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The definitive biography of Shinjo Ito, the founder of one of the main traditions of Buddhism, which has almost 1 million members worldwide.This is the first major biography of Shinjo Ito, the founder of the Shinnyo-en tradition of Buddhism and one of the twentieth century's most innovative spiritual teachers. Shinjo Ito was schooled in the millennium-old esoteric Buddhism of Japan, and used that as the basis for developing a unique lay practice grounded in the principles and concepts of the Mahayana version of the Nirvana Sutra. Sculpting the Buddha Within is an important book that traces Shinjo Ito's evolution not only as a spiritual master but also as a human being. Living in a time of unprecedented change, Shinjo Ito's personal life was often marked by hardships and personal grief, experiences that became the foundation for cultivating universal compassion. Committed to making buddhahood tangible for others and a goal worth aspiring to, Shinjo Ito also excelled as a sculptor of devotional images. His wish was to help his practitioners see their own potential for goodness so that they, too, would want to work diligently to shape and give form to their inner buddha. Rather than encouraging his followers to believe in a fixed system of practice or beliefs, Shinjo Ito taught how to live life in accordance with one's buddha nature-and the gratitude, creativity, and happiness latent within it.

A rare glimpse of the sophisticated philosophical exchange between Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools at an early stage.The Vaidalyaprakarana provides a rare glimpse of the sophisticated philosophical exchange between Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools at an early stage and will be of interest to scholars of Buddhist thought, classical Indian Philosophy, and the history of Asian thought. Belonging to a set of Nagarjuna’s philosophical works known as the yukti-corpus, the Vaidalyaprakarana is noteworthy for its close engagement with the Hindu philosophers. It refutes the sixteen categories of the Nyaya school, which formed the logical and epistemological framework for many of the debates between Buddhist and Hindu philosophers. The Sanskrit original of the Vaidalyaprakarana long lost, the author translates the text from Tibetan, giving it an extensive analytical commentary. The aim is twofold: to investigate the interaction of the founder of the Madhyamika school with this influential school of Hindu thought; and to make sense of how Nagarjuna’s arguments that refute the Naiyayika categories are essential to the Madhyamika path in general.

Learn from the Dalai Lama how to put into practice your understanding of renunciation, the awakening mind, and emptiness.His Holiness the Dalai Lama's commentary on Tsongkhapa's Three Principal Aspects of the Path helps us integrate the full Buddhist path into our own practice. His Holiness offers a beautiful elucidation of the three aspects of the path: true renunciation and the wish for freedom, the altruistic awakening mind (bodhichitta), and the correct view of emptiness. These three aspects of the path are the foundation of all the sutric and tantric practices, and encapsulate Tsongkhapa's vision of the Buddhist path in its entirety. Practitioners will find The Three Principal Aspects of the Path invaluable as a manual for daily meditation. The universal and timeless insights of this text speak to contemporary spiritual aspirants, East and West. The root verses are presented in both Tibetan and fluid English translation to accompany these profound teachings.

An inspiring book that will help readers rediscover their values and discover a way to truly live life to the fullest.The Dalai Lama on Wholehearted: "Intimacy is based on the willingness to open ourselves to many others, to family, friends, and even strangers, forming genuine and deep bonds based on common humanity. Koshin Paley Ellison's teachings share the way forward into a path of connection, compassion, and intimacy." Each of us has an enormous capacity for love-a deep well of attention and care that we can offer to ourselves and others. With guidance that is both simple and wholly transformative, Koshin Paley Ellison, Zen teacher and psychotherapist, shows us how to uncover it: pay attention, be of service, and be with others. With this inspiring and down-to-earth book, drawn from the Zen precepts and illustrated with anecdotes from Koshin's own life and practice, you'll learn how to explore and investigate with your own core values, identify the mental habits that could be unconsciously hurting yourself and others, and overcome isolation. Each chapter closes with a contemplation to help integrate the teachings into your life. This book is about getting back in touch with your values, so you can live energetically, authentically, and lovingly. This an invitation to close the gaps we create between ourselves and others-to wake up to ourselves and the world around us. It's time to live wholeheartedly.

Eight Tibetan opera narratives express Buddhist concepts in myths and stories for the enjoyment and edification of readers of all ages.Timeless Buddhist ideas come to life in the myths and stories in Tales from the Tibetan Operas. Poetically vibrant, these eight classic lhamo stories have continued to delight and edify Tibetan audiences of all backgrounds, from village children to learned scholar-monks and Dalai Lamas. Western readers can now also get a glimpse into ancient Indian and Tibetan history and mythology through these cultural touchstones. The operas revolve around the drives of the human condition: the desire for power, the irresistible seduction of attraction, thoughts of revenge, attachment to family, the fear of separation and pain, the wish to be free from oppression. On visual display are the human and nonhuman characters of history and folklore - kings, queens, conniving ministers, ordinary folk, yogis, monks, and powerful beings from other realms such as gods and nagas - engaged in plotting, kidnapping, fighting and death, journeys to faraway lands, separation, and reconciliation, often with a quest for seemingly impossible treasure. The suspenseful tales have many dramatic plot twists, but they all end in happiness, where the good achieve their goals and the bad receive their just desserts. The operas thus bring to the people the fundamental ethical laws of behavior and teachings of natural justice based on Buddhist doctrine. The book features more than fifty gorgeous photos of the operas being performed in Tibet and India.

Jewels of the Middle Way documents an important tradition of Madhyamaka and provides insight into both the late Indian Buddhist blend of Madhyamaka and tantra and the Kadampa school founded by the Indian Buddhist master Atisa.This book presents a detailed contextualization of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school in India and Tibet, along with translations of several texts in the Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum (Collected Works of the Kadampas), recently recovered Tibetan manuscripts that are attributed to Atisa and Kadampa commentators. These translations cohere around Atisa’s Madhyamaka view of the two realities and his understanding of the practice and the nature of the awakening mind. The book is organized in three parts based on the chronology of Atisa’s teaching of Madhyamaka in India and Tibet: (1) Lineage Masters, the Mind of Awakening, and the Middle Way; (2) Articulating the Two Realities; and (3) How Madhyamikas Meditate. Each part focuses on a specific text, or set of texts, specifically related to Atisa’s Middle Way. The authorship and date of composition for each work is discussed along with an outline of the work’s textual sources followed by an analysis of the content.

Leaders of the Dalai Lama’s tradition illuminate a divisive intrasectarian controversy.Until recently, the figure of Shukden was an obscure one in the pantheon of Tibetan Buddhism’s many oracles and protectors. But after a small faction within the Geluk tradition began to promote and disseminate the practice of Shukden, the Dalai Lama decided to investigate the practice more deeply. The fruits of this research are presented here, as are the statements made by His Holiness about it over the past fifty years. Discover the historical context behind this contentious practice, which dates back to the Fifth Dalai Lama in the seventeenth century, and learn why the Dalai Lama has been so vocal in countering it. Understanding the Case against Shukden is a clarion call for unity among the Tibetan people and a vision for a more harmonious Tibetan Buddhist community.

A new book distilling Wisdom's definitive masterpiece on mindfulness and all-time bestseller, Mindfulness in Plain English, down to a pocket-sized guide with everything you need to get started practicing mindfulness right now. In a clear, friendly voice, this concise collection of beloved and renowned meditation master Bhante G's bestselling instructions will teach you everything you need to know to start-and maintain!-your mindfulness meditation practice. The book includes practical advice on What to do with the body and mind in meditation; What to do when the mind wanders and how to work with distraction; How to deal with physical discomfort in meditation; How to overcome drowsiness, boredom, and inability to concentrate; How to work with fear and agitation, judgments, and self-criticism; How to avoid trying too hard, expecting too much, or getting discouraged; 11 common misconceptions about meditation; 10 tips for effective practice; and how to get the most out of your practice.

Entertaining and engaging, this new follow-up to Wisdom's bestseller The Dharma of Star Wars stands on its own and will captivate a broad audience with the Star Wars story from a Buddhist perspective.

The most important commentary on Vajrayana from the founder of the Dalai Lama's school of Buddhism.The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (rim lnga rab tu gsal ba'i sgron me) is Tsong Khapa's most important commentary on the perfection-stage practices of the Esoteric Community (Guhyasamaja), the tantra he considered fundamental for the practice of the "father tantra" class of unexcelled yoga tantras. It draws heavily on Nagarjuna's Five Stages (Pañcakrama) and Aryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryamelapaka­pradipa), as well as a vast range of perfection-stage works included in the Tibetan canonical (Kangyur and Tengyur) collections. It is an important work for both scholars and practitioners. A reader of this work will find in it convincing evidence for Tsong Khapa's own yogic experience and attainment, in coordination with his better-known philosophical and scholarly achievements. The present revised edition of the work is a cornerstone of the Complete Works of Jey Tsong Khapa and Sons collection, a subset of the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series. Comprised of the collected works of Tsong Khapa (1357-1419) and his spiritual sons, Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (1364-1432) and Khedrup Gelek Pelsang (1385-1438), the numerous works in this set of Tibetan treatises and supercommentaries are based on the thousands of works in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.

Go beyond mere mindfulness—and deepen your connection to your self, the people in your life, and the world around you.Mindfulness is an ancient and powerful practice of awareness and nonjudgmental discernment that can help us ground ourselves in the present moment, with the world and our lives just as they are. But there’s a risk: by focusing our attention on something (or someone), we might always see it as something other, as separate from ourselves. To close this distance, mindfulness has traditionally been paired with a focus on intimacy, community, and interdependence. In this book, Ben Connelly shows us how to bring these two practices together—bringing warm hearts to our clear seeing.   Helpful meditations and exercises show how mindfulness and intimacy can together enrich our empathetic engagement with ourselves and the world around us—with our values, with the environment, and with the people in our lives, in all their distinct manifestations of race and religion, sexuality and gender, culture and class—and lead to a truly engaged, compassionate, and joy-filled life

A portable treasury of gems from a lifetime of Wisdom.To know Lama Yeshe was to know he loved chocolate; it was his favorite metaphor to describe the nature of our attachments. This funny and trenchant little volume answers the question of how we can be happy even after the "chocolate" has run out. By cutting the cords of attachment, we discover the indestructible happiness that has always been--and always will be--available to us. Capturing the remarkable personality of Lama Yeshe, who played an integral role in introducing Tibetan Buddhism to the western world, When the Chocolate Runs Out will delight both readers who knew Lama Yeshe for decades and those who have never encountered this timelessly inspiring teacher. At once lighthearted and profound, this delightful book of wisdom is a perfect companion to How to Be Happy by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

David R. Loy draws from giants of psychotherapy and existentialism, from Nietzsche to Kierkegaard to Sartre, to explore the fundamental issues of life, death, and what motivates us.Psychotherapy, existentialism, and Buddhism are all concerned with the same fundamental issues of life and death-and death-in-life. David R. Loy's groundbreaking claim is that the unifying feature connecting these perspectives is a sense of pervasive sense of dissatisfaction-or, in a word, lack. In Lack & Transcendence, he brings all three traditions together in a way that casts new light on each, as he draws from giants of psychotherapy, particularly Freud, Ernest Becker, Rollo May, Irvin Yalom, and Otto Rank; great existentialist thinkers, like Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre; and the teachings of Buddhism, especially as interpreted by Nagarjuna, Huineng, and Dogen. Written in accessible style that does not assume prior familiarity with any of its subjects, this book will appeal to readers of all backgrounds, including psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, religious scholars, Continental philosophers, and anyone seeking clarity on the Great Matter itself. The reader will come away with fresh perspectives on ancient questions and deeper insights into the human predilection to be unhappy-and what the liberating alternative may be.

We all grow old. This book teaches us how to take advantage of a new phase of life: a phase of renewal and inner exploration.We're all beginners when it comes to aging. And although the fact that we are in new territory can certainly contribute to the difficulties in dealing with getting older, it can also have a very positive side. Aging can be seen as a new phase of our life: a phase of renewal. Nowhere is this more evident than in our opportunity to devote more time to reflection and inner exploration. The result, regardless of whatever physical limitations we may be experiencing, is the possibility of cultivating and living increasingly from kindness and gratitude-two of the essential qualities of a life of satisfaction and equanimity. With techniques that are both simple and richly unfolded, this book will help readers: • learn the subtle art of being with pain • uncover the fears that amplify suffering • tap into the true sources of meaningfulness and joy Winner of the Spirituality & Practice Best Book Award in 2019.

The Dalai Lama tells the life story of his remarkable teacher, Ling Rinpoché, who remained a powerful anchor for him from childhood and into his emergence as a global spiritual leader. The Sixth Ling Rinpoché (1903-83) was a towering figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Combining great learning with great humility, he was ordained by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and went on to serve as the head of the Geluk tradition and as the senior tutor to the present Dalai Lama. In temperament and wisdom, he had a profound influence on the Dalai Lama's spiritual development, and he became a steadying presence for His Holiness during the chaotic changes that defined the Tibetan experience of the twentieth century, with the invasion of their county by Communist forces and the subsequent rebuilding of their culture in India. Ling Rinpoché's extensive travels among exiled communities abroad and across India buoyed the spirits of the Tibetan diaspora, and the training and activities of this consummate Buddhist master, here told by the Dalai Lama in the traditional Tibetan style, will inspire and amaze. Over one hundred archival photos bring the text to life.

Relish these direct, experiential meditation instructions from the author of the bestselling Introduction to Tantra.Lama Yeshe tells us that mahamudra is "the universal reality of emptiness, of nonduality" and its unique characteristic is its emphasis on meditation: "With mahamudra meditation there is no doctrine, no theology, no philosophy, no God, no Buddha. Mahamudra is only experience." He relies on the First Panchen Lama's well-known Root Text of Genden Mahamudra, which in a few short pages provides the pith instructions for, first, overcoming distraction and resting in meditative stillness on the clarity of one's own mind, and then, with subtle awareness, penetrating its ultimate nature, its emptiness. As always, Lama Yeshe's words are direct, funny, and incredibly encouraging. He gets us to go beyond ego's addiction to a limited sense of self and to taste the lightness and expansiveness of our own true nature.

Zen and the Gospel of Thomas illuminates sacred, mysterious wisdom from two traditions, revealing how these profound teachings apply to our everyday life and spiritual practice.Imagine that the Buddha asked Jesus to write a text for a Zen audience that would explain his take on the mysteries of his Kingdom. Imagine also that Jesus chose to present it in a set of short koanlike sayings similar to the classic koan collections of the Zen tradition. This is, in essence, the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. A Zen reading of Thomas allows us to access the living Jesus through Buddhist eyes so we can add to and refine our own practice with his wisdom. Likewise, Thomas can be a gateway for Christians to make use of Zen. Like the Buddha, this Jesus of Thomas wishes us to realize, individually and personally, the truth of the eternal. He offers teachings for the whole of our lives, dealing with such topics as: the proper use of money; how to foster wisdom and insight; the nature of awakening and non-attachment; love and judgment; how to rest in the essential; and the nature of what it means to be an enlightened person. Like koans, the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas ask each of us to discover the same secrets of mystery that Jesus himself discovered and to live out that knowledge in our own unique way.

In a world seemingly moving at hyperspeed, it can be daunting to simply slow down -- or stop -- even briefly to try to make sense of things. Meditation has been proven to help. But exactly what is it? Why practice it? Which techniques are best? This popular guide answers these and many more questions for anyone who wants to begin -- or is struggling to maintain -- a meditation practice. Written by a Western Buddhist nun with solid experience in both the practice and teaching of meditation, "How to Meditate" contains a wealth of practical advice on a variety of authentic techniques, from what to do with the mind, to how to sit, to visualizations and other traditional practices. Best of all, McDonald's warm, encouraging approach is as close to the intimacy of private instruction as a book can be.

Discover how ordinary beings-a deer, a robber, a monkey, a parrot, and more-make up the past lives of the Buddha before he was Buddha.The jataka tales are ancient Buddhist stories found in both the Pali Canon and Sanskrit tradition, recounting the many past lives and ongoing spiritual work of Shakyamuni Buddha on his way to his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama. In them we find the Buddha facing difficulties, making tough choices, doing hard work, falling down and getting back up-the kind of continuing effort of spiritual practice that all beings face. Before Buddha was Buddha focuses on a selection of particular jataka tales in which the Buddha in past lives faces temptations and struggles with self-doubt as well as his own shortcomings. In these tales he's not beyond life's messes-its challenges and disasters-but is down in the mix, trudging through the mud with the rest of us. Each story, presented in brief, is followed by a commentary pointing to its relevance to our lives and practice-realization today.

A tour-de-force guide to Zen Master Dogen's most subtle and sophisticated philosophical premises: that being and time are inseparable."Impermanence is time itself, being itself-yet time and being are not at all as we imagine them to be. To really understand and fully embrace this point is to live in a radically different world-a world of awakening, inclusion, and love. Zen Master Dogen frames the teaching on impermanence explicitly as a teaching about time-and all of Dogen's profoundly poetic teachings flow from his seminal understanding of time, as expressed in Uji (Being-Time), the famous-and famously difficult-essay in his masterwork, Shobogenzo. In Uji, Dogen teaches that time itself, being itself, is luminous awakening. It is all-inclusive, all-elusive, ultimately healing, and eternal. In this book, Shinshu Roberts does full justice, as does no other book I know of, to Dogen's words. She offers interpretation of Uji only after careful consideration and marshaling of many sources-and offers simple everyday examples to illustrate points that seem at first abstruse. If this text causes you to doubt your most cherished concepts about your life, it will have done its work." -from the Foreword by Norman Fischer Being-Time thoroughly explores Dogen's teaching on how we practice as Buddhas by understanding the relationship between being and time as it is-and as we perceive it to be. Using Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji (The True Dharma Eye, Being-Time), Shinshu Roberts offers a twofold analysis of this teaching: the meaning of the text and practice with the text, giving examples how we apply Dogen's complex teaching to our daily lives.

"Awakening Together combines the intimately personal, the Buddhist and universal into a loving, courageous, important work that will benefit all who read it. For anyone who longs to collaborate and create a just and inclusive community, Larry provides a brilliant guidebook." -Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With HeartHow can we connect our personal spiritual journeys with the larger course of our shared human experience? How do we compassionately and wisely navigate belonging and exclusion in our own hearts? And how can we embrace diverse identities and experiences within our spiritual communities, building sanghas that make good on the promise of liberation for everyone? If you aren't sure how to start this work, Awakening Together is for you. If you've begun but aren't sure what the next steps are, this book is for you. If you're already engaged in this work, this book will remind you none of us do this work alone. Whether you find yourself at the center or at the margins of your community, whether you're a community member or a community leader, this book is for you.

Insightful commentary on a beloved ancient philosopher of Zen by a beloved contemporary master of Zen.Famously insightful and famously complex, Eihei Dogen’s writings have been studied and puzzled over for hundreds of years. In Deepest Practice, Deepest Wisdom, Kosho Uchiyama, beloved twentieth-century Zen teacher addresses himself head-on to unpacking Dogen’s wisdom from three fascicles (or chapters) of his monumental Shobogenzo for a modern audience. The fascicles presented here from Shobogenzo, or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye include “Shoaku Makusa” or “Refraining from Evil,” “Maka Hannya Haramitsu” or “Practicing Deepest Wisdom,” and “Uji” or “Living Time.” Tom Wright and Shohaku Okumura lovingly translate Dogen’s penetrating words and Uchiyama’s thoughtful commentary on each piece. At turns poetic and funny, always insightful, this is Zen wisdom for the ages.

Esteemed Tibetologist Jean-Luc Achard contextualizes and provides a clear translation of highly secret precepts on Dzogchen practice unlike anything published. The Instructions on the Six Lamps is a profound and important work from the Bön Dzogchen tradition and is one of the root texts of the Zhangzhung Nyengyü (Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung) series of orally transmitted teachings. Considered to be the central work of the inner cycle of these teachings, it expertly details the principles of the natural state and its visionary marvels. The root text describes highly secret precepts of Dzogchen (Great Perfection) practice-the teachings of Trekchö and Thögel-as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo. The teachings in this text represent oral instructions transmitted by a single master to a single disciple in the mode known as "single transmission." It is through such a practice that one can see the clear light of one's own mind before achieving complete buddhahood. In this respect, the text contains a complete teaching of Dzogchen, from beginning to end.

Features 125 poems with a spiritual and mindfulness theme, from a range of ancient and modern poets.

A systematic presentation of the path of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, by one of its most renowned proponents and rendered by a master translator.Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1904) was one of the foremost tantric masters of nineteenth-century Tibet, and his powerful voice resonates strongly among Buddhist practitioners today. The Vajra Essence is Düdjom Lingpa’s most extended meditation on the path of Great Perfection, in many senses a commentary on all his other Dzogchen works. Dzogchen, the pinnacle of practice in the Nyingma school, is a radical revelation of the pure nature of consciousness that is delivered from master to disciple and perfected in a meditation that permeates every moment of our experience. Revealed to Düdjom Lingpa as a visionary “treasure” text in 1862, the Vajra Essence takes the reader through seven stages of progressively deeper practice, from “taking the impure mind as the path” up to the practice of “direct crossing over” (tögal). The longest of Düdjom Lingpa’s five visionary works on Dzogchen, readers will find this a rich and masterful evocation of the enlightened experience. This is the first translation of this seminal work in any Western language, and B. Alan Wallace, with his forty-five-plus years of extensive learning and deep meditative experience, is one of the most accomplished translators of Tibetan texts into English.

A perfect companion to enhance your Sitting Together lessons. This book is filled with over 50 coloring pages, games, mazes, and other fun activities for children ages 3-12. Though designed to be used with the Sitting Together curriculum, it can also be used on its own. This book is perfect for any family, Dharma center, yoga studio, or organization that wants to incorporate mindfulness into their children's activities. Visit MindfulFamilies.net for mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist resources for families.