Dzogchen
Zhechen Gyaltshab was one of the principal masters of Zhechen Monastery in East Tibet, the monastery where Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche made his home before leaving Tibet. The Zhechen Gyal-tsab's have always been regarded as highly learned and accomplished and this comes through in the clarity of the instructions in his text.The text is a short but very clear presentation of the essential points of practice of Thorough Cut (Tregcho) of extra-secret Great Completion (Dzogpa Chenpo). We provide many texts of the Thorough Cut practice and each one adds something to the understanding of that practice. Zhechen Gyaltsab's text transmits the same meaning as Patrul's Feature of the Expert, Glorious King which is also available from us. However, and just as the title suggests, Zhechen Gyaltshab writes in a very practical way and in doing so, makes a number of points that other authors do not. His text is well-known in the Tibetan tradition as one of several texts that are particularly useful to anyone who is practising Thorough Cut.An introduction explains the place of the text and extensive notes to the text form a commentary to the text. An extensive glossary is provided to help clarify the meaning of the unique terminology of this system. The book is ideal for anyone who is practising Thorough Cut. As with our other books on innermost Dzogchen, we strongly advise that you not purchase the book unless you have had the necessary instructions.Read more
Exploring Ch獺n
Drawing on over three decades of study and practice, Chuan Zhi, an ordained monk in the Chinese Linji tradition, takes us on a fascinating journey to uncover the causes and conditions that led to Chan's formation as a unique expression of Chinese Buddhism. Along the way, he explores some complex topics: How and why did the Chan institution invent its characteristic lineage system and what is its significance? How has state sponsorship shaped the presentation of Chan and Zen throughout the Orient? How might there be a disparity between the mystical practice of Chan and its religious expression? How does one "do" Chan as a mystical practice, and why would someone want to? And how might a practitioner of Chan best engage with its institutional form to ensure healthy spiritual growth? Offering his own insights along with those of past meditation masters, historians, scholars, and canonical texts, Chuan Zhi takes us on a captivating journey that challenges many long-held assumptions. Throughout the narrative, he argues that Chan's mystical practices are as valuable for life today as they have been for centuries.
Buddha in 60 Minuten
Buddha gilt als Stifter einer der f羹nf Weltreligionen. Das ist umso erstaunlicher, als er niemals von sich behauptet hat, ein Prophet zu sein. Im Unterschied zu Mohammed, Moses oder Jesus verspricht er den Menschen kein Weiterleben im Paradies. Auch erz瓣hlt er nicht von Gott oder g繹ttlicher Gnade. Stattdessen zeigt uns Buddha, wie wir uns aus eigener Kraft von ?ngsten befreien und zur Erfahrung des 'Nirvanas' gelangen k繹nnen. Ihm geht es um die Selbsterl繹sung des Menschen. Seinen Kerngedanken formuliert Buddha in der "Lehre von den vier edlen Wahrheiten". Leben bedeutet immer auch Leiden, lautet die erste edle Wahrheit, denn, so Buddha: "Alter ist leidvoll, Krankheit ist leidvoll, der Tod ist leidvoll, von Lieben getrennt sein, ist leidvoll." Die zweite Wahrheit erkl瓣rt dann die Ursachen dieses Leidens. Das sind vor allem unsere eigenen W羹nsche und Bed羹rfnisse nach Lust, Jugend, Attraktivit瓣t, Gesundheit, ewigem Leben und Gl羹ck. Deren Erf羹llung oder Nicht-Erf羹llung nehmen wir mit unseren Sinnen wahr und beziehen sie dann auf unser Ego und unser Ich-Bewusstsein. Wenn es uns gelingen w羹rde, dies nicht mehr zu tun, dann, so Buddhas dritte Wahrheit, h瓣tte auch das Leiden ein Ende. Die vierte Wahrheit beschreibt schlie?lich den konkreten Weg, den ber羹hmten "achtfachen Pfad", den wir beschreiten m羹ssen, um zur "Befreiung", zum "Erwachen" und zur "Gelassenheit" gegen羹ber unseren Bed羹rfnissen zu kommen. Das Buch "Buddha in 60 Minuten" erkl瓣rt die faszinierende Lehre in nachvollziehbarer Weise, insbesondere den Schl羹sselbegriff des "Nirvanas". Buddha ist zwar erst in der Meditation zu seinem Kerngedanken von den vier edlen Wahrheiten und zur Nirvana-Erfahrung gekommen. So gesehen k繹nnen vielleicht nur diejenigen seine Lehre wirklich verstehen, die diese Erfahrung selbst gemacht haben. Aber auch f羹r alle anderen lohnt es sich, den Buddhas Weg ein St羹ck weit mitzugehen. Der Kerngedanke Buddhas ist n瓣mlich sehr wohl rational nachvollziehbar und kann auf seinen Nutzen hin befrag
Rational Zen
Rational Zen consists of selection from Dogen's two masterworks, Shobogenzo (the famed "Treasury of Eyes of True Teaching, " Japan's most sophisticated philosophical work) and Eihei Koruko ("Universal Book of Eternal Peace"), now in English for the first time. The translator's commentary and a compendium of authentic source materials enhance the reader's insight into Dogen's methods, linking them to the great classical traditions of Buddhism that ultimately flowered in Zen.Thomas Cleary holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and is a former fellow of Kyoto University. Having published over forty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian works, he is the most prolific translator of Asian spiritual classics today.
Emptiness Yoga
An absorbing exposition of the methods of realization of the Middle Way Consequence School (Prasangika Madhyamika) by Jeffrey Hopkins--considered by many the foremost Western authority on Tibetan Buddhism. His presentation is based on Jang-gya's famous work--the original and translation are included. The reasonings used to analyze persons and phenomena to establish their true mode of existence are discussed in the context of meditative practice. This exposition includes a masterful treatment of the compatibility of emptiness and dependent-arising.
The glorious Tantra King who cut off all secrets - Der glorreiche Tantrak繹nig, der alle Geheimnisse abgeschnitten hat
The text is dates back to the 11th century. It is from the indian pandit Gayadhara and the tibetan translator Drokmi. This text contains meditation practices from Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism uses linguistic and ritual symbols that are not accessible without instruction. Texts and instructions cannot therefore be understood without appropriate instruction. Tantric texts like these require years of engagement with Buddhist content. Buddhist teachings are divided into the General Paths and the Higher Paths on the Vajrayana Path. For tantric texts like this one should already have a deep knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism. They presuppose the teachings from the general paths. In addition, one should be familiar with Deity Yoga and have received at least one initiation into the Supreme Yogatantra from a qualified teacher. You should also have contact persons as well as a qualified teacher to whom you can ask questions. These can be found in Tibetan centers of all schools.
Buddhism and Postmodern Imaginings in Thailand
This book presents a rethink on the significance of Thai Buddhism in an increasingly complex and changing post-modern urban context, especially following the financial crisis of 1997. Defining the cultural nature of Thai 'urbanity'; the implications for local/global flows, interactions and emergent social formations, James Taylor opens up new possibilities in understanding the specificities of everyday urban life as this relates to perceptions, conceptions and lived experiences of religiosity. Changes in the centre are also reverberating in the remaining forests and the monastic tradition of forest-dwelling which has sourced most of the nation's modern saints. The text is based on ethnography taking into account the rich variety of everyday practices in a m矇lange of the religious. In Thailand, Buddhism is so intimately interconnected with national identity and social, economic and ethno-political concerns as to be inseparable. Taylor argues here that in recent years there has been a marked reformulation of important conventional cosmologies through new and challenging Buddhist ideas and practices. These influences and changes are as much located outside as inside the Buddhist temples/monasteries.
Zen Antics
Throughout Zen history, stories and anecdotes of Zen masters and their students have been used as teaching devices to exemplify the enlightened spirit. Unlike many of the baffling dialogues between Zen masters preserved in the koan literature, the stories retold here are penetratingly simple but with a richness and subtlety that make them worth reading again and again. This collection includes more than one hundred such stories--many appearing here in English for the first time--drawn from a wide variety of sources and involving some of the best-known Zen masters, such as Hakuin, Bankei, and Shosan. Also presented are stories and anecdotes involving famous Zen artists and poets, such as Sengai and Basho.
Following in Your Footsteps, Volume II
Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India presents the incredible feats of Guru Padmasambhava in the Indian subcontinent. This tantric embodiment of awakening spent hundreds of years training with the greatest masters of India, practicing in charnel grounds, protecting the Dharma, and spreading these marvelous teachings far and wide. The Lotus-Born Guru in India explores the sacred sites where Guru Padmasambhava's activities unfolded. Closely following Orgyen Lingpa's Pema Kathang: The Chronicles of Padma-one of the single most important treasure biographies of Guru Padmasambhava-these narratives are interwoven with rare accounts and visions from realized Tibetan masters such as Jamyang Khyents矇 Wangpo, Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa and Jamyang Khyents矇 Ch繹kyi Lodr繹. The Lotus-Born Guru in India offers a translation of Jamyang Khyents矇 Wangpo's summary prayer of the Pema Kathang, along with teachings by the contemporary Tibetan masters Neten Chokling Rinpoch矇 and Phakchok Rinpoch矇. You will also find a collection of essential supplications and prayers-in both English and Tibetan-and beautifully rendered paintings to guide and inspire your journey into this miraculous world. The Lotus-Born Guru in India is the second of a three-part series tracing the arc of Guru Padmasambhava's journey across the ages and landscapes of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Lhasey Lotsawa has collected some of the most treasured stories from these sacred places, and presents it here as an authentic source of wisdom and inspiration. These books are essential companions for anyone who wishes to truly follow in the footsteps of the Lotus-Born Guru.
Pilgrims Until We Die
The Shikoku pilgrimage, a 1400 kilometre, eighty-eight temple circuit around Japan's fourth largest island, takes around forty days by foot, or one week by car. Historically, Buddhist ascetics walked it without ceasing, creating a tradition of unending pilgrimage that continues in the present era, both by pilgrims on foot and by others in cars. Some spend decades walking the pilgrimage, while others drive it repeatedly, completing hundreds of pilgrimage circuits. Most are retired and make the pilgrimage the centre of their post-work lives. Others who work full-time spend their holidays and weekends as pilgrims. Some have only done the pilgrimage a few times but already imagine themselves as unending pilgrims and intend to do it "until we die". They talk happily of being addicted and having Shikokuby?, 'Shikoku illness', portraying this 'illness' and addiction as blessings. Featuring extensive fieldwork and interviews, this study of Japan's most famous Buddhist pilgrimage presents new theoretical perspectives on pilgrimage in general, along with rich ethnographic examples of pilgrimage practices in contemporary Japan. Pilgrims Until We Die counteracts normative portrayals of pilgrimage as a transient activity, defined by a temporary leave of absence from home to visit sacred places outside the parameters of everyday life, showing that many participants view pilgrimage as a way of creating a sense of home and permanence on the road. Examining how obsession, devotion, and a sense of addiction aided by modern developments and economic factors have created a culture of recurrent pilgrimage, Pilgrims Until We Die challenges standard understandings of pilgrimage.
Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism
Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism explores two influential intellectual and religious leaders in Christianity and Buddhism, Bonaventure (c. 1217-74) and Chinul (1158-1210), a Franciscan theologian and a Korean Zen master respectively, with respect to their lifelong endeavors to integrate the intellectual and spiritual life so as to achieve the religious aims of their respective religious traditions. It also investigates an associated tension between different modes of discourse relating to the divine or the ultimate--positive (cataphatic) discourse and negative (apophatic) discourse. Both of these modes of discourse are closely related to different ways of understanding the immanence and transcendence of the divine or the ultimate. Through close studies of Bonaventure and Chinul, the book presents a unique dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism and between West and East.
The Lotus Sutra According To a Soka Buddha
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most influential Mahayana Sutras that existed. It is hard to understand and hard to believe for most. Shakyamuni Buddha vouched that this is the true teaching throughout his lifetime. He only revealed this in the last eight years of his life. The concepts, doctrines and imageries used in this book are simply sublime. It advocated that all of us have inherent Buddhahood and can become so. This is across all cultures, gender and those with any past deeds and misdeeds. This was revolutionary in its time. This writing of this book helps to illustrate its main teachings.
Storied Companions
A professor, mother, and Buddhist practitioner helps readers discover new ways of facing and experiencing life, death, and impermanence. "With my diagnosis of grade IV brain cancer, I no longer observe the truth of impermanence from a critical, analytical distance. I am crashing into it, or it into me." Facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, Karen Derris--professor, mother, and Buddhist practitioner--turned to books. By reading ancient Buddhist stories with new questions and a new purpose--finding a way to live with her dying body--she discovers new ways to make them immediate and real. For instance, reading with her terminal prognosis, she becomes one of the four omens (the four signs of impermanence and suffering) the young Siddhartha sees in his excursions from the palace. What would it mean for her to be in the crowd, straining to see the prince with her own sick and impermanent body--to be pushed aside and out of sight by the palace minders, just as our society so often tries to brush aside anything uncomfortable, but to nonetheless be seen by the young bodhisattva? Or reading as a mother, maybe she shares something akin to what Queen Maya may have felt, knowing she was dying, giving her newborn son over to her sister's care? What will it mean for her own children to be motherless? She follows the knotted threads connecting Milarepa's angry, vengeful mother to Karen's own mother, who physically abused her throughout a traumatic childhood. By placing herself into these stories, she turns them from distant and static narratives into companions, and from companions into guides. Storied Companions interweaves Karen's memoir of her life of trauma and illness with stories from Buddhist literary traditions, sharing with the reader how she found ways to live with the reality that she won't live as long as she wants and needs to. Honest, powerful, and insightful, Storied Companions itself becomes an invaluable companion, guiding the reader to discover new ways of facing and experiencing life, death, and impermanence.
Human Beings or Human Becomings?
Great transformations are reshaping human life, social institutions, and the world around us, raising profound questions about our fundamental values. We now have the knowledge and the technical expertise, for instance, to realize a world in which no child needs to go to bed hungry--and yet, hunger persists. And although the causes of planetary climate disruption are well known, action of the scale and resolution needed to address it remain elusive.In order to deepen our understanding of these transformations and the ethical responses they demand, considering how they are seen from different civilizational perspectives is imperative.Acknowledging the rise of China both geopolitically and culturally, the essays in this volume enter into critical and yet appreciative conversations with East Asian philosophical traditions--primarily Confucianism, but also Buddhism and Daoism--drawing on their conceptual resources to understand what it means to be human as irreducibly relational. The opening chapters establish a framework for seeing the resolution of global predicaments, such as persistent hunger and climate disruption, as relational challenges that cannot be addressed from within the horizons of any ethics committed to taking the individual as the basic unit of moral analysis. Subsequent chapters turn to Confucian traditions as resources for addressing these challenges, reimagining personhood as a process of responsive, humane becoming and envisioning ethics as a necessarily historical and yet open-ended process of relational refinement and evolving values.
An Introduction to Zen Buddhism
No one has contributed more to the amazing interest in Zen Buddhism in the Western world than the author of this volume. Dr. Suzuki has dedicated his life to the subject of Zen, and to interpreting its philosophy and concepts for the Western reader. Of his more than a dozen works currently available in English, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism is most suitable as the basic text for the general reader interested in understanding Zen.After situating Zen both in Buddhism and in Oriental culture, Suzuki then answers the fundamental question "What is Zen?" in an incisive, lucid chapter that also refutes several misconceptions common in the West. Continually drawing on his extraordinary knowledge of both Eastern and Western cultures, philosophies, and religions, he illustrates each concept of Zen with concrete examples abounding in wit and wisdom. Zen is not only a philosophy-a way to self竅understanding-it is also "primarily and ultimately a discipline," and Dr. Suzuki gives due attention to the practical aspects of this discipline. More than any other volume on the subject, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism is an indispensable guide to an understanding of this rich, provocative subject.
The Analects: A Guide
The Analects (Lunyu) is the earliest and most influential record of the teachings of Kongzi (551-479 B.C.E.), known to most Westerners as "Confucius." If we measure influence according to the number of people who have lived their lives according to the teachings of a particular text, there isa good argument to be made that the Analects has been the most influential text in the world. This book argues that we have good reasons to study the Analects as a sacred text, and that doing so sheds light not only on the text and the Confucian tradition, but on what the sacred is, more broadly. It begins by examining what it means for a text to be regarded as sacred in relation to the unique history of this remarkably influential book, and goes on to offer a close study of the Analects, including its structure, its composition and compilation, and the purpose it has served in the Confuciantradition as the earliest and most authoritative record of Kongzi's teachings and conduct. The book further considers the history of the Analects as the most authoritative collection of Confucian teachings which virtually all major Confucians--as well as Chinese thinkers throughout history from theMohist, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions--responded. This book explores the text, situating its teachings in relation to the religious practices of its time (including Zhou rituals and customs known as li and the veneration of ancestor and nature spirits), and discusses the Analects use and receptionboth in the periods following its composition and compilation and throughout China's imperial history up through the modern era, including the recent revival of activity in Confucian temples.
The Hevajra Tantra
In this groundbreaking work, the author presents a full translation of, and commentary on, the Hevajra tantra, providing not only deep insight into arguably the most important surviving tantric Buddhist text but also placing the entire corpus of such works into a more accurate context. Snellgrove presents the Hevajra tantra, and tantric texts of this class, not as degenerate products of a faith at the time in terminal decline in India-as has often been claimed by puritanical scholars-but rather as a wholly legitimate expression of esoteric ritual and meditative practice developed as a natural evolution within the madhyamika tradition. While based primarily on Nepalese manuscript editions of the text, Snellgrove makes extensive reference to the Tibetan translation as well as to extant Indian commentaries. The first half of the work comprises an introduction and the actual translation with detailed annotations, while the second consists of the Romanized original Sanskrit and Tibetan texts and an extensive glossary.
This Precious Life
The tragic triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown that occurred in northern Japan on March 11, 2011 hit a nation already in crisis; both economically and spiritually. This Precious Life takes us through the unfolding events of 2011 documenting efforts by Japanese Buddhist priests, temples, and organizations to respond to both the sudden disaster of the tsunami and the ongoing disaster of the nuclear power plants. While Japanese Buddhism has been struggling to recover its meaning for people in this highly modernized nation, the past year has shown its great ability to serve people in times of crisis and trauma. Meanwhile, Japanese Buddhism is slowly starting to take on the nuclear issue and deeper structural problems that face the nation. This Precious Life is filled with many moving stories from this epoch making year; provides a variety of critiques of both Japanese society and Japanese Buddhism; and a presents the work of a small group of Buddhist visionaries already working to create the new Japan of post 3/11.
Powers of Protection
This sourcebook explores the most extensive tradition of Buddhist dhāraṇī literature and provides access to the earliest available materials for the first time: a unique palm-leaf bundle from the 12th-13th centuries and a paper manuscript of 1719 CE. The Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha collections have been present in South Asia, and especially in Nepal, for more than eight hundred years and served to supply protection, merit and auspiciousness for those who commissioned their compilation. For modern scholarship, these diverse compendiums are valuable sources of incantations and related texts, many of which survive in Sanskrit only in such manuscripts.
The Yijing: A Guide
Despite its enduring popularity both in China and worldwide, the Yijing is often poorly understood. As a divinatory text, it has a devoted following in the western hemisphere, even as it represents a foundational text of both Confucianism and Daoism. A fascination with the Yijing has been evident among western scholars since the Enlightenment, as well as in notable modern literary and artistic figures. This book provides an introduction for the general reader to this classic sacred text. Joseph A. Adler explains its multi-layered structure, its origins, its history of interpretation from the early first millennium BCE up to the present day, its function of divination, its significance in the history of Chinese thought, and its modern transformations. He explores why the Yijing has been considered the most profound expression of traditional Chinese thought and what meaning it can have for contemporary readers.
Monks, Money, and Morality
Vibrantly engaging contemporary Buddhist lives, this book focuses on the material and financial relations of contemporary monks, temples, and laypeople. It shows that rather than being peripheral, economic exchanges are key to religious debate in Buddhist societies. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in countries ranging from India to Japan, including all three major Buddhist traditions, the book addresses the flows of goods and services between clergy and laity, the management of resources, the treatment of money, and the role of the state in temple economies. Along with documenting ritual and economic practices, these accounts deal with the moral challenges that Buddhist adherents are facing today, thereby bringing lived experience to the study of an often-romanticized religion.
Kill Buddha
The texts in the book are dedicated to all seekers. The seekers know that the identifying search should be broken off. The compulsion to search for the ego keeps coming back endlessly. The ideas of one's own person and the identification in liberating teachings usually arise endlessly and over and over again. We get caught up in new thoughts all the time. Meditation and contemplation help: to free yourself again and again, to dissolve the mental hardening and aberrations again and again. Exploring the mind openly and freely with these short narratives and aphorisms can perhaps be a little help on the path of life.
The Cave of the Ancients
Behind the great Himalayan range, there lies all-seeing, all-knowing power and enlightenment.It is a way of life that may now be destroyed for all time, a spiritual culture with roots in the ancient world, the remote lamaseries of Tibet.It is here that T. Lobsang Rampa journeyed on the road to self-awareness, to these age-old repositories of wisdom -- where the Lamas learn the meaning of life and death, where the mysterious relationship between the mind and the brain is uncovered, where the secrets of hypnotism, telepathy, clairvoyance, and reincarnation are a part of daily life.Here too Rampa learned power -- but not for abuse or misuse. For the power of supreme enlightenment and universal knowledge is only offered to a chosen few, to those introduced to the strange and exciting world of . . .THE CAVE OF THE ANCIENTS
Revamp
A living tradition, Buddhism began as a way of working with the difficulties we all face as mortal, vulnerable, conscious beings. Its founder imbued this practice with an ethic of care, and teachings we can use today to interpret our experience and as a guide to full human flourishing.Since the Buddha's death, the dharma has been expressed in many ways in different cultural settings, and often these border crossings enriched it. But when the dharma appeared in religious guise, it became burdened with cosmic beliefs, its practice regimented, and was used as an instrument of social control, stifling the freedom at its heart.Secularity encourages a search for the good life in today's circumstances, not as prescribed by timeless myths. As part of the process of the dharma putting down roots in the west, secular Buddhism offers the vitality of the early dharma, free of religious distortions.Winton Higgins tracks the emergence of secular Buddhism with a focus on today's climate emergency and intensifying social injustice that cry out for radical socioeconomic and political change. The ethic of care that underpins a creative dharma practice, he suggests, calls on us to bring our training to bear on these urgent tasks.
Zen Koans, Paradoxical Awakening
What comes to mind when you hear the word "koan"? You probably know koans as paradoxes, and you may believe that they are therefore illogical or intellectually inscrutable-and therefore not useful to the average person. Zen Koans: Paradoxical Awakenings is the tool you need to correct your perceptions of koans and become aware of the benefits of koan practice. Embracing the paradox of the koan can give deeper meaning to life, as well as leading to the Buddhist awakening to your real, non-dual nature. With an experienced Zen teacher as your guide, you can enter more deeply into the three essentials of Zen: great faith, great doubt, and great determination.
This is it
Each section of the book leads into the next, showing how, by peeling away our habitual assumptions and projections, we can directly encounter the intrinsic purity of our own mind. "This is it", Dzogchen, the great completion.The first facet, One Thing Leads to Another, offers sutra texts on dependent origination. The second, Increased Transparency, includes the Heart Sutra and indicates that all phenomena, whether seemingly outer or inner, subject or object, are empty and devoid of inherent existence. This leads onto the third facet Encountering the Other, the story of how the Buddha Chakrasamvara manifested in order to deal with cruelty and malicious behaviour. The fourth Facet, Getting Lost Invites Trouble, offers two accounts of how pride and self-confidence can lead a person astray so that their provocations lead to a display the Buddhas' wrathful power, enforcing transformation and the abrupt end to the careers of heartless bullies.Next, in the fifth facet, we see how transformation can be elective rather than imposed. Cutting Free begins with the story of Machig Labdron, her struggle to free herself from social constraints so that she could pursue a life in dharma. There is a short guru yoga practice and her Ch繹d practice, The Dakinis' Laughter. Finally in facet six, Just This is The Cuckoo Cry, the foundational text of the dzogchen mind series. In just three couplets it sets out the view, meditation and activity which are the inseparability of primordial purity and instant presence.
Mapping the Buddhist Path to Liberation
Due to the diversity in Buddhism, its essence remains a puzzle. This book investigates the Buddhist path to liberation from a practical and critical perspective by searching for patterns found in the Pāli Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas. The early discourses depict the Buddhist path as a network of routes leading to the same goal: liberation from suffering. This book summarizes various teachings in three aspects, provides a template theory for systematically presenting the formulas of the sequential training of the path, and analyses the differences and similarities among diverse descriptions of the path in the early Buddhist texts. By offering a comprehensive map of the Buddhist path, this book will appeal to scholars and students of Buddhist studies as well as those practitioners with a serious interest in the Buddhist path.
Swampland Flowers
The writings of the twelfth-century Chinese Zen master Ta Hui are as immediately accessible as those of any contemporary teacher, and this book, which introduced them to the English-speaking world in the 1970s, has become a modern classic--a regular feature of recommended reading lists for Zen centers across America, even though the book has become difficult to find. We are happy to make the book available again after more than a decade of scarcity. J. C. Cleary's translation is as noteworthy for its elegant simplicity as for its accuracy. He has culled from the voluminous writings of Ta Hui Tsung Kao in the Chi Yeuh Lu this selection of letters, sermons, and lectures, some running no longer than a page, which cover a variety of subjects ranging from concern over the illness of a friend's son to the tending of an ox. Ta Hui addresses his remarks mainly to people in lay life and not to his fellow monks. Thus the emphasis throughout is on ways in which those immersed in worldly occupations can nevertheless learn Zen and achieve the liberation promised by the Buddha. These texts, available in English only in this translation, come as a revelation for their lucid thinking and startling wisdom. The translator's essay on Chan (Chinese Zen) Buddhism and his short biography of Ta Hui place the texts in their proper historical perspective.
The History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism
The History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism covers the history and teachings of Buddhism from the time of Sakyamuni Buddha in ancient India, the transmission and development of Buddhism in China focusing on the development of Tiantai Buddhism, its transmission to Japan as Tendai Buddhism, and the life and teachings of Nichiren Shonin. The basic and most important teachings of Nichiren Shonin and Nichiren Shu are explained in English for the first time.Chapter 1. Śākyamuni Buddha's Life and Teachings Written by Yosei Ikegami Chapter 2. The Development of Buddhist ThoughtWritten by Kaiei Mochizuki Chapter 3. The Teachings of the Lotus SūtraWritten by Keijin MamiyaChapter 4. Tiānt獺i Buddhism Written by Jinin FukushiChapter 5. The Life of Nichiren Shōnin Written by Eichi TeraoChapter 6. Nichiren Shōnin's Teachings Written by Zeho MiwaChapter 7. History of Nichiren Shū Written by Shincho Mochizuki
Rituals of Initiation and Consecration in Premodern Japan
In premodern Japan, legitimization of power and knowledge in various contexts was sanctioned by consecration rituals (kanjō) of Buddhist origin. This is the first book to address in a comprehensive way the multiple forms and aspects of these rituals also in relation to other Asian contexts.The multidisciplinary chapters in the book address the origins of these rituals in ancient Persia and India and their developments in China and Tibet, before discussing in depth their transformations in medieval Japan. In particular, kanjō rituals are examined from various perspectives: imperial ceremonies, Buddhist monastic rituals, vernacular religious forms (Shugendō mountain cults, Shinto lineages), rituals of bodily transformation involving sexual practice, and the performing arts: a history of these developments, descriptions of actual rituals, and reference to religious and intellectual arguments based on under-examined primary sources. No other book presents so many cases of kanjō in such depth and breadth.This book is relevant to readers interested in Buddhist studies, Japanese religions, the history of Japanese culture, and in the intersections between religious doctrines, rituals, legitimization, and performance.
Bringing Meditation to Life
Meditation is not just something we do on the cushion, it's a way of life.Zen teacher, monk, and peace activist Claude AnShin Thomas shares his experiences and insights into how Zen teachings and practice can move off the meditation cushion and into everything we do, transforming all aspects of our lives.Presented in 108 short, to-the-point, provocative chapters, this book offers essential instruction on sitting meditation practice and how it can inform our relationships, communication, conflicts, peace work, and more. Interspersed throughout the book are some of the author's favorite quotes from Zen literature. AnShin touches on such topics as: Living the Buddhist precepts Embracing not knowing Coping with uncomfortable emotions such as fear, guilt, and shame The simple yet powerful practice of bowing How to find peace with our unpeacefulnessDrawn from public talks and earlier writings, Bringing Meditation to Life distills the essence of Claude AnShin's approach to Zen practice
Multicultural Mindfulness
Explore the mindfulness practices of Hygge, Keyif, Frilufsliv, Gemutlichkeit and many more as you craft your own practice from the traditional customs of other countries. The non-judgmental acceptance of the feelings that emerge in our thoughts and emotions, in the present, manifests into a lifelong mindful practice. The similarities of the various modalities found around the world to practice mindfulness are more numerous than the differences in some cases than the activities of a culture. They are passed down from generation to generation with the name of the activity rather than the more trending term of mindfulness. Make no mistake, the names change from countries and cultures around the globe, but the intention is identical. Join me on a journey of how mindfulness exists in other cultures with the diversity and of the way things are done in other countries to formulate a lifestyle of staying in the present.
Chakras, Reiki Healing and Buddhism for Beginners
Awaken your true power to heal your mind and soul with the ancient wisdom of the East.Are you searching for a powerful path to healing your mind, body and soul? Do you want to become more in touch with the universe around you and discover ancient Eastern wisdom? Then this collection is for you.Combining three profound and enlightening books on Eastern wisdom and spiritual practices, this collection unveils a new path to reclaiming your mental health and physical wellbeing. Tapping into the wisdom of Buddhism, the healing powers of Reiki, and how you can align your chakras and channel your inner energy, this bundle reveals a proven and practical path for transforming every area of your life. If you've always wanted to discover Eastern wisdom, or if you're searching for a new and often-overlooked way of controlling anxiety and beating stress, then this collection is for you. With simple, straightforward advice and actionable methods which you can begin implementing the moment you finish reading, this book shows you how to begin reclaiming your mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.Inside Chakra Healing for Beginners, you'll discover: An Incredible Breakdown of The 7 Chakras (and Why You Should Pay Attention To Them)Surprising Ways That Your Chakras Become Blocked and DamagedPowerful Methods For Dissolving Blockages and Unleashing Your Inner PowerA Practical Test For Figuring Out If You Have Blocked ChakrasAnd How You Can Tap Into The Amazing Therapeutic Benefits of Chakra HealingInside Reiki Healing for Beginners, you'll learn: Reiki 101 - Everything You Need To Know About This Powerful Healing Technique The Secret Behind Reiki (and Why It Can Help You Live a Happier Life)Must-Know Advice For Embarking on Your Journey With ReikiA Practical Daily Reiki Practice For Cultivating WellbeingAnd Essential Reiki Life Rules For Good HealthAnd inside Buddhism for Beginners, you'll uncover: How YOU Can Begin Applying Buddhist Teachings To Your LifeA Breakdown of Buddhism's Origins and Fundamental TeachingsSimple Beginner's Introductions To Key Buddhist TeachingsEasy Ways To Discover The Power of Meditation5 Steps For Beginning a Meditation PracticeAnd So Much More...
MahamudraA Practical Guide
Essential instructions on Mahamudra from one of today's greatest Mahamudra masters. In his first major book, His Eminence the Twelfth Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche, the head of the Zurmang Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, elucidates the essence of a fundamental Mahamudra teaching. At the heart of this book are Rinpoche's practical instructions on how to settle the mind and meditate in a way that directly works with the mind, with the aim of discovering and becoming familiar with the nature of the mind. These instructions are given as commentary to a short text written by Bokar Rinpoche, which is itself a concise commentary on the Ninth Gyalwa Karmapa Wangchuk Dorj矇's Ocean of Definitive Meaning, which is considered to be one of the most authoritative and exhaustive treatises on Mahamudra. The book covers topics such as the preliminary practices, the practice of samatha and vipasyana according to the Mahamudra tradition, and advice for overcoming obstacles and making progress along the path. His Eminence Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche offers revealing commentary on Bokar Rinpoche's pithy teaching, illuminating and unlocking it for contemporary readers, showing us the way to understand the very nature of our own minds.
Translating Buddhism
Although many Buddhist studies scholars spend a great deal of their time involved in acts of translation, to date not much has been published that examines the key questions, problems, and difficulties faced by translators of South Asian Buddhist texts and epigraphs. Translating Buddhism seeks to address this omission. The essays collected here represent a burgeoning attempt to begin to shape the subfield of translation studies within Buddhist studies, whereby scholars actively challenge primary routine decisions and basic assumptions. Exploring questions including how interpretive translators can be and how cultural and social norms affect translations, the book draws on the broad experiences of its contributors--all of whom are translators themselves--who bring different themes to the table. Each chapter can be used either independently or as part of the whole to engender reflections on the process of translation.
Lineages of the Literary
In the aftermath of the cataclysmic Maoist period, three Tibetan Buddhist scholars living and working in the People's Republic of China became intellectual heroes. Renowned as the "Three Polymaths," Ts矇ten Zhabdrung (1910-1985), Mug矇 Samten (1914-1993), and Dungkar Lozang Trinl矇 (1927-1997) earned this symbolic title for their efforts to keep the lamp of the Dharma lit even in the darkest hour of Tibetan history. Lineages of the Literary reveals how the Three Polymaths negotiated the political tides of the twentieth century, shedding new light on Sino-Tibetan relations and Buddhism during this turbulent era. Nicole Willock explores their contributions to reviving Tibetan Buddhism, expanding Tibetan literary arts, and pioneering Tibetan studies as an academic discipline. Her sophisticated reading of Tibetan-language sources vivifies the capacious literary world of the Three Polymaths, including autobiography, Buddhist philosophy, poetic theory, and historiography. Whereas prevailing state-centric accounts place Tibetan religious figures in China in one of two roles, collaborator or resistance fighter, Willock shows how the Three Polymaths offer an alternative model of agency. She illuminates how they by turns safeguarded, taught, and celebrated Tibetan Buddhist knowledge, practices, and institutions after their near destruction during the Cultural Revolution. An interdisciplinary work spanning religious studies, history, literary studies, and social theory, Lineages of the Literary offers new insight into the categories of religion and the secular, the role of Tibetan Buddhist leaders in modern China, and the contested ground of Tibet.
Lineages of the Literary
In the aftermath of the cataclysmic Maoist period, three Tibetan Buddhist scholars living and working in the People's Republic of China became intellectual heroes. Renowned as the "Three Polymaths," Ts矇ten Zhabdrung (1910-1985), Mug矇 Samten (1914-1993), and Dungkar Lozang Trinl矇 (1927-1997) earned this symbolic title for their efforts to keep the lamp of the Dharma lit even in the darkest hour of Tibetan history. Lineages of the Literary reveals how the Three Polymaths negotiated the political tides of the twentieth century, shedding new light on Sino-Tibetan relations and Buddhism during this turbulent era. Nicole Willock explores their contributions to reviving Tibetan Buddhism, expanding Tibetan literary arts, and pioneering Tibetan studies as an academic discipline. Her sophisticated reading of Tibetan-language sources vivifies the capacious literary world of the Three Polymaths, including autobiography, Buddhist philosophy, poetic theory, and historiography. Whereas prevailing state-centric accounts place Tibetan religious figures in China in one of two roles, collaborator or resistance fighter, Willock shows how the Three Polymaths offer an alternative model of agency. She illuminates how they by turns safeguarded, taught, and celebrated Tibetan Buddhist knowledge, practices, and institutions after their near destruction during the Cultural Revolution. An interdisciplinary work spanning religious studies, history, literary studies, and social theory, Lineages of the Literary offers new insight into the categories of religion and the secular, the role of Tibetan Buddhist leaders in modern China, and the contested ground of Tibet.
Walking with Buddha
Walking with Buddha is a moving-meditation set along Japan's stunning Shikoku 88-Temple Trail. The ancient 1,200-kilometer path around the island of Shikoku serves as a reflective backdrop for cultural immersion and introduction into the Buddha-Nature. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Lockhart sets off on a walking pilgrimage to nourish her soul and contemplate her next fifty years. While learning to embrace her own Buddha Nature, she discovers the wisdom, courage, and grace to accept change and re-create a life she truly desires.
Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Myanmar
One of the most comprehensive volumes on Myanmar's identity politics to date, this book discusses the entanglement of ethnic and religious identities in Myanmar and the challenges presented by its extensive ethnic-religious diversity. Religious and ethnic conjunctions are treated from historical, political, religious and ethnic minority perspectives through both case studies and overview chapters. The book addresses the thorny issue of Buddhist supremacy, Burmese nationalism and ethnic-religious hierarchy, along with reflections on Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities. Bringing together international scholars and Burmese scholars, this book combines the perspectives of academic observers with those of political activists and religious leaders from different faiths. Through the breadth of its disciplinary approach, its focus on identity issues and its inclusion of insider and outsider perspectives, this book provides new insights into the complex religious situation of Myanmar.
The Bodhisattva and the Space Age
Adapted from its original format, published here for the first time, Roger Weir's The Bodhisattva and the Space Age: The Great Idea in Our Time, which blends the ancient Buddhist writings with a modern cosmic understanding, guiding the learner on a journey through time and space.In The Bodhisattva and the Space Age, you'll explore: The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Shraddhotpada Mahayana Sutra) - Learn the eight reasons for the creation of the revolutionary text and the shift in Buddhist consciousness from a personal liberation to a universal liberation through the introduction of the goddess Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion.The Teaching of Vimalakirti (Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra) - Discover one of the most famous of the Mahayana Sutras, which tells the story of Yuima (also known as Vimalakirti), a layman whose wisdom surprised and amazed even some of the most famous Buddhas and bodhisattvas in history.The Accumulation of Precious Qualities (Prajna Paramita Ratna Guna Samcaya Gatha) - The paradise of the Amitabha Buddha is not one of just singing and mindlessness, but one of study and great erudition because the bodhisattva ideal includes omniscience-one must know it all-every bit of it, in all of its ramifications, for all beings to learn.The Space Age - The modern scientific worldview reveals that there are infinite galaxies in all directions around ours, and from a Buddhist perspective, they are peopled with infinite beings in need of liberation from the cycle of samsara.
The Bodhisattva and the Space Age
Adapted from its original format, published here for the first time, Roger Weir's The Bodhisattva and the Space Age: The Great Idea in Our Time, which blends the ancient Buddhist writings with a modern cosmic understanding, guiding the learner on a journey through time and space.In The Bodhisattva and the Space Age, you'll explore: The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Shraddhotpada Mahayana Sutra) - Learn the eight reasons for the creation of the revolutionary text and the shift in Buddhist consciousness from a personal liberation to a universal liberation through the introduction of the goddess Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion.The Teaching of Vimalakirti (Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra) - Discover one of the most famous of the Mahayana Sutras, which tells the story of Yuima (also known as Vimalakirti), a layman whose wisdom surprised and amazed even some of the most famous Buddhas and bodhisattvas in history.The Accumulation of Precious Qualities (Prajna Paramita Ratna Guna Samcaya Gatha) - The paradise of the Amitabha Buddha is not one of just singing and mindlessness, but one of study and great erudition because the bodhisattva ideal includes omniscience-one must know it all-every bit of it, in all of its ramifications, for all beings to learn.The Space Age - The modern scientific worldview reveals that there are infinite galaxies in all directions around ours, and from a Buddhist perspective, they are peopled with infinite beings in need of liberation from the cycle of samsara.
Becoming Buddha
The Buddha's teachings, the dharma, have gone through three paradigmatic shifts over the millennia, known as the 'turnings' of the dharmic wheel and are reviewed in this book. These paradigm shifts are a result of a deepening understanding into the nature of suffering and the methods of healing. At this time the process of cultural interaction between East and West, and its inevitable synthesis, is well underway as many of the fundamental insights of Buddhist contemplative psychology are becoming integrated into western psychotherapy. There is currently a need for integral dharma teachings that are grounded in the theory and practice of Buddhist contemplative psychology that is synthesized with Western psychological healing and adult development. This book opens a door to this amazing integral synthesis for our times.
Spirituality for Badasses
Fulfillment, healing, peace & happiness should never come at the cost of losing our smarts, uniqueness, strength, integrity, sense of humor, or cool...Finally! Someone had the cojones to write it: A seriously funny & irreverent spiritual self-help book for adults, that bypasses all the conventional & cliched niceties & offers you - the reader & star of the show- dead-on, practical ways to change your life for good, forever.Spirituality for Badasses contains numerous astonishingly simple and spectacularly effective principles, techniques and methods to help you find your true, happy, confident, aware self. No preparation required. Anyone can do it. Start right now. You'll experience deep inner changes simply by reading the book. You'll replace who you think you are with who you truly are. Yep- Spirituality for Badasses is some powerful mojo. It's also funny as sh#! You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll learn and grow.Fair warning- Rated R- Contains cursing language, tequila drinking, loud rock-n-roll, bar fights, irreverent humor, emotional button pushing and ego shattering wisdom. This isn't your parent's self-help book. If you're looking for a bulleted list of coddling, woo-woo, positive-think, rainbows & unicorns spiritual advice & exercises- This is not the spiritual self-help book you are looking for... Move along.Spirituality for Badasses takes you the reader on a high-stakes, cross country, road trip adventure where you'll encounter a cornucopia of beautiful places, strange experiences and wild people. In the midst of this adventure you will be challenged, pushed to the edge and invited to experience life and yourself in radically transformative ways: Your guide and traveling companion, J. Stewart Dixon shows you the gritty no-holds bar ropes of what it takes - attention, awareness, mindfulness, recognizing the limited ego-mind, meeting deep seated fears and knowing your most intimate inner self- to become a true spiritual badass.The Midwest Book Review sums it up: "Spirituality for Badasses goes where no other books in these genres dare travel...in a way no other book matches." Chuck Hillig, best-selling author of Seeds for the Soul says: "Spirituality for Badasses is an irreverent, exuberant, free-wheeling, stream of consciousness saga that chronicles the spiritual journey in ways that are unique, humorous, challenging and a hell of a lot of fun ..."Okay Badass- It's time to decide: Purchase the book and experience the first self-help book you've ever read- that will actually make a huge, fundamental difference in your life.
The Buddha’s Tooth
John S. Strong unravels the storm of influences shaping the received narratives of two iconic sacred objects. Bodily relics such as hairs, teeth, fingernails, pieces of bone-supposedly from the Buddha himself-have long served as objects of veneration for many Buddhists. Unsurprisingly, when Western colonial powers subjugated populations in South Asia, they used, manipulated, redefined, and even destroyed these objects to exert control. In The Buddha's Tooth, John S. Strong examines Western stories, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, surrounding two significant Sri Lankan sacred objects to illuminate and concretize colonial attitudes toward Asian religions. First, he analyzes a tale about the Portuguese capture and public destruction, in the mid-sixteenth century, of a tooth later identified as a relic of the Buddha. Second, he switches gears to look at the nineteenth-century saga of British dealings with another tooth relic of the Buddha-the famous Daḷadā enshrined in a temple in Kandy-from 1815, when it was taken over by English forces, to 1954, when it was visited by Queen Elizabeth II. As Strong reveals, the stories of both the Portuguese tooth and the Kandyan tooth reflect nascent and developing Western understandings of Buddhism, realizations of the cosmopolitan nature of the tooth, and tensions between secular and religious interests.
Buddhist Dictionary
This highly important book translates and clearly explains foundational Pali terms that are vital to a complete understanding of Buddhist philosophy and religion. It is an accurate, detailed, and authentic Buddhist dictionary of doctrinal terms from the Pali Canon and its Commentaries. It is of value for understanding the early Buddhist tradition and the Theravada tradition which grew out of it, but does not cover the later Buddhist traditions. The author, Nyanatiloka, was a German monk who compiled the book while interned in India by the British during World War II. Since then, it has been enlarged and revised-this being the third revised and enlarged edition. The main entries are listed under the Pali terms, and the English expressions commonly used are explained and included. Original Pali words are often used in Buddhist texts and remain untranslated, since writers often did not know their accurate meanings. Therefore, this book is widely known as an essential work for all serious students of Buddhism.
Comes Judgment
Thank you for picking up this book. It was written with you in mind! There is nobody like you on this earth and you are as important as any other person, from kings to beggars. Jesus Christ existed and lived among us about two thousand years ago. He was brutalized and hung on a cross to die explicitly for you. He was resurrected to prove his credentials as our Savior. Those who place their trust in him will receive forgiveness for sins committed and will live eternally in heaven. Those who reject his offer will not. The amazing thing is, Jesus gives you the choice. Explore his incredible story and the significance of judgment. Many balk at the idea of judgment, but it is a part of everyday life. Judgment Is! Find out why but know that Christ offers joy and happiness along with his forgiveness. May you find peace, now and forever. Be blessed!
Religious Epistemology Through Schillebeeckx and Tibetan Buddhism
This study investigates how a comparison between the Catholic theologian Edward Schillebeeckx's controversial reading of Thomist philosophy and the Tibetan Buddhist Gendun Chopel's challenge to the standard Geluk teaching of Tsongkhapa's Madhyamaka philosophy might assist in rethinking conceptions of religious knowledge. Utilizing a wide variety of methodical approaches to establish an imaginary dialogue between these two thinkers, this comparison remains embodied in the thought and praxis of actual individuals, and yet still firmly embedded within the conversations and trajectories of their broader religious traditions.
Rising of Bodhisattvas! 2017-2018
This book, Rising of Bodhisattvas! 2017-2018, collected Dharma talks given by International Buddha Dharma Society for Cosmic Law from Nov. 2017 to Dec. 2018.
