Enlightenment Philosophy

Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.

Democracy, free thought and expression, religious tolerance, individual liberty, political self-determination of peoples, sexual and racial equality - these values have firmly entered the mainstream in the decades since they were enshrined in the 1948 U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. But if these ideals no longer seem radical today, their origin was very radical indeed - far more so than most historians have been willing to recognize.

Are you chasing spiritual fulfillment or just another form of status? In Spiritual Materialism: A Beginner's Guide: The Hidden Dangers of Mixing Ego and Enlightenment, you will uncover the dark side of modern spirituality. What starts as a quest for inner peace often turns into a race for external validation—where meditation becomes a badge of honor and yoga a symbol of success. But true spiritual growth isn’t about impressing others; it’s about real transformation, deep self-awareness, and genuine peace. Discover how to avoid the most common spiritual traps: Ego vs. Enlightenment –...

The Upanishads are a vital thread in the evolution of Indian philosophy. Hindu philosophical thinking predates the Upanishads, dating back to the period of the Rig Veda. Even in the Rig Veda, issues about the genesis of the world and the origins of life are expressed. The sanctity of the Vedas is upheld by all six early orthodox traditions and philosophical schools. Despite the fact that Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, and Yoga did not explicitly remark on them, they did absorb certain parts of the Vedic Samhitas. In this book, we provide the reader with an overview of the major Upanishadic ...

For thousands of years, even before recorded history, shamans and others have sought understanding of the so-called spiritual world. Once writing was invented, then the narratives started about what people thought Enlightenment was and what it represented. In all cases it has been perceived to be something spiritual. What True Enlightenment presents is an alternative explanation to all these spiritual quests by informing the reader that the road to Enlightenment is not about spirituality and mysticism, but instead relates to a psychological process to prepare one for a direct interface with...

Treasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas - those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings.

Unlock the secrets of two profound paths to enlightenment with "Spiritual Paths: Pure Land and Shingon Buddhism." This comprehensive guide combines "Pure Land Buddhism: A Beginner's Guide" and "Shingon Buddhism: A Beginner's Guide" into one enlightening volume, perfect for those eager to explore the depth and beauty of these rich traditions. Immerse yourself in the simplicity and devotion of Pure Land Buddhism. Discover how faith, recitation, and the embrace of the Buddha's compassion can lead you to ultimate liberation. Feel the serenity wash over you as you connect with timeless wisdom ...

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!

What is karma? Most people understand karma as a balance sheet of good and bad deeds, virtues and sins. The mechanism that decrees that we cannot evade the consequences of our own actions. In reality, karma has nothing to do with reward and punishment. Karma simply means action: your action, your responsibility. It isn’t some external system of crime and punishment, but an internal cycle generated by you. Accumulation of karma is determined only by your intention and the way you respond to what is happening to you.

For decades, one of the most engaging teachers of our time has illuminated the many dimensions of awakening - but solely at his live retreats and on audio recordings. Now, with The Science of Enlightenment, Shinzen Young brings to listeners an uncommonly lucid guide to mindfulness meditation for the first time: how it works and how to use it to enhance your cognitive capacities, your kindness and connection with the world, and the richness of all your experiences. As thousands of his students and listeners will confirm, Shinzen is like no other teacher you’ve ever encountered.

This book has the potential to change your life by enabling you to have complete control of your emotional state at will. To switch off negative or detrimental emotions and increase positive emotions. You will learn how to eliminate all of your irrational fears, doubts and negative habitual programming, and thoughts. You will be able to eliminate chronic emotional and physical pain.

With dizzying social transformations in everything from gender to social justice, it may seem like there's never been a more tumultuous period in history. But a single year in the late 18th century saw a number of influential transformations—or even revolutions—that changed the social trajectory of the Western world. By understanding how those events influenced today's cultural landscape, Christians can more effectively bear witness to God's truth in a post-Christian age.

About 1,000 years ago, the great Indian pandit and yogi, Dipamkara Shrijnana (Atisha), was invited to Tibet to reestablish the Buddhadharma which had been suppressed and corrupted for almost two centuries. One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, steplike arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lam-rim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism.

It’s not about abundance, it’s about bliss… We have abundance in our lives, including an abundance of stress! The whole world is filled with uncertainty. How can we be happy when so much around us is rapidly changing? We live in a world of material luxuries, and yet we feel unfulfilled. We are longing for more, but we don’t know what that “more” is. Turns out, the happiness that has eluded us for so long was there all the time, we’ve just been looking in the wrong place. It’s not about “attracting” or “manifesting” – it’s about the tranquility and freedom that ...

What if you could cultivate the mind of a bodhisattva -- one who has dedicated one's life to the benefit of others? According to Pema Chödrön, best-selling author and American-born Buddhist nun, you can. On Bodhisattva Mind, she examines sheshin, or "guarding alertness", and the other qualities of mind we need to develop on the path to enlightenment.

The period from 1933 to 1943 was one of the darkest and most chaotic in human history, as the Second World War unfolded with unthinkable cruelty. It was also a crucial decade in the dramatic, intersecting lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers. There were four women, in particular, whose parallel ideas would come to dominate the twentieth century—at once in necessary dialogue and in striking contrast with one another.

In this original and groundbreaking book, Andrew Newberg, M.D., and Mark Robert Waldman turn their attention to the pinnacle of the human experience: enlightenment. Through his brain-scan studies on Brazilian psychic mediums, Sufi mystics, Buddhist meditators, Franciscan nuns, Pentecostals, and participants in secular spirituality rituals, Newberg has discovered the specific neurological mechanisms associated with the enlightenment experience - and how we might activate those circuits in our own brains.

The Enlightenment is one of the formative periods of Western history, yet more than 300 years after it began, it remains controversial. It is often seen as the fountainhead of modern values such as human rights, religious toleration, freedom of thought, scientific thought as an exemplary form of reasoning and rationality and evidence-based argument. Others accuse the Enlightenment of putting forward a scientific rationality which ignores the complexity and variety of human beings, propagates shallow atheism and aims to subjugate nature to so-called technical progress.

1. To See or Not to See 1 2. To See or Not to See 2 3. To See or Not to See 3 4. Eternally Yours 5. False Knowledge 6. War Party 7. Vanilla Sky 8. Mayan Palace Motel 9. Razor Redux 10. Working Class Gita 11. Senseless Awareness 12. 13th Floor Redux 13. Trust Factor 14. Purple Rose 15. Killing Buddha 16. A Tricky Ascent 17. B.Y.O.G. 18. Unio Mystica 19. On Wisdom 20. Heaven & Reincarnation 21. Twenty-One Words 22. An Eyelid’s Thickness 23. Now, Voyager 24. Not-Two vs All-Is-One 25. Simulation Games 26. Krishna the Terrible 27. This Is Not a Simulation 28. Setting Free the Angel 29. ...

In this treatise, noted Burmese scholar and monk Ledi Sayadaw explains the bodhipakkhiya dhamma: the 37 requisites of enlightenment. The requisites are comprised of the four foundations of mindfulness, four right efforts, four bases of success, five controlling faculties, five mental powers, seven factors of enlightenment, and the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. This book is valuable to those interested in understanding the Buddha's teaching at a deeper level, while providing the inspiration to continue walking step-by-step on the path.