Spirituality Buddhism

Through this novelized history of the Soka Gakkai - one of the most dynamic, diverse, and empowering Buddhist movements in the world today - listeners will discover the organization's goals and achievements even as they find inspiring and practical Buddhist wisdom for living happily and compassionately in today's world. The book recounts the stories of ordinary individuals who faced tremendous odds in transforming their lives through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and in bringing Buddhism's humanistic teachings to the world.

The question-and-answer format makes this introduction to Zen especially easy to understand - and also to use as a reference, as you can easily look up just the question you had in mind. The esteemed Zen teacher Norman Fischer and his old friend and teaching colleague Susan Moon (both of them in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind) give this collaborative effort a playful tone: Susan asks a question on our behalf, Norman answers it, and then Sue challenges him.

What if we could learn to look instead of see, listen instead of hear, feel instead of touch? Priest and best-selling author Ryunosuke Koike shows how, by incorporating simple Zen practices into our daily lives, we can reconnect with our five senses and live in a more peaceful, positive way. When we focus on our senses and learn to re-train our brains and our bodies, we start to eliminate the distracting noise of our minds and the negative thoughts that create anxiety.

After flipping her raft days away from help on a trip down the remote Salmon River, Katie Arnold's shattered leg tests both her spirit and her marriage for years to come. It also reignites her meditation practice and motivates her to dive into Zen in search of healing. Before the accident, Katie was an elite ultrarunner with a simmering but adequate marriage who avoided being indoors whenever possible. But who is she afterwards? In the midst of hardship, Katie turns for support to the Zen practice she had long dabbled in.

What does it mean to be Black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African-American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that Black Buddhist voices are enriching the dharma for all practitioners.

Daisaku Ikeda, one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the world today, offers powerful and inspiring teachings aimed at an American audience. His warm, deeply insightful, and compassionate style makes his wisdom accessible to people from all backgrounds. This collection of addresses from Mr. Ikeda’s visits to the United States in the 1990s cover a wide range of topics and is truly a textbook of happiness for America.

Traditional Eastern wisdom and real-life business experience come together in this brief and practical guide, which offers a step-by-step plan that will help readers adopt a more successful way of working and living. Karmic Management is a little book with a revolutionary message. It turns traditional business mentality on its head by stating simply that helping others become successful - suppliers, customers, even competitors - is the real key to success in life as well as in business.

Tibetan Buddhism describes three gates that everyone must pass through on the road to spiritual liberation. With the Three Commitments, Pema Chodron brings her unique blend of insight and gentle instruction to guide practitioners through each of these thresholds as they seek the source of true happiness. As Pema explains, suffering arises when we resist the laws of impermenance-the fact that everything we know, including ourselves, will one day die.

Do you see the meditativeness of the trees surrounding you? Such stillness! Just as you are listening to me, they are listening to me, not even a leaf moving. The birds are singing.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama provides intimate details on an advanced meditation practice called Dzogchen using a visionary poem by the 19th-century saint Patrul Rinpoche, author of the Buddhist classic Words of My Perfect Teacher. The Dalai Lama deftly connects how training the mind in compassion for other beings is directly related to - and in fact a prerequisite for - the very pinnacle of Buddhist meditation.

The Shobogenzo (The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) is a revered 800-year-old Zen Buddhism classic written by the Japanese monk Eihei Dogen. Despite the timeless wisdom of his teachings, many consider the book difficult to understand. In Don't Be a Jerk, Zen priest and best-selling author Brad Warner, through accessible paraphrasing and incisive commentary, applies Dogen's teachings to modern times.

With a unique combination of ancient and contemporary wisdom from Tibetan Buddhism, The Diamond Cutter presents readers with empowering strategies for success in their personal and professional lives.

T. Lobsang Rampa was preordained to be a Tibetan priest, a sign from the stars that could not be ignored. When he left his wealthy home to enter the monastery, his heart was filled with trepidation, with only a slight knowledge of the rigorous spiritual training and physical ordeal that awaited him. This is his story, a hauntingly beautiful and deeply inspiring journey of awakening within Chakpori Lamasery, the temple of Tibetan medicine.

Dogen (1200-1253 C.E.) founded the Soto school of Zen Buddhism in Japan. His teachings are the very embodiment of the paradoxical blend of mystery and clarity that characterizes Zen. Dogen's approach to meditation has become perhaps the most influential Eastern spiritual practice in the Western world. The selections in this program are from Moon in a Dewdrop.

This practical introduction to the Buddha's teachings focuses on the application of Buddhist psychology to modern life. Thubten Chodron, an American Buddhist nun, presents the basic points of this path for understanding ourselves and improving the quality of our lives. Writing with warmth, humor, and easy-to-understand language, Chodron provides the fundamental points of the Buddha's teaching on transforming habitual attitudes and realizing our full human potential.

In How to Be Compassionate, His Holiness reveals basic mistakes of attitude that lead us to inner turmoil, and how we can correct them to achieve a better tomorrow. He demonstrates precisely how opening our hearts and minds to other people is the best way to overcome the misguided ideas that are at the root of all our problems. He shows us how compassion can be a continuous wellspring of happiness in our own lives and how our newfound happiness can extend outward from us in ever wider and wider circles.

The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now, devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students.

In this masterwork of an authentic spirit person (Thomas Berry), Buddhist teacher and anthropologist Joan Halifax Roshi delves into the fruitful darkness - the shadow side of being, found in the root truths of Native religions, the fecundity of nature, and the stillness of meditation. In this highly personal and insightful odyssey of the heart and mind, she encounters Tibetan Buddhist meditators, Mexican shamans, and Native American elders, among others.

Feeling overwhelmed? Step away from life's demands and free yourself up for what matters with this succinct and sensible guide by the Zen Buddhist author of the international bestsellers The Art of Simple Living and Don't Worry. With these and ninety-three other practical tips, you can abandon the futile pursuit of trying to control everything and discover the key to a fulfilling social life; individual well-being; and a calmer, more focused mind.

Mention creativity, and what comes to mind? For many of us, creativity is the province of someone with a singular gift toiling away in service to their art. From this perspective, creativity is a solitary endeavor - the struggle of the individual to express their distinctive vision to the world. But what if we looked at creativity through a wider lens, as a dynamic force that animates us and connects us with every being on the planet? From this perspective, creativity is not just a spark igniting the fire of inspiration.