you to discover the sacred right smack in the middle of ordinary life.” —Steve and Patt Saso, authors, 10 Best Gifts for Your Teen “The humor and honesty of Denise Roy’s writing pulled me in right away. If you are not a saint but an ordinary man or woman hoping to live the joys and trials of daily life with your eyes and your heart wide open to the sacred, this is a book for you.” —Oriah Mountain Dreamer, author, The Invitation and The Dance “Some people can hold up a lens to life that reveals the depth and beauty all around us. Denise Roy is that kind of person, and spending time reading the stories that fill her book is like spending time with a wise friend who brightens your life.” —Tom McGrath, family-life editor, U.S. Catholic, author, Raising Faith-Filled Kids

    This book is a powerful and enriching synthesis of the 12-Step recovery programs and the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. It is sure to appeal to anyone touched by addiction, including those looking for new ways to understand and work with the tried-and-true 12-Step system. Tens of millions of Americans suffer from alcoholism and other forms of dependence, and 12 Steps on Buddha's Path offers hope and help for any one of them.Though writing anonymously out of deep respect for 12-Step policies, the author is in fact a well-known professional author, deeply involved in the recovery and meditation communities.

    But for Catholics, who were already struggling with the abuse crisis and a dramatic rise in disaffiliation, this trial is not only economic, social, or medical; it is spiritual. Plunged into a time of darkness and separated from the sacraments and their parish communities, the faithful are feeling isolated, disheartened, and uncertain about what the future holds.This new book from Word on Fire Institute Fellow Dr. Stephen Bullivant is an insightful and encouraging analysis of the coronavirus, shedding light not only on the Church’s present moment or similar crises of the past but also on the immediate future. A former Oxford professor and expert in Catholic disaffiliation, Dr. Bullivant looks at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Church from both the spiritual and secular perspectives, weaving in his own personal reflections as a Catholic convert and a husband and father. It is a unique roadmap for this challenging time, one that will help to bring clarity, focus, and energy to Catholics everywhere.

    One day that possibility became a reality, and it was simple and ordinary, magnificent and revolutionary. It is the open secret that reveals itself in every part of our lives. But realisation does not emerge through our attempts to change our lives, it comes as a direct rediscovery of who it is that lives. "The Open Secret" is a singular and radical work which speaks of the fundamental liberation that is absolutely beyond effort, path, process or belief.

    Blended with contemporary examples and pragmatic "how to" instructions that anyone can try, Focused and Fearless provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and on retreat. Shaila Catherine has a friendly, wise approach to the meditative states (jhanas) that lead to liberating insight. Focused and Fearless is about much more than merely meditation or concentration. It offers a complete path towards bliss, fearlessness, and true awakening.

    But what they deliver is fleeting.Jesus knew about this quest. He came to show us that peace is possible in this life, not just the next one. Yet Christianity, the very religion that claims Jesus as its own, has often built the biggest barriers to him and the life he promised. Celebrated speaker and pastor Shane Hipps revives the faith with a fresh and persuasive understanding of the message of Jesus. The shocking truth is that Jesus proclaimed "eternal life" as a present reality that dwells within each of us. A transformative breakthrough, this book goes beyond "religion" or "spirituality" and cuts to the heart of our humanity and existence. It's about realizing that we already possess what we are searching for, and that the Heaven we long for isn't just a gift when we die, but a gift while we live.

    “Experience the Now” is a lecture delivered by spiritual teacher Sullins Stuart, author of the Amazon Top 100 spiritual best seller "Living in Conscious Harmony: A Spiritual Guide to Being in the Now."Stuart begins by briefly sharing how he met his spiritual teacher, and then addresses two key elements to experiencing the Now: understanding the different levels of consciousness andexplaining tools and techniques you can utilize to raise your level of consciousness and awareness."Experience the Now" is an invaluable resource for anyone desiring to live in the Now.

    Ayya Khema, author of the best-selling Being Nobody, Going Nowhere, uses one of the earliest Buddhist suttas to guide us along the path of the oldest Buddhist meditative practice for understanding the nature of "self." By following the Buddha's explanation with clear, insightful examples from her years of teaching meditation, she guides us back and forth between the relative understanding and higher realizations of the Buddhist concept of "self." Her thoughtful contemplation of the Buddha's radical understanding of "self" and her practical advice for achieving insight offer the reader a profound understanding of the "self." Both beginning and advanced practitioners will greatly benefit from Ayya Khema's warm and down-to-earth exposition of the Buddha's meditation on "self."

    In The Tibetan Book of Meditation, Lama Christie McNally demonstrates that meditation also provides a much greater gift. It awakens our innate potential to shape our reality, to make moments of joy last forever, and to bring us the peace and contentment that we all ultimately seek. Written in an instructional yet intimate style, the author guides readers through a progression of meditations, from the simple concept of compassion to the transformative concept of emptiness. Teaching technique and content at the same time, this book is unique in its comprehensive approach and will find a special place in the hearts of novice and experienced meditators alike. Christie McNally, a renowned master teacher and lecturer who has studied with some of the greatest Indian, Tibetan, and western Buddhist masters, explains the central tenets of Buddhism and reveals how they apply to everyday life. Combining ancient wisdom and contemporary teachings, she leads readers along the path to a richer, fuller life through resonant examples and eye-opening insights.Her engaging tone and fresh approach to the art of meditation will appeal to followers of Pema Chödrön and to readers of Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. This down-to-earth guide to meditation brings the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism to a new generation.

    Yoga is from the Sanskrit root meaning “union,” and a sutra is a thread or aphoristic verse. The basic questions “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” “What is the purpose of life?” are asked by each new generation, and Patanjali’s answers form one of the oldest and most vibrant spiritual texts in the world. He explains what yoga is, how it works, and exactly how to purify the mind and let it settle into absolute stillness. This stillness is our own Self. It is the indispensable ground for Enlightenment, which is the ultimate goal of all our aspirations.Alistair Shearer’s lucid introduction and superb translation, fully preserving Patanjali’s jewel-like style, bring these ancient but vital teachings to those who seek the path of self-knowledge today.Bell Tower’s series, Sacred Teachings, offers essential spiritual classics from all traditions. May each book become a trusted companion on the way of truth, encouraging readers to study the wisdom of the ages and put it into practice each day.