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If you are reading these words, it means that you either realize you're not at peace and want to be, or the sound of the word drew you … it's something you haven't really thought about, but it resonates and you want it in your life.If you want inner peace, believe it or not the choice is yours. But it means freeing yourself from the prison of your mind, from the emotions, judgments, attachments, and cravings that you've always identified with but are actually the cause of your suffering. Instead reconnect with your true self, which is your heart, and find the inner peace that is your birthright.This is not some new age theory. These truths have been taught for thousands of years by the mystical traditions of all three Abrahamic faiths … Christian Gnosticism, Kabbalah, and Sufism … as well as Buddhism.Helping people of all faiths as well as non-believers learn these truths and walk this challenging path is the purpose of this book. It is reality-based; it grows out of the turmoil of life. And it lays out a practical, step-by-step approach to finding inner peace.

Each day, we are faced with moments when we need to make decisions about how we lead our lives...whether they concern our work, our personal relationships, or other aspects of our lives. How do we as Buddhists make those decisions? Do we listen to our ego, our learned experience, or our true Buddha nature? Since most of us are not enlightened or have even reached a stage approaching enlightenment this presents a very real challenge. Making Your Way in Life as a Buddhist is a practical guide to making those decisions consistent with the Buddhist path, rather than constantly falling off it because of the pull of our ego. We cannot escape the fact that we are part of the contemporary culture. We live in this world and it is the way it is. We are part of it...our work, our shopping, our reading, our family relationships...all of this happening within the context of and is impacted by our culture. But we need to not be captive to it. If we are walking the Buddhist path and seek peace and contentment, we must find a way to be part of that culture and yet look at our interactions with it from a Buddhist perspective. Making Your Way in Life will show you the way.

Many who strive to follow the Buddhist path experience barriers that frustrate their progress. The Self in No Self: Buddhist Heresies and Other Lessons of a Buddhist Life breaks out of the dogma of much Buddhist teaching to remove those barriers, making the path more accessible. If my true self is no self, than who am I? If what I observe is void, does reality have no substance? How can there be no right or wrong? Since I am not enlightened, how can I achieve serenity while subject to the forces of ego and culture? What do you mean that my perceptions are illusory...if I can't trust my senses, what can I trust? The Self in No Self answers these and other questions, combining a fresh take on aspects of the Buddha dharma with a practical perspective based on years of experience. The book also illustrates, using the example of the author's troubled life, how one can slowly find peace and contentment through the disciplined practice of Buddhism. Following the Buddhist path while living in today's world, with its stressors and ego triggers, is challenging. The Self in No Self seeks to help lay Buddhists achieve serenity and be one with the Buddha dharma.

Much of the teaching many Buddhists receive doesn't really get to the core of our suffering. After years of practice, nothing much really changes. As the 17th century Zen Master Benkei said, "the feeling I get is that of scratching an itchy foot with my shoe on. The teachings don't strike home to the center, to the real marrow." Scratching the Itch: Getting to the Root of Our Suffering seeks to do just that.Scratching the Itch is based on teaching received from two Vietnamese Zen monks. They faced the power of our ego...the source of all our suffering...head on and urged us to surrender our ego to our true Buddha nature. Recognizing the difficulty of doing this, they developed a rigorous teaching, which I explain and expand upon in light of my personal practical experience of walking the path. The resulting teaching I call "The Fourfold Path to Freedom."While enlightenment may not be a very practical goal for most of us walking the Buddhist path, attaining a state in our practice that is close to enlightenment...and experiencing the peace and contentment that flows from that state...is a goal that every person committed to the path can attain.