Through Which Reality Shines
Through Which Reality Shines is Sangharakshita's incisive commentary on D. T. Suzuki's Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism. Using Suzuki's work as a springboard, he explores key Mahayana themes--karma, anatman, sunyata, the Bodhisattva path--with clarity and originality.
A Survey of Buddhism
Sangharakshita's A Survey of Buddhism has inspired readers for decades. The great Buddhist teacher and writer Lama Anagarika Govinda wrote, 'It would be difficult to find a single book in which the history and development of Buddhist thought has been described as vividly and clearly as in this survey.' This first chapter illuminates the doctrines and methods common to all schools and draws out the transcendental unity of Buddhism. Written for practitioners rather than scholars, Sangharakshita covers the nature of the Buddha and Enlightenment, and outlines core doctrines of the Dharma. He argues for the priority of the wise and altruistic Bodhisattva as a goal of Buddhist practice.
Living with Kindness
Kindness is one of the most basic qualities we can possess, and one of the most powerful. In Buddhism it is called metta - an opening of the heart to all that we meet. Any friendly feeling contains the kernel of metta. It is a seed that is waiting to be developed, right here amidst the conditions of our daily life.Living with Kindness is a pithy commentary on the Buddha's teaching of metta in the Karaniya Metta Sutta. In it, Sangharakshita shows us how to cultivate the many facets of kindness in ordinary, everyday life. Outlining the nurturing conditions for kindness to grow, he encourages us to follow the path that leads to a warm and expansive heart and beyond, towards being happier and more fulfilled in ourselves, and to empathise with the joys and sufferings of all living beings.
The Buddha's Golden Path
In 1929, when author Dwight Goddard wrote The Buddha's Golden Path, he was breaking ground. No American before him had lived the life of a Zen Buddhist monk, and then set out to share what he had learned with his countrymen. The Buddha's Golden Path is a true classic. It has touched countless lives, and opened the door for future generations in this country to study and embrace the principles of Zen.
Living with Awareness
Living with Awareness outlines the transformative power of mindfulness in daily life. In this commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, Sangharakshita reconnects mindfulness to the core Buddhist concepts of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, highlighting how it can reduce suffering and cultivate wisdom, compassion, and peace. He offers practical advice for integrating awareness into all aspects of life, helping practitioners develop a deeper understanding of impermanence and interconnectedness. The book emphasizes that awareness is not just a meditation practice but a way of living, deeply engaging with our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Ultimately, the practices outlined in this book encourages living with full presence, fostering personal growth, and creating more harmonious relationships with others.
Nothing to Attain
An exploration of the Zen Buddhist path through classic stories of the tradition--from the esteemed Zen teacher Reb Anderson. We all fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the buddhas. This is our original nature. It is completely pure and always accessible, but because of misconceptions and attachments we do not realize it. In the great Buddhist text the Lotus Sutra, there is a striking parable that expresses this idea. A child leaves his home village and becomes a destitute young man. Years later, he comes upon his father, who has moved to a new city and become quite wealthy--but he doesn't recognize him. His father, however, recognizes the son, and sees his potential to become a great man. Slowly, his father trains him in the ways of maintaining the household, and slowly, the son gains confidence in himself. One day, having witnessed the son's growth in character, his father tells him, "From now on, you and I are to be no different." He reveals the truth of their family bond and bequeaths all his wealth to his son. We already are what we most deeply yearn for, and yet we need training to recognize this truth--such is the essence of the Zen spiritual path. Informed by a lifetime of practice, this mature reflection explores key aspects of Zen training--including the guidance of the teacher, the taking of precepts, the study of the mind, and the cultivation of compassion--through the lens of the parable of the destitute son. With insightful reflections on additional Zen stories, as well as the author's own life stories and memories of such legendary teachers as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Daini Katagiri Roshi, Nothing to Attain offers readers a new way of looking at their own spiritual path--not as a journey to a foreign destination but as a homecoming to the place we've always belonged.
Interbeing, 4th Edition
Formulated by Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War, the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing are a penetrating expression of traditional Buddhist morality coming to terms with contemporary issues. In this new third edition, Thich Nhat Hanh introduces the term "mindfulness trainings" for "precepts." Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master, scholar, and peacemaker. He was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Nobel Peace Prize and is author of over thirty books, including Being Peace, Living Buddha Living Christ, and Teachings on Love. He is the founder of Plum Village, a meditation community in France that leads retreats on "the art of mindful living."
Mahamudra Tantra
Mahamudra is the union of the most subtle mind that experiences great bliss and realizes ultimate truth--the way things actually exist. From his practical experience, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso explains how to prepare our mind for Mahamudra meditation, how to remove obstacles to successful practice, and how we can experience progressively subtler states of mind. By explaining how to uncover and purify the deepest level of our mind and to use this very subtle blissful mind to meditate on ultimate truth, he shows how we can destroy all our negative minds at their very root and quickly reach the state of full enlightenment.
The Inner Beloved
An exploration of the spiritual journey as a path of love, where the heart's discontent becomes the doorway to ultimate fulfillment. Although the heart seeks fulfillment in people, possessions, and experiences, no external love can truly satisfy our deepest longing. Our discontent is an opportunity, a sacred invitation to turn inward. True fulfillment arises only when we empty our hearts to make space for the formless and intangible inner Beloved that is our true nature. In The Inner Beloved, A. H. Almaas guides us on a transformative journey of the heart. With poetic insight, personal reflection, and practical exercises, he shows how the search for love leads us through emptiness and into a luminous darkness--a place where the mind is confounded, but the heart awakens to a passionate love for the unknown. As we surrender to this mystery and discover the unity of lover and Beloved, we feel a complete intimacy with the fundamental truth of reality, allowing us to rest in the deepest fulfillment possible.
Absorption in No External World
Dzong-ka-ba's The Essence of Eloquence is still considered so important to Tibetan Buddhists that the Dalai Lama keeps a copy with him wherever he goes. This book examines many fascinating points raised in six centuries of Tibetan and Mongolian commentary concerning the first two sections of this text: the Prologue, and the section on the Mind-Only School. By providing vivid detail, Jeffrey Hopkins reveals the liveliness of Tibetan scholastic controversies, showing the dynamism of thoughtful commentary and stimulating the reader's metaphysical imagination. In the process of examining 170 issues, this volume treats many engaging points on Great Vehicle presentations of the three natures and the three non-natures, including how to apply these to all phenomena, the selflessness of persons, and the emptiness of emptiness. It concludes with a delineation of the approaches through which the Mind-Only School interprets scriptures. This stand-alone book is the final volume of a trilogy on Mind-Only that Hopkins composed over a period of twenty-two years. His heavily annotated translation of the first two sections of Dzong-ka-ba's text is contained in the first volume, Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism, along with a historical and doctrinal introduction, a detailed synopsis of the text, and a critical edition. The second volume, Reflections on Reality: The Three Natures and Non-Natures in the Mind-Only School, provides historical and social context, a basic presentation of the three natures, the two types of emptiness in the Mind-Only School, and the contrasting views of Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen of the Jo-nang-ba order of Tibetan Buddhism.
Buddhism
What are the core teachings of Buddhism?How did the Buddha's philosophy develop across different traditions?Which practices and principles have shaped Buddhist thought over centuries? This book presents a structured and accessible overview of Buddhism, one of the world's oldest philosophical and spiritual traditions. It examines the historical origins, core teachings, and practical dimensions of Buddhist thought, offering readers a clear framework for understanding its foundational principles and major schools. The content explores the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the development of early Buddhist doctrine, and key concepts such as impermanence, suffering, non-self, karma, and the Four Noble Truths. Each topic is presented in a logical sequence, supporting a progressive and organized reading experience. Key features of this book include: An overview of the historical background and origins of Buddhism- A clear explanation of central Buddhist teachings and philosophical principles- An introduction to major Buddhist traditions, including Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna, Zen, and Pure Land Buddhism- A descriptive overview of traditional practices such as meditation, mindfulness, ethical discipline, and prayer- Coverage of both lay and monastic perspectives within Buddhist practice Later sections address practical aspects commonly associated with Buddhism, including mindfulness practices, meditation methods, community life, and the role of monastic discipline. These topics are presented from an informational standpoint, reflecting traditional interpretations rather than instructional or prescriptive guidance. Written as an introductory reference, this book is intended for readers seeking a general and structured understanding of Buddhist teachings, philosophy, and practice within a single, coherent volume.
The Night As Path
Dreams are often approached as experiences to interpret or control.Tibetan dream yoga treats them differently-as a place where the mind can learn how experience persuades.The Night as Path explores dream practice not as a technique for lucidity or transformation, but as a disciplined inquiry into recognition, illusion, and restraint. Drawing on Tibetan Buddhist thought, the book examines how awareness arises within dreams, how it collapses, and how it matures when interference is withheld.Rather than offering methods for manipulating dream content, the focus remains on conditions: ethical grounding, attentional stability, and the fragile moment when belief loosens. Dreams are treated as continuous with waking life, revealing not hidden meanings but the mechanics by which experience convinces.Written for thoughtful practitioners and readers of Buddhist philosophy, The Night as Path approaches the night not as an escape, but as a terrain where the nature of experience can be seen more clearly.
The Precious Treasury of the Dharmadhatu
The third volume of the Collected Works of the modern Tibetan master Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk, this is the first published translation of a commentary on the 14th-century master Longchenpa's Precious Treasury of the Dharmadhātu, a verse text on the direct practices to realize the nature of mind taught within the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.​ Among the great works of the omniscient Longchenpa, The Treasury of the Dharmadhātu, one of Longchenpa's (1308-1363) Seven Treasuries is particularly revered among Tibetan poetic and scholastic works on Dzogchen meditation. The text expounds the intrinsic nature of the mind--awareness, the vast expanse of the dharmadhātu--as the basis and medium of the endless and unlimited display of phenomenal existence, of both mundane samsara and exalted nirvana. The teachers are laid out according to the approach of trekch繹, the practice that "cuts through" the tough deposit of conceptual fabrication and habitual tendencies, accumulated from beginningless time, which obscures the original, unimpaired, and ever-present purity of the mind's nature, the sugatagarbha. Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk's modern commentary brings to life the fine points of the text as a meditation manual. Completed in 1996, it is the first extensive and detailed commentary ever to be produced on Longchenpa's root text, with the exception of the author's own autocommentary. In contrast with the general "meaning commentary" composed by Longchenpa himself, which explains the sense of the root text in broad strokes, supporting it with many scriptural citations, Tenpa'i Wangchuk's is a "word-commentary" in which both the words and syntax of the root text are elucidated, thereby giving clear guidance and insight into the intentions of the author. Both root text and commentary are said to reflect the realizations of the lineage holders of the tradition and present a clear picture of the perfection of the Buddhist path.
Buddha and His Legacy
A comprehensive narrative history of Buddhism-from Siddhartha's awakening to the age of AI and mindfulness apps.In 483 BCE, an eighty-year-old teacher died beneath a sal tree in northern India. Today, more than 2,500 years later, over 500 million people follow his path. But the full story of how the teachings of one wandering ascetic became a global religion remains largely unknown outside specialist circles.Who was the Buddha as a human being?Buddha and His Legacy uncovers the journey of the prince who abandoned privilege, confronted suffering, and spent forty-five years reshaping how millions understood reality. Unlike traditional devotional texts or dense academic monographs, this book tells the complete story in a single, accessible narrative.Tracing Buddhism from its origins in ancient India to its global presence today, the book follows the transformations that carried the Buddha's insight across empires, cultures, and centuries-from Indian philosophers and Tibetan yogis to Japanese warrior-monks and the rise of Western mindfulness.This book explores fascinating historical questions: Why did princes become beggars?How did a religion of peace spread through warrior kingdoms?Why do neuroscientists now study monks' brains?How did Buddhism evolve from a radical reform movement into the diverse traditions of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana?Written for the general reader but grounded in rigorous scholarship, this volume synthesizes insights from archaeology, history, and anthropology. It treats Buddhism as both philosophy and religion, historical force and personal practice-without advocating for conversion.Includes: A detailed chronology, glossary of key terms, bibliography for further reading, and descriptive map overviews to guide you through the historical landscape.For readers of narrative history and Eastern philosophy, this is an essential exploration of how one man's insight became one of the world's most influential traditions.
The Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King
This work presents a biographical account of the Buddha as composed by the Buddhist poet Asvaghosha and preserved through a layered transmission from Sanskrit into Chinese, and from Chinese into English. Focusing on the Buddha's birth, princely life, renunciation, spiritual discipline, enlightenment, and teaching mission, it offers a narrative shaped by devotional, ethical, and philosophical concerns central to early Buddhist literature. Situated within the tradition of poetic hagiography, the text reflects the values, imagery, and doctrinal emphases of Indian Buddhism as they were understood and transmitted across cultures. Themes of compassion, impermanence, self-discipline, and liberation from suffering run throughout the narrative. As both a religious biography and a literary document of transmission, the book provides enduring insight into how the life of the Buddha was understood, revered, and retold across languages and traditions.
Forty-Three Days Of Fire
What began as a casual conversation with a fellow meditator in Australia led to the most extraordinary journey of consciousness ever documented.When David mentioned seeing "nimitta" during meditation, the author recognized something impossible-the luminous phenomena from 2,500-year-old Buddhist texts that were supposed to be extinct, dismissed as religious mythology.Unable to resist experiencing these states himself, he tracked down David's teacher, a Burmese master preserving secret knowledge passed down for twenty-five centuries. What happened next defied everything he thought he knew about human consciousness.This raw diary chronicles 43 days of complete transformation that shattered the boundaries between ancient wisdom and modern reality. Written in real-time, it documents x-ray vision revealing internal organs through closed eyelids, consciousness projection allowing travel to distant locations, and astral experiences in realms beyond physical reality.Guided by masters who've guarded these techniques for millennia, the author discovered capabilities that most neuroscientists would consider impossible. Each day brought new revelations about human potential most of us never realize we possess-and the profound inner transformation that accessing these abilities demands.Like Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, this book reveals that extraordinary capabilities in ancient texts aren't mythology-they're a forgotten science of consciousness waiting to be rediscovered.A profound account of what happens when someone ordinary encounters the extraordinary depths of their own mind.
Forty-Three Days Of Fire
What began as a casual conversation with a fellow meditator in Australia led to the most extraordinary journey of consciousness ever documented.When David mentioned seeing "nimitta" during meditation, the author recognized something impossible-the luminous phenomena from 2,500-year-old Buddhist texts that were supposed to be extinct, dismissed as religious mythology.Unable to resist experiencing these states himself, he tracked down David's teacher, a Burmese master preserving secret knowledge passed down for twenty-five centuries. What happened next defied everything he thought he knew about human consciousness.This raw diary chronicles 43 days of complete transformation that shattered the boundaries between ancient wisdom and modern reality. Written in real-time, it documents x-ray vision revealing internal organs through closed eyelids, consciousness projection allowing travel to distant locations, and astral experiences in realms beyond physical reality.Guided by masters who've guarded these techniques for millennia, the author discovered capabilities that most neuroscientists would consider impossible. Each day brought new revelations about human potential most of us never realize we possess-and the profound inner transformation that accessing these abilities demands.Like Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, this book reveals that extraordinary capabilities in ancient texts aren't mythology-they're a forgotten science of consciousness waiting to be rediscovered.A profound account of what happens when someone ordinary encounters the extraordinary depths of their own mind.
The Dreaming Mind
Dreams have always accompanied the Buddhist path.They appear at moments of transition- at birth and renunciation, before awakening, and at the threshold of death. Yet they are rarely examined with the care they deserve.In The Dreaming Mind, dreams are approached not as mystical curiosities or psychological noise, but as windows into how consciousness itself operates. Drawing on early Buddhist texts, later traditions, and modern insights into the mind, this book explores how dreams reveal the same processes that shape waking experience: perception, memory, desire, fear, and meaning.Through a blend of poetic narration and careful analysis, the reader encounters the dreams of queens and sages, ascetics and kings-from Queen Māyā's luminous vision before the Buddha's birth to the subtle dream-like perceptions that arise as the body and mind grow still. These accounts are not treated as folklore, but as expressions of a sophisticated psychological understanding preserved within Buddhist thought.Early Buddhism neither dismisses dreams nor elevates them beyond their place. Instead, it recognizes them as moments when the mind shows itself more clearly-when the constructed nature of experience becomes briefly visible.Written for contemplative readers and students of Buddhism alike, The Dreaming Mind invites a quiet inquiry: If the mind can create a world in sleep-vivid, convincing, and meaningful-what might this reveal about the world we inhabit while awake?
The Dreaming Mind
Dreams have always accompanied the Buddhist path.They appear at moments of transition- at birth and renunciation, before awakening, and at the threshold of death. Yet they are rarely examined with the care they deserve.In The Dreaming Mind, dreams are approached not as mystical curiosities or psychological noise, but as windows into how consciousness itself operates. Drawing on early Buddhist texts, later traditions, and modern insights into the mind, this book explores how dreams reveal the same processes that shape waking experience: perception, memory, desire, fear, and meaning.Through a blend of poetic narration and careful analysis, the reader encounters the dreams of queens and sages, ascetics and kings-from Queen Māyā's luminous vision before the Buddha's birth to the subtle dream-like perceptions that arise as the body and mind grow still. These accounts are not treated as folklore, but as expressions of a sophisticated psychological understanding preserved within Buddhist thought.Early Buddhism neither dismisses dreams nor elevates them beyond their place. Instead, it recognizes them as moments when the mind shows itself more clearly-when the constructed nature of experience becomes briefly visible.Written for contemplative readers and students of Buddhism alike, The Dreaming Mind invites a quiet inquiry: If the mind can create a world in sleep-vivid, convincing, and meaningful-what might this reveal about the world we inhabit while awake?
Buddha & Buddhism From the Ganges to Mekong
'This book narrates the birth of Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbani. Nepal. How he left his kingdom and wandered for six years in search of escape from suffering - a path to liberation. He found them in Bodh Gaya. He became the Buddha and he preached them to the world.The author has explained his teachings - the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path in simple language. Buddha preached the Middle Path which any person can easily follow.Buddhism spread beyond India. The book explores Buddhism's expansion from India to neighbouring countries in Asia where it was adopted with local adaptations. The result? A message of peace and compassion deeply ingrained.
The Life of Shabkar
The Life of Shabkar has long been recognized by Tibetans as one of the masterworks of their religious heritage. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol devoted himself to many years of meditation in solitary retreat after his inspired youth and early training in the province of Amdo under the guidance of several extraordinary Buddhist masters. With determination and courage, he mastered the highest and most esoteric practices of the Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection. He then wandered far and wide over the Himalayan region expressing his realization. Shabkar's autobiography vividly reflects the values and visionary imagery of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the social and cultural life of early nineteenth-century Tibet.
Otherness-Reception and Self-Rediscovery in the Dialogue and Comparative Study of Christianity and Buddhism
This Special Issue aims to carefully analyze the differences and connections between the core concepts of Christianity and Buddhism through a comparison of their doctrines, beliefs, and practices. From the perspective of religious dialogue and the "other" theory, it promotes mutual understanding between the two religions, ultimately enhancing inter-religious peace. The issue includes 11 articles, covering theoretical reflections on religious dialogue from the perspectives of theology and philosophy, the history and main areas of discussion in the Buddhist-Christian dialogue, reflections on the path of Chinese Buddhist-Christian dialogue, comparisons of Buddhist and Christian artistic imagery, debates between Buddhism and Christianity in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Schleiermacher and Huineng, Buddhist nature and religiousness, Thomas and Mahayana Buddhism, Zhao Zichen and Master Taixu, Marxist atheism and Buddhism, etc. It also touches upon some core concepts in both religions, such as love, friendship, religiousness, Buddhist nature, the self, the other, the soul, liberation, salvation, enlightenment, atheism, self-reliance, and other-reliance. Based on the comparative research conducted by eleven Chinese scholars on the doctrines, dogmas, ethics, rituals, and spirituality of the two religions, the theoretical reflections and dialogue practices of Chinese academics on the Buddhist-Christian dialogue are presented to the world, expanding the application of religious dialogue theory in the context of Chinese religious studies.
Unveiling Your Sacred Truth, Book 3
The Kalachakra Path offers a profound method for actualising your greatest potential and contributing to greater peace and harmony within this world. For the first time ever, this extraordinary path is revealed in a step-by-step manner, allowing students to gradually approach this uniquely comprehensive system in a structured and methodical way.Drawing on more than 30 years of intensive training with more than 25 different masters from each of the major Tibetan traditions, Khentrul Rinpoch矇 offers an expansive understanding that transcends sectarian boundaries and cuts through to the essential meaning of the Buddha's teachings.In this third and final volume, Rinpoch矇 introduces the profound methods for revealing the enlightened reality of our most sacred truth. These are the unique teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra that provide everything we need to achieve enlightenment within a single lifetime. After helping us to cultivate an unwavering faith in tantra and the vajra master, Rinpoch矇 clearly presents the theoretical and practical foundations for the uncommon preliminaries of the generation and completion stages. On the basis of these precious teachings you will be well equipped to receive instruction on the sublime yogic practices of the Kalachakra Six Vajra Yogas.
Buddha and His Legacy
A comprehensive narrative history of Buddhism-from Siddhartha's awakening to the age of AI and mindfulness apps.In 483 BCE, an eighty-year-old teacher died beneath a sal tree in northern India. Today, more than 2,500 years later, over 500 million people follow his path. But the full story of how the teachings of one wandering ascetic became a global religion remains largely unknown outside specialist circles.Who was the Buddha as a human being?Buddha and His Legacy uncovers the journey of the prince who abandoned privilege, confronted suffering, and spent forty-five years reshaping how millions understood reality. Unlike traditional devotional texts or dense academic monographs, this book tells the complete story in a single, accessible narrative.Tracing Buddhism from its origins in ancient India to its global presence today, the book follows the transformations that carried the Buddha's insight across empires, cultures, and centuries-from Indian philosophers and Tibetan yogis to Japanese warrior-monks and the rise of Western mindfulness.This book explores fascinating historical questions: Why did princes become beggars?How did a religion of peace spread through warrior kingdoms?Why do neuroscientists now study monks' brains?How did Buddhism evolve from a radical reform movement into the diverse traditions of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana?Written for the general reader but grounded in rigorous scholarship, this volume synthesizes insights from archaeology, history, and anthropology. It treats Buddhism as both philosophy and religion, historical force and personal practice-without advocating for conversion.Includes: A detailed chronology, glossary of key terms, bibliography for further reading, and descriptive map overviews to guide you through the historical landscape.For readers of narrative history and Eastern philosophy, this is an essential exploration of how one man's insight became one of the world's most influential traditions.
Overflow
Finding it hard to stay balanced amidst endless emails, notifications, and scrolling? This is the guide back to sanity you've been searching for. Peace and purpose can be difficult to find in our hyperconnected world. With breaking news, social media, and endless entertainment all at our fingertips, we often feel our attention is being pulled in a thousand directions at once. Drawing on the wisdom of ancient Buddhist teachings, Vincent Thibault offers a clear and compelling roadmap to help you transform the feeling of information overload into an overflowing abundance of compassion. With insights into the nuances of our digital age and practical advice rooted in mindfulness, Thibault teaches you how to work with breath, posture, and awareness to help you rewrite your relationship with technology, own your attention, and act with purpose. We don't need to withdraw from the world to live a contemplative life. Instead, we can cultivate wisdom and compassion right in the middle of our noisy modern lives.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Attain enlightenment, prepare for the process of dying, and move through the stages of rebirthWritten by an ancient Buddhist teacher in the eighth century, the Tibetan Book of the Dead offers instructions on how to attain enlightenment, prepare for the process of dying, and move through the stages of rebirth. Translated from the Tibetan by American anthropologist W. Y. Evans-Wentz in 1927, this text offers remarkable insight into the ancient Buddhist teachings. For anyone interested in religion, spirituality, ancient texts and history, or simply the art of conscious living and dying, The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an essential collection of wisdom.
Kind Karl
A grumpy crocodile learns what good can come when he chooses kindness in this adorable picture book for kids ages 4-8. With everyday examples, approachable language, and adorable illustrations, adults will love introducing kids to mindfulness and meditation, inspiring them to look inward with curiosity and kindness. Karl is a crocodile who lives in Orlando. He loves cardigans, crepes, and combing his hair. And . . . he has a terrible temper! Full of lovable animal characters, this playful story is a children's adaptation of Sharon Salzberg's beloved book Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Like the original, it asks the question, "Why does what we do, say, and care about make a difference?" The book explores how generosity and mindfulness contribute to a life of happiness and connection. In today's divisive society, lovingkindness asks us to stop, find quiet, and look within; and in that honest reflection, answers appear. With relatable everyday examples, approachable language, and adorable illustrations, the book will inspire children to look inward with curiosity and kindness. By understanding what happiness feels like for themselves, they can realize how all people desire happiness. The book includes accessible activities at the end to help kids and parents start a lovingkindness practice in their own lives.
The Radical Embrace
The Radical Embrace is a powerful exploration of what it means to liveand love with your whole self. With raw honesty and fierce compassion, Singhashri - a queer Dharma teacher and embodiment practitioner - invitesus onto a transformative path of belonging that weaves together personalnarrative, somatics, social justice, and Buddhist practice. This is a book foranyone longing to feel more at home in their body, their communities, andthe world.'This book is an intimate conversation about healing ourselves and ourcommunities, calling us toward "a radical shift in perspective from a worldbased on domination to one rooted in love." As a socially engaged, genderqueer, BIPOC practitioner, I found real medicine here. This is dharma for ourtimes.'Viveka Chen, Dharma and Somatics Teacher/Social Justice Coach and Facilitator'The Radical Embrace is a powerful reminder that we are all beginners, andawakening is available to everyone. This unique and accessible dharmabook invites us to dream, while offering grounded exercises to ensure wedon't spiritually bypass.'Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John, author of First Aid Kit for the Mind'Singhashri's years of spiritual exploration shine through the pages of thisbook, offering us a deeply embodied, trauma-informed approach tospiritual practice that is at the same time rooted in an awareness of ourobligations to address social, environmental, and economic injustice. Weneed more dharma teachings like these.'Bodhipaksa, author of This Difficult Thing of Being Human and The Heart's Awakening'The radical embrace of what is possible - in the healing of becoming all ofwho we are, in the integration of our intergenerational and ancestralheritages, in the most expansive intentions to imbue love into ourrelationship with all things, and in the awakening to freedom - is beautifullyand skilfully described in this book.'Larry Yang, author of Awakening Together, founding teacher of East Bay Meditation Center
The Essence of Buddhism
A clear and compelling guide to Buddhism that distills its core teachings - from karma to Zen - into an accessible, modern introduction for spiritual seekers. The Essence of Buddhism provides a clear, straightforward approach to the rich traditions of the Buddhist faith and its ideological foundations. It explains the power of karma, the practice of Zen, and the notion of the life of the Buddha and his influence throughout the world. Through its elucidation of the definitive Buddhist texts, this splendid introduction puts into perspective one of the world's most significant religions and reveals that it is as relevant now as at any time in its 3,000-year history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Mystic Wisdom introduces four of the world's most influential mystical traditions - Gnosticism, Sufism, Kabbalah, and Buddhism - tracing the history of these movements and their search for personal and spiritual transformation.
Finding Your Buddha Smile
With Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home (To What Zen is Really All About) lay Zen teacher and award-winning author, Rafe Jnan Martin, reveals Zen to be a thoroughly radical, yet completely accessible and practical way of realizing what the Buddha himself realized 2,500, years ago. As Roshi Martin makes clear, koan-based Zen is neither esoteric, nor reserved for the special few. Its whole point is to help us walk the Buddha Way and realize happiness and peace of mind while living full and satisfying lives in a complex and challenging world.
Seeing the Bodies Within
An in-depth examination of the Samma Araham tradition, a distinctive Theravada Buddhist meditation system that emphasizes visualization, mantra, and the discovery of the spiritual bodies within us. Discovered in a vision by the monk Luang Pho Sot Candasaro in 1916, Samma Araham is a thriving meditation tradition in its native Thailand, but little understood in the West. In this fascinating overview, Potprecha Cholvijarn weaves together Candasaro's life story, the historical context that shaped his influential teachings, and the enduring legacy of the Samma Araham meditation system that he established. Drawing on Candasaro's own writings and sermons, Cholvijarn presents the entire Samma Araham meditation system in all its intricate detail, demonstrating how the practice incorporates elements of both canonical Buddhist texts like the Satipatthana Sutta, as well as the regional boran kammatthana or "old meditation" practices that once thrived in Southeast Asia. Detailed descriptions of the meditative journey into a series of eighteen "inner bodies," each corresponding to different levels of Buddhist teaching, reveal a colorful, mystical side of the Theravada tradition that has gone underappreciated in the age of mindfulness and insight meditation.
The Flowing River of Dharma
Discover succinct instructions for ending the habits that cause you so much suffering in this contemporary exploration of a foundational four-line teaching from Vajrayana Buddhism. How do we break free from the habits and compulsions that bring us suffering? In the twelfth century, Sakya Drakpa Gyeltsen penned four short but significant lines, known as Parting from the Four Attachments, offering a concise guide to becoming a genuine dharma practitioner and charting a path to enlightenment. In The Flowing River of Dharma, Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo offer a fresh, contemporary exploration of this foundational Vajrayana Buddhist text, drawing on insights from Anyen Rinpoche's teacher Khenchen Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche and a cave-dwelling hermit known as Lama Tsepel. Using the rime approach, which promotes cross-tradition learning, the authors refer to teachings from a variety of traditions, in particular The Four Dharmas of Gampopa, as well as wisdom from the Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, Kadam of old, and Gelug traditions of Tibet. With clear language and a candid look at the challenges of dharma practice, Anyen Rinpoche explores the power of renunciation, understanding samsara's true nature, and cultivating bodhicitta as pathways to a meaningful life. Buddhists of all backgrounds will discover how these lojong (mind training) teachings can anchor us firmly on the path and ensure that we don't stray from it until we reach complete liberation.
Letting Go Without Losing What Matters
You don t have to kill your desires to find peace you need better tools for holding them. This book shows how to want, love, and strive without being owned by wanting. Drawing on buddhist teachings on desire and modern behavioral science, it separates healthy intention from compulsive craving and gives you a trainable way to live letting go without losing what matters. Why this matters now: we re nudged to chase more more attention, more certainty, more control even as satisfaction keeps slipping away. Here you ll learn a clear, evidence-informed approach that reframes craving vs desire buddhism for real life: relationships, work, money, and ambition. It s practical, honest, and designed for thoughtful readers who want depth without dogma. Who it s for: curious professionals, partners, creators, caregivers, and anyone pulled between caring deeply and clinging tightly. If you ve searched for non attachment buddhism, this is the grounded, everyday guide you ve been missing. Inside, you ll find: - A simple map to convert urges into choices, using attention, labeling, and value-based action - Practices like urge surfing buddhist practice, a desire diary, and the clean yes/clean no for commitments that don t become cages - Relationship tools rooted in mindfulness for relationships buddhist perspectives intimacy without possession, care without control - Science-made-useful: dopamine craving mindfulness explained in plain language so you can interrupt habit loops before they harden By the end, you ll have a practical mental model for ambition without attachment pursuing goals as skilled aims rather than endless grasps plus daily micro-releases that bring relief fast and compound over time. Think of this as a holding lightly book: a precise, usable companion for people who want to stay fully engaged with life while freeing themselves from the grip of clinging.
The Sound That Perceives the World
Musings and autobiographically informed commentary on the human condition through the lens of the Kannon-gyo--chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra--connecting Zen and Pure Land Buddhism through the practice of venerating and chanting the names of buddhas and bodhisattvas. The Kannon-gyo is chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, and its focus is the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, known in China as Guanyin, and in Japan as Kannon or Kanzeon. The text describes the many ways in which calling out the bodhisattva's name--Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu--can relieve suffering. Most schools of Zen Buddhism, and especially the Soto school, eschew such practices as chanting the names of buddhas and bodhisattvas, along with venerating such figures. The eminent Soto Zen master Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, however, while doing hard physical labor early in his career, could not practice zazen--that is, formal sitting meditation. He came to appreciate the Kannon-gyo and the practices related to it. In particular, he took to reciting Kannon's name, as recommended in the text of the Kannon-gyo. Later in life, Uchiyama Roshi suffered from illness that again prevented him from practicing formal Zen, so he returned to the Kannon-gyo and the practice of chanting. He went so far as to assert that chanting Kannon's name is completely equivalent to zazen, that the two practices are simply two sides of the same coin--a revolutionary idea seemingly at odds with Zen. Chanting practice is especially accessible, as it can be done while working, traveling, or suffering from illness, and other activities that would ordinarily get in the way of formal Zen practice. With these practices, the Kannon-gyo, and Kannon herself as a backdrop, Uchiyama Roshi muses about the purposes of religion, the goals of religious practice, and the meaning of enlightenment--and their relation to suffering itself.
Dancing with Impermanence
Imagine grief as a river-resisting its current only leaves you exhausted, but flowing with it can carry you to a place of healing. Learn how Buddhist principles can guide you through your grief journey.Reading Dancing with Impermanence will allow you to: Experience the liberation that comes from truly understanding and accepting impermanenceReceive nuanced perspectives that go beyond surface-level spiritual platitudesBuild unshakeable resilience that helps you face future losses with greater emotional stabilityUnderstand karma in a practical, non-judgmental way that brings comfort rather than confusion during times of lossTransform overwhelming grief into a meaningful spiritual journey that honors both your pain and your loved one's memoryThis book offers readers not just comfort in times of grief, but a complete reframing of how to approach life, death, and everything in between with wisdom, grace, and unshakeable inner peace.
Onya Nun!
The inaugural academic research endeavour singularly focused on Theravadin Buddhist nuns within the Australian context. An abridged iteration of the doctoral dissertation, this study examines some of the gender equity issues faced by Buddhist women. Through interviews with Buddhist monastics and lay devotees, the author explores the unique socioreligious landscape of Theravada Buddhism in Australia. In adherence to research ethics and for archival integrity, all interview transcripts are appended, thereby preserving the authentic voices and lived experiences of the Australian nuns.
The Other Buddhism
The Pureland schools are the largest Buddhist denominations in Japan, and yet this approach to Buddhism is hardly known in the West. Pureland centres on our relationship with Amida Buddha, the embodiment of measureless love, light and life. It offers a fresh view of spirituality, recognizing us in our mundane lives, whilst lifting us into relationship with the eternal. As ordinary people, we cannot fathom our own depths nor can we know the immensity of the universe. We can but stand in awe and reach out to what we intuitively know to be beyond the small orbit of our lives. Pureland is a path of simplicity and beauty, poetry and nature. It is the path of faith.
Melody and Silence
As we move towards a one world consciousness, we need an evolved spirituality to follow. We can have an adult, non-dogmatic spiritual life that transcends borders and language. This book is a mixture of talks on truth and recorded satsangs. It is an attempt to reveal, that, knowing oneself has nothing to do with spirituality or religion. Truth is discovering who you are. This enquiry has no conditions to it. It does not matter where you are from, what culture, language, religion. Who you are, is who you are! It is time to move forward in a culture of oneness. One world, one religion - truth seeking, one prayer - silence.,
The Miracle of Mindfulness
"Thich Nhat Hanh's ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. An exclusive Beacon Classics edition of the book that brought mindfulness to the Western world and continues to open the hearts and minds of readers everywhere, with a gorgeous spot gloss cover and retro, classic palette The Miracle of Mindfulness has been cherished by generations of readers for its eloquent and useful introduction to the practice of meditation. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness. From washing dishes to answering the phone to peeling an orange, he reminds us that each moment holds within it an opportunity to work toward greater self-understanding and peacefulness. Readers interested in an introduction to Buddhist thought, as well as those seeking to learn about mindfulness and stress reduction, continue to look to Thich Nhat Hanh's classic work for guidance and inspiration. This new edition features Thich Nhat Hanh's ever relevant reflections, for longtime readers and those new to the world of mindfulness alike. As the world we live in grows all the more overwhelming, The Miracle of Mindfulness remains a beloved antidote to the accelerated speed and intense expectations of our lives.
Amid the Ruins of the Silk Road
Amid the Ruins of the Silk Road: In Search of the Long-Lost Footprints of Śākyaputra Faxian is an insightful piece of original scholarship under the genre of intellectual and religious history. The volume attempts to shed new light upon the evolutionary phases of Chinese Buddhist monasticism, with special focus upon the state of Buddhist monastic disciplinary codes (vinaya) in premodern China by navigating through unexplored domains of cross-civilizational interactions, as has been intricately portrayed in the fascicles of Śākyaputra Faxian's most celebrated fifth century travel memoir, Fo Guo Ji. The book offers a critical inquiry into the chain of events which not only defined the final contours of Chinese Buddhist monastic tradition, but also proved to have been instrumental in shaping Chinese Buddhism into its region-specific Sinified mould. This seminal academic work, by drawing upon primary source documents from Buddhist and secular literature, brings to the fore, the significance of the historic trans-continental Silk Road as a crucial interface, having stood witness through the vicissitudes of time, to some of the most unprecedented of cultural, intellectual and philosophical borrowings across variegated socio-cultural spaces.
Queer Engaged Buddhism
This accessible book explores the relationship between queer and trans theories and Buddhist scriptures across traditions, to begin a queer and trans approach to socially engaged Buddhism.It blends the academic with the personal, providing meditations for queer and trans communities in each chapter.Kody Muncaster, a Buddhist scholar and practitioner, begins with an introduction to queer work on topics such as affect, trauma, and literary critique practices. They also provide an overview on queerness and Buddhism and examine what a Queer Studies reading of Buddhist histories from different traditions can contribute to uncovering hidden elements of queerness, with a strong focus on the often excluded narratives of intersex and trans folks.ABOUT THE AUTHORKody Muncaster, PhD, is an OCSWSSW Psychotherapist and Clinical Director of Pink Lotus Counselling & Psychotherapy, specializing in trauma therapy, mindfulness, gender, and sexuality. They are queer and non-binary. They have taught at the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health program at the University of Toronto: New College as well as at Western University's Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. They began a three-year training to become a Zen priest under Venerable Bhikkhuni Th穩ch Nu Tinh Quang in 2024.CONTENTSIntroduction: Queer Studies and Engaged BuddhismTheoretical Frameworks for Queer Engaged BuddhismQueer and Trans Buddhist Histories: Towards a Queer Buddhist HermeneuticsNon-Binary Phenomenologies, Non-duality, and EmptinessTrans Bodhichitta: Trauma, Deity Yoga, and Gender EuphoriaTrans Bodhisattvas, Queer Practices: Kuan Yin, Tonglen, and HIV/AIDSBuddhist Psychotherapy and -Spiritual Care for Queer and Trans -CommunitiesPrecarious Love: On Interconnectedness for a Queer(ed) and Trans(formed) Engaged BuddhismReferences
The Direct Way
Join renowned spiritual teacher Adyashanti for a practice-based journey out of the thinking mind and into the awakened awareness beyond perceptual reality. For renowned teacher Adyashanti, every single moment contains a doorway into spiritual awakening. But what does it actually mean to "wake up" to the truth of reality? And what does it take to recognize these opportunities? In The Direct Way, Adya (as his students call him) offers a sequence of thirty practices intended to connect with and cultivate ever-greater awareness of the unseen dimensions of your being. From the simple expression of "I am," to an exploration of the Spiritual Heart, and all the way into the fundamental Ground of Being, these exercises emphasize that the process of awakening takes "many small glimpses, experienced many times." Adya concludes with practical pointers on how to integrate transcendent experiences into the everyday fabric of life--including your career, personal goals, and intimate relationships. Here you will discover: - How to dis-identify from conceptual, ego-based thinking- Perceiving the ego as a tool to navigate consciousness rather than an obstacle- The "knowing yet empty" quality of foundational awareness- The surprising route to realizing awareness of the Spiritual Heart- Feeling through the Spiritual Heart as a way to experience true interconnection- The meaning of the Zen teaching phrase, "This very body is the Buddha" - Exploring the exhilarating paradox of Being and Becoming- How to establish anchor points to stabilize your journey into the Ground of Being- What it means to live each day with "enlightened relativity"- How awakening puts control of your experience in your hands--but also the responsibility for it No one experiences awakening quite the same. With The Direct Way, join Adya to discover pathways toward an awareness as wide as the sky and as personal as your innermost heart.
Change Your Mind, Change Your Life
Transform life's difficult moments into opportunities for growth with this clear and direct guide to Tibetan lojong, or mind training.​ Take the Tibetan Buddhist approach to mind training with lojong, a practice of simple contemplations and pithy "slogans" to train the mind in enlightened compassion, or bodhichitta. A centuries old, time-tested method, lojong remains readily applicable to daily life. One of the most essential lojong texts is The Seven-Point Mind-Training, a series of slogans composed by Tibetan master Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1102-76). In this straightforward guide to The Seven Points, the renowned Buddhist teacher Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo unpacks each of Chekawa's lojong slogans and illuminates their relevance to modern life. Jetsunma's teachings will allow you to: Discover a wellspring of compassion to guide you in your daily life; Gain a new understanding on core Buddhist concepts like the preciousness of human life, impermanence, karma, and rebirth;Establish or develop a meditation practice for both tranquility and insight into the nature of mind; Work with the totality of your life as an opportunity for spiritual practice and growth--even the most difficult experiences of adversity, illness, and despair.
Speech of Delight
The process of intelligent and open-minded inquiry can lead to complete liberation within the discovery of the natural state. In his Ornament of the Middle Way the great Indian master Santaraksita reveals how the path of reasoning can lead the mind to increasingly profound insight and experience. Ju Miphams's illustrious commentary highlights and explains the pithy reasoning of this classic treatise and unfolds the expansive view of the Great Vehicle in a clear, engaging, and compassionate way.
