Buddhism Day by Day: Wisdom for Modern Life


Daisaku Ikeda - 2006
    Covering a wide span of topics—from life and death to courage and winning—the practical information and encouragement are ideal for those seeking to find a deeper understanding of this ancient philosophy.

Buddhism for Beginners


Thubten Chodron - 2001
    It will be of much benefit to its readers." —The Dalai LamaThis user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions—beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?”—and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction—as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life. Buddhism for Beginners is an ideal first book on the subject for anyone, but it’s also a wonderful resource for seasoned students, since the question-and-answer format makes it easy to find just the topic you’re looking for, such as:    • What is the goal of the Buddhist path?    • What is karma?    • If all phenomena are empty, does that mean nothing exists?    • How can we deal with fear?    • How do I establish a regular meditation practice?    • What are the qualities I should look for in a teacher?    • What is Buddha-nature?    • Why can't we remember our past lives?

Embodiment. the Manual You Should Have Been Given When You Were Born


Dain Heer - 2006
    It's about functioning with your body from the perspective of beingness. It explores how you, as an infinite being, can experience greatness with your body. What if your body were an ongoing source of joy? This book may go against everything you've ever thought, everything you've been taught and everything you've read; and everything you have brought that everyone else believes. It doesn't claim to give you all the answers. Instead it will encourage you to ask the questions that will allow you to enjoy the body you currently have and to create your body so that you can truly enjoy it.

Silence: In the Age of Noise


Erling Kagge - 2016
    But what really is silence? Where can it be found? And why is it more important now than ever?Erling Kagge, the Norwegian adventurer and polymath, once spent fifty days walking solo in Antarctica with a broken radio. In this meditative, charming and surprisingly powerful book, he explores the power of silence and the importance of shutting out the world. Whether you're in deep wilderness, taking a shower or on the dance floor, you can experience perfect stillness if you know where to look. And from it grows self-knowledge, gratitude, wonder and much more.Take a deep breath, and prepare to submerge yourself in Silence. Your own South Pole is out there, somewhere.

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife


Eben Alexander - 2012
    Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress.Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion—and in essence makes us human—shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back.Alexander’s recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, Alexander journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself.Alexander’s story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition.This story would be remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr. Alexander makes it revolutionary. No scientist or person of faith will be able to ignore it. Reading it will change your life.

Women, Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything


Geneen Roth - 2009
    Now, two decades later, here is her masterwork: WOMEN FOOD AND GOD. The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself.

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder


Arianna Huffington - 2014
    Arianna Huffington's personal wake-up call came in the form of a broken cheekbone and a nasty gash over her eye -- the result of a fall brought on by exhaustion and lack of sleep. As the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group -- one of the fastest growing media companies in the world -- celebrated as one of the world's most influential women, and gracing the covers of magazines, she was, by any traditional measure, extraordinarily successful. Yet as she found herself going from brain MRI to CAT scan to echocardiogram, to find out if there was any underlying medical problem beyond exhaustion, she wondered is this really what success feels like? As more and more people are coming to realize, there is far more to living a truly successful life than just earning a bigger salary and capturing a corner office. Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success -- money and power -- has led to an epidemic of burnout and stress-related illnesses, and an erosion in the quality of our relationships, family life, and, ironically, our careers. In being connected to the world 24/7, we're losing our connection to what truly matters. Our current definition of success is, as Thrive shows, literally killing us. We need a new way forward. In a commencement address Arianna gave at Smith College in the spring of 2013, she likened our drive for money and power to two legs of a three-legged stool. They may hold us up temporarily, but sooner or later we're going to topple over. We need a third leg -- a third metric for defining success -- to truly thrive. That third metric, she writes in Thrive, includes our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving. As Arianna points out, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success. They don't commemorate our long hours in the office, our promotions, or our sterling PowerPoint presentations as we relentlessly raced to climb up the career ladder. They are not about our resumes -- they are about cherished memories, shared adventures, small kindnesses and acts of generosity, lifelong passions, and the things that made us laugh. In this deeply personal book, Arianna talks candidly about her own challenges with managing time and prioritizing the demands of a career and raising two daughters -- of juggling business deadlines and family crises, a harried dance that led to her collapse and to her "aha moment." Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and scientific findings in the fields of psychology, sports, sleep, and physiology that show the profound and transformative effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving, Arianna shows us the way to a revolution in our culture, our thinking, our workplace, and our lives.

How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening Your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy, and Joy


Susan Piver - 2007
      How Not to be Afraid of Your Own Life features the "7-Day Freedom from Fear Meditation Program" a guided journey into discovering what may be holding you back from experiencing life to the fullest.  Using meditation, journaling, and other reflective practices you will find a respite from everyday pressures and learn techniques to help you re-enter your busy life refreshed, renewed, and ready to live the life you were born to. Advance Praise for How Not to be Afraid of Your Own Life "I have long recommended meditation as central to a healthy lifestyle.  Susan Piver teaches this important practice in a trustworthy and practical way - and shows us how to use its lessons to create a fearless life."            -Andrew Weil, M.D., author of Healthy Aging "Susan Piver has worked her magic again. She gives us an everyday approach to Buddhism, so that all of us can benefit from the wisdom of this magnificent philosophy. In this wacky world we all need practices and perspectives that ground us in the here and now. Navigate and swim the river more gracefully with Susan's advice."-Rodney Yee, author of Yoga: The Poetry of the Body "In direct and playful language, Susan Piver's new book translates Buddhist wisdom to show its relevance to daily life."            -Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self "Susan Piver has written a beautiful book about how to overcome fear and be empowered in your life based on her years of Buddhist practice."­-Judith Orloff, MD, author of Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear into Vibrance, Strength, and Love "How we can live a life more awake, present and connected without the impediments of beliefs, ideas, and fears created from past experience?  In simple but startlingly clear language, Piver takes the mystery out of Buddhism, and makes it relevant to our struggles to be happy in the 21st century."            -Mark Hyman, M.D., author of Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss Susan Piver is the author of the bestselling The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do".  She has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, CBS The Early Show, The Today Show and featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time, Modern Bride, O Magazine, and Redbook.  She has trained in Buddhist practice for ten years, is a graduate of Buddhist seminary, and is an authorized meditation teacher.  She is the meditation expert on www.drweil.com and www.healthyageing.com.  She lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.  Visit her website at www.susanpiver.com

Mind Calm


Sandy C. Newbigging - 2014
    With 'Mind Calm' you will learn how to let go of the constant chatter in your mind, gain clarity, perform at your best, worry less, heal faster, sleep better, improve relationships, and feel more calm, confident and content - whenever you want. In this book, Sandy C. Newbigging gives you a masterclass in the mind and how to meditate using his highly effective and enjoyable mind calm meditation.

The Beginner's Guide to Walking the Buddha's Eightfold Path


Jean Smith - 2002
    The eight steps on the path are: right understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Smith explains exactly what the Buddha had in mind, using translations of his own words and then elucidating them for us. Throughout the book are wonderful quotes from a broad range of Buddhist teachers, giving a taste of the very best each of them has to offer. The Beginner’s Guide to Walking the Buddha’s Eightfold Path is a prescription for happiness, not just for overcoming suffering, which is how many people think of Buddhism. Here is a book for Buddhists of every tradition.

Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers


Anne Lamott - 2012
    And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesced everything she knows about prayer to these fundamentals.It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.

The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember


Fred Rogers - 2003
    There are few personalities who evoke such universal feelings of warmth as Fred Rogers. An enduring presence in American homes for over 30 years, his plainspoken wisdom continues to guide and comfort many. The World According to Mister Rogers distills the legacy and singular worldview of this beloved American figure. An inspiring collection of stories, anecdotes, and insights -- with sections devoted to love, friendship, respect, individuality, and honesty, The World According to Mister Rogers reminds us that there is much more in life that unites us than divides us. Culled from Fred Rogers' speeches, program transcripts, books, letters, and interviews, along with some of his never-before-published writings, The World According to Mister Rogers is a testament to the legacy of a man who served and continues to serve as a role model to millions.

The Beginner's Guide to Meditation: How to Start Enjoying the Benefits of Meditation Immediately (Beginner's Series)


Shinzen Young - 2001
    On The Beginner's Guide to Meditation, listeners learn exactly how specific inner techniques affect the mind and body - how to establish a daily meditation practice - plus, a complete five-part guided session to help listeners begin experiencing the benefits of meditation immediately.

Next Time You Feel Lonely...


Osho - 2012
    Osho looks at this in a very different way and sees these developments as great opportunity. Discovering of your ultimate 'aloneness' is the great chance to turn loneliness into a totally new experience.This small book in a new series of 'OSHO SOLUTIONS" consists of a single talk by Osho to deepen the readers understanding how to deal with loneliness in a completely different way.

Being Buddha at Work: 108 Ancient Truths on Change, Stress, Money, and Success


Franz Metcalf - 2012
    But few of those books apply the lessons of Buddhist thinking as resolution and guidance tools. These questions, though found in the modern day, are actually the core of all Buddha’s teachings – impermanence, suffering, and the quest for happiness (freedom from suffering). This makes Buddha the kind of consultant or coach we need today in our workplaces.Following in the tradition of the authors' first bestseller, this work goes on to explore and answer 101 dilemmas that we encounter at work, with topics ranging from time management, goal-setting, conflict to job dissatisfaction, unemployment, and even workplace trysts. The authors emphasize practical learning and coping, not esoteric insights or metaphysics, applying concrete solutions from Buddhist teachings to real problems in easily digestible chunks.