Each Upanishad, or lesson, takes up a theme ranging from the attainment of spiritual bliss to karma and rebirth, and collectively they are meditations on life, death and immortality. The essence of their teachings is that truth can by reached by faith rather than by thought, and that the spirit of God is within each of us - we need not fear death as we carry within us the promise of eternal life.Older cover edition for ISBN 9780140441635.

    Up until very recently the Kabbalah was reserved for the elite, those who only after years of scholarship and practice were allowed to enter this mystical realm. However, one doesn't need to devote one's life to intense study to reap the rich rewards of the Kabbalah. With just a basic understanding of a few key concepts, our lives can be enriched immensely. We can then begin to fulfill our deepest dreams and reach our most important goals, becoming the people we long to become.        By learning to understand the Sefirot--the ten spiritual properties that flow from the cosmic source into our heart--we can connect to the universe and profoundly transform our experience of daily life. For example, Hessed, or "loving-kindness," represents the desire to be generous, while Gevurah is the desire to focus intently or withhold. These properties must be balanced in order for harmony and well-being to occur. Rabbi Laibl Wolf shows how to maintain that balance and enjoy a healthy and productive life by using simple meditation and creative visualization techniques to grasp the spiritual nature of our life.        Practical Kabbalah draws upon ancient wisdom but offers a modern interpretation and easy-to-understand techniques for delving deeper into our selves and our world and for reaping the bounteous gifts that were always meant for us.

    But with the seemingly impossible and conflicting demands of society, morality and culture, people struggle with feelings of unfulfilled potential, frustration and guilt, rather than living full lives.The world of Tantra has no division between higher and lower. The simple, ordinary, things of life are transformed into great things when we enter into them totally – be it car fixing, floor cleaning or lovemaking. Osho shows how, living this vision, new heights of consciousness and freedom are realized."The days of tantra are coming. Sooner or later tantra will explode for the first time in the masses, because for the first time the time is ripe -- ripe to take sex naturally. One thing to be remembered always: if you are not very alert you may go on believing that you are moving into tantra, and you may be simply rationalizing your sexuality -- it may be nothing but sex, rationalized in the terminology of tantra. If you move into sex with awareness, it can turn into tantra. If you move into tantra with unawareness, it can fall and become ordinary sex.´

    Sylvia Boorstein, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche draw on their own experiences with suffering, as well as their many years of practice, to illustrate how we can find serenity and compassion in even the most stressful situations. Solid Ground offers humor, insight, and practical advice as well as five guided meditations for soothing our thoughts and increasing our capacity for equanimity and joy.

    He is what Martin Luther King called, an apostle of peace and non-violence. He is the pioneer who brought Buddhism to the West. His key teachings are through mindfulness and how to live happily in the present. This eBook will introduce you to the Zen master who has inspired many to live in the present without regretting the past or worrying about the future. He is the epitome of peace. This eBook will guide and inspire through the life changing lessons from Thich Nhat Hanh

    In Awakening the Buddha Within, Surya Das shows how we can awaken to who we really are in order to lead a more compassionate, enlightened, and balanced life. It illuminates the guidelines and key principles embodied in the noble Eight-Fold Path and the traditional Three Enlightenment Trainings common to all schools of Buddhism:Wisdom Training: Developing clear vision, insight, and inner understanding--seeing reality and ourselves as we really are.Ethics Training: Cultivating virtue, self-discipline, and compassion in what we say and do.Meditation Training: Practicing mindfulness, concentration, and awareness of the present moment.With lively stories, meditations, and spiritual practices, Awakening the Buddha Within is an invaluable text for the novice and experienced student of Buddhism alike.

    We have only known this life, so dying scares us—and we are all dying. But what if dying were perfectly safe? What would it look like if you could approach dying with curiosity and love, in service of other beings? What if dying were the ultimate spiritual practice?   Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush began their friendship more than four decades ago at the foot of their guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji. He transmitted to them a simple philosophy: love everyone, tell the truth, and give up attachment to material things. After impacting millions of people through the years with these teachings, they have reunited once more with Walking Each Other Home to enlighten and engage readers on the spiritual opportunities within the dying process. They generously share intimate personal experiences and timeless practices, told with courage, humor, and heart, gently exploring every aspect of this journey. And, at 86 years old, Ram Dass reminds us, “This time we have a real deadline.”   In Walking Each Other Home, readers will learn about: guidelines for being a “loving rock” for the dying, how to grieve fully and authentically, how to transform a fear of death, leaving a spiritual legacy, creating a sacred space for dying, and much more.   “Everybody you have ever loved is a part of the fabric of your being now,” says Ram Dass. The body may die, but the soul remains. Death is an invitation to a new kind of relationship, in the place where we are all One. Join these two lifelong friends and spiritual luminaries as they explore what it means to live and die consciously, remember who we really are, and illuminate the path we walk together.

    That man was the Zen monk Eihei Dogen. For centuries his main work, the Shōbōgenzō, languished in obscurity, locked away in remote monasteries until scholars rediscovered it in the twentieth century. What took so long? In Brad Warner's view, Dogen was too ahead of his time to find an appreciative audience. As Warner writes, "He understood aspects of human nature that we take for granted today but that there weren't even words for in his time." In order to bring Dogen's work to a bigger audience in the West, Warner began paraphrasing the Shōbōgenzō, recasting it in simple, everyday language. The first part of this project resulted in Don't Be a Jerk, and now Warner presents this follow-up volume, It Came from Beyond Zen. Once again, Warner uses humor and pop-culture references to bridge the gap between past and present, making Dogen's words clearer and more relevant than ever before.

    And Burton Watson's lucid and beautiful translation has been loved by generations of readers.Chuang Tzu (369?-286? B.C.) was a leading philosopher representing the Taoist strain in Chinese thought. Using parable and anecdote, allegory and paradox, he set forth, in the book that bears his name, the early ideas of what was to become the Taoist school. Central to these is the belief that only by understanding Tao (the Way of Nature) and dwelling in its unity can man achieve true happiness and freedom, in both life and death.Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings includes the seven "inner chapters," which form the heart of the book, three of the "outer chapters," and one of the "miscellaneous chapters." Watson also provides an introduction, placing the philosopher in relation to Chinese history and thought.Witty and imaginative, enriched by brilliant imagery, and making sportive use of both mythological and historical personages (including even Confucius), this timeless classic is sure to appeal to anyone interested in Chinese religion and culture.

    What you say. What you think/ignore/buy/don't buy... Welcome to One City-Population: Everyone-where EVERYTHING you do matters. You've lived here your whole life, whether you know it or not.Ethan Nichtern, the charismatic and creative force behind New York's upstart Interdependence Project is your guide to the beauty that is everywhere in the urban jungle-in the rattling of subway trains, the screechings of traffic, the hum and drone of millions scurrying for work, food, sustenance, art, culture, and meaning. There may be no greater setting for exploring the great truth that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expounded: "Whatever effects one directly, effects all indirectly."One City melds Dr. King's message with modern Buddhist wisdom to offer a new way of understanding what binds us all together-no matter where we are, no matter who. With its pop-culture savvy, humor, and literary liveliness, One City will speak to--and even, it's fair to say, help define--the spiritually-inclined, conscious Next Generation.

    "In this remarkable book, Ajahn Buddhadasa teaches us beautifully, profoundly, and simply the meaning of sunnata, or voidness, which is a thread that links every great school of Buddhism....He teaches us the truth of this voidness with the same directness and simplicity with which he invites us into his forest."-- from the foreword by Jack Kornfield

    The reason for its popularity is simple: It deals directly with the root causes of human suffering and proposes the means through which we can return to our natural state of wholeness and peace.This volume, beautifully illustrated with more than 125 photographs by award-winning photographer Jane English, brings together the most evocative and inspirational selections from the Course and contains the entire texts of three previously published books, Accept this Gift, A Gift of Healing, and A Gift of Peace. Exceptionally poetic and moving, these succinct, powerful passages readily stand by themselves as potent capsules of profound inner wisdom, and as tools for our hearts and minds in the wider world.

    Stephen Batchelor grew up outside London and came of age in the 1960s. Like other seekers of his time, instead of going to college he set off to explore the world. Settling in India, he eventually became a Buddhist monk in Dharamsala, the Tibetan capital-in-exile, and entered the inner circle of monks around the Dalai Lama. He later moved to a monastery in South Korea to pursue intensive training in Zen Buddhism. Yet the more Batchelor read about the Buddha, the more he came to believe that the way Buddhism was being taught and practiced was at odds with the actual teachings of the Buddha himself.  Charting his journey from hippie to monk to lay practitioner, teacher, and interpreter of Buddhist thought, Batchelor reconstructs the historical Buddha’s life, locating him within the social and political context of his world. In examining the ancient texts of the Pali Canon, the earliest record of the Buddha’s life and teachings, Batchelor argues that the Buddha was a man who looked at human life in a radically new way for his time, more interested in the question of how human beings should live in this world than in notions of karma and the afterlife.  According to Batchelor, the outlook of the Buddha was far removed from the piety and religiosity that has come to define much of Buddhism as we know it today.  Both controversial and deeply personal, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is a fascinating exploration of a religion that continues to engage the West. Batchelor’s insightful, deeply knowledgeable, and persuasive account will be an essential book for anyone interested in Buddhism.

    A small booklet of edited talks given by Ajahn Sumedho on the central teaching of the Buddha: that the unhappiness of humanity can be overcome by spiritual means.