Zen Buddhism

It is a constant practice to not get stuck in the language or forms of Zen training. The precepts, wisdom, higher states of meditation - these are all concepts that need to be let go of. Don’t turn your Zen practice into a nest, a workshop, a medicine cabinet or a make-up kit. True realization is traceless. It has nothing to do with your ideas about it. Even at the top of a hundred-foot pole, there’s nowhere else to go but forward.

Meditation teacher, filmmaker, writer, and art savant Kevin Townley turns his unique gaze upon 26 artists and magnifies the power and meaning of the five Buddhist wisdom energies through explorations of their work. Rather than trying to "explain" these energies, he reveals them to you in familiar visual language while, of course, pushing the boundaries of what you might have thought you saw at first glance. Townley leads you to, invites you in, and sometimes springs upon you, the perennial wisdom in the worlds of artists from Artemisia to Hilma af Klint to Marilyn Minter.

If your life is full of stress and anxiety, this book is your key to relief and peace. The ancient Buddhist concept of mindfulness is often presented as a concept too complicated to fully translate into English, but author Eric McLuhan takes these concepts and communicates mindfulness in plain English. Life doesn’t have to be a race from one crisis to another. This beginner's guide to mindfulness shows the power of another way.

Written in simple language, these 108 ‘kung-an’ (koan in Japanese) embodying the experience and wisdom of the Chinese Ch’an masters have found their way into hearts of many Westerners over a century. This is because Ch'an (Zen) is not something that can be explained in words, but is a special practice with words, which is carried out for one's self-development and leads to a state of Enlightenment. If you feel an attraction to Ch'an, this captivating book can serve as a guide to lead you up to the gateway of Ch'an through the Chinese Ch'an masters' questions and answers to enter a ...

Shaku's eminently reasonable worldview and his skillful exposition of a truly universal definition of divinity and its inevitable necessity are both compelling and difficult to refute. In particular, this collection of discourses probes deeply and revealingly into the fundamental questions that occupy the minds of believers and unbelievers alike: why men cultivate religion in the first place and what the secret of its persistent vitality is.

Evolving Dharma is the definitive guide to the meditation revolution. Fearless, unorthodox, and irreverent scholar and activist Jay Michaelson shows how meditation and mindfulness have moved from ashrams and self-help groups to classrooms and hospitals and offers unusually straight talk about the “Big E” - enlightenment. Michaelson introduces us to maverick brain hackers, postmodern Buddhist monks, and cutting-edge neuroscientists and shares his own stories of months-long silent retreats, powerful mystical experiences, and many pitfalls along the way.

In this book, bestselling author and life coach Gaur Gopal Das decodes how the mind works. He combines his anecdotal style with analytical research to teach us how to discipline our mind for our greater well-being. Throughout this book, he provides interactive exercises, meditation techniques and worksheets to help us take charge of our mind.

The ultimate guide to help you eliminate clutter, reduce stress and anxiety, and find inner peace. Declutter Your Mind and Your Life is a collection of three books that are designed to help you with every aspect of mental, physical, and digital decluttering. The combination of the following three books will help you achieve success and happiness in 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.

Mainstream perceptions about what it means to be Buddhist in America often whitewash and invisibilize the diverse, inclusive, and intersectional communities that lie at the heart of American Buddhism. Be the Refuge is both critique and celebration, calling out the erasure of Asian-American Buddhists while uplifting the complexity and nuance of their authentic stories and vital, thriving communities. Drawn from in-depth interviews with a pan-ethnic, pan-Buddhist group, Be the Refuge is the first book to center young Asian-American Buddhists' own voices.

Are you happy? No, seriously, are you happy? When that alarm clock rings in the morning, do you dread starting your day, or are you excited to see what today brings? You see, the difference between those who are happy, and those who are not, comes down to one simple thing. Yourself. As cliché as it may be, and as many time as it may have been said, the truth remains, people who are happier with themselves are happier in life.

Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan addresses Japanese culture insightfully, exploring the depths of the psyche from both Eastern and Western perspectives, an endeavor the author is uniquely suited to undertake. The present volume is based upon five lectures originally delivered at the prestigious round-table Eranos Conferences in Ascona, Switzerland. Readers interested in Japanese myth and religion, comparative cultural studies, depth psychology or clinical psychology will all find Professor Kawai’s offerings to be remarkably insightful while at the same time practical for their own ...

The Way of the Zen Cowboy is a collection of 35 short stories from Grammy-winning musician, writer, and ethnomusicologist Barrett Martin. These stories are based on personal experiences around the world, as well as wisdom tales heard from indigenous people, grandparents, and some of the cowboys and veterans he was mentored by.

Proven to be invaluable resources for anyone in a position of power, here are three of China's greatest classical works on leadership, warriorship, and strategy: The Art of War, Zen Lessons, and The Book of Leadership and Strategy.

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha’s Life, Teachings, and Practices is an indispensable guide to a 2,600-year-old wisdom tradition that has transformed the lives of millions across centuries and around the world. Listeners will learn how Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, one of the most influential spiritual leaders of all time, and discover how they, too, can follow his revolutionary methods to attain happiness and inner freedom.

Howard Fast began to formally practice Zen meditation after turning away from communism in 1956. The Art of Zen Meditation, originally published by the antiwar political collective Peace Press, in 1977, is the fruit of Fast’s study: a brief and instructive history of Zen Buddhism and its tenets, written with a simplicity that is emblematic of the philosophy itself. Fast’s study of Zen also inspired his popular Masao Masuto mystery series about a Zen Buddhist detective in Beverly Hills.

Jesus Christ was a Zen master? In at least one version of early Christian belief, he sure sounded like one. The Jesus narrative that eventually won out was passed on to future generations while the losers had their books burned and adherents imprisoned, tortured, or put to death. Talk about issues with freedom of religion! Luckily, an early Christian group called the “Gnostics”, in seeing their beloved books burned and adherents mistreated, buried their most important works in hopes of future discovery.

The Affirmation Collection, Book 4 - Spiritual Awakening Affirmations to Uplift the Soul "When you forget your own name, gratitude will guide the way. To the path of abundance and love." - Matt Buonocore We all want to remember the voice of our souls. This is a book that serves as a catalyst to raise your vibrational state. Repeat these daily to uplift your spirit through hard or difficult times. You can say these every morning and night, or throughout the day for consistent energetic alignment. This is BOOK FOUR in The Affirmation Collection.

Masterful control is at the fingertips of all who come to accept the principles of a Zen lifestyle. The cello was designed to be performed with ease. Your experience while performing was meant to be completely free from struggle. Tension, stress, and impatience has no place in the mind of masterful cellists. While emotion is still present, its manifestation within the performance is under constant guidance. This ability to self-regulate the many facets of your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves is what allows you to gain access to masterful cello performance.

We live in turbulent and uncertain times. Anger and hatred are dividing us instead of bringing us closer together. What's needed is not more of the same, but a deliberate shift to consciousness and love. Join Alex Mill, a former monk who trained in a Zen monastery for 14 years, as he guides you along his personal, true-life journey. He'll recount how he found Zen awareness practice and pursued it to discover freedom, and reveal the principles he learned so that you, too, can access the wisdom and tools necessary to bring the monastery's refuge into your own life, right where you are.