New & Featured
David Nichtern: Buddhist Wisdom for Realizing Your Creative Vision (#101)
For this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with returning guest, author and celebrated teacher David Nichtern. Drawing from his book Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck, David discusses how creativity naturally arises and the conditions that make it flourish before diving into concepts of “clarity, intention, and effort” in the context of both a Buddhist practice and your creative life. You’ll hear him talk about what inhibits clarity, how habit derails intention, and how both of these influence the results of our efforts.
David is a meditation teacher and was a direct student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the ’70s and ’80s. He also happens to be a very successful songwriter and music producer, not only in the genre of spiritual music, but for the entertainment industry as well. In addition to working with the likes of Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and Krishna Das among many others, David has also been nominated for ten Daytime Emmy awards for his music direction and composition for various television programs.
Learn more about David’s upcoming programs with the Tibet House here.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics (#100)
For this, our 100th episode of the Wisdom Podcast, we have the honor and privilege of being joined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other important guests celebrating the release of Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind.
During this special live event, His Holiness is presented with a copy of the book and answers questions from host Daniel Aitken about the series. Citing Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom on the Middle Way, His Holiness also gives a short teaching on the two truths and the importance of understanding the nature of reality as composed of both the conventional and the ultimate. You’ll hear His Holiness speak on the four noble truths, specifically focusing on the causes of suffering and the elimination of these causes, drawing again from Nargajuna who taught that liberation is constituted by the elimination of karma, conceptual elaboration, and afflictions, which are underpinned by ignorance. His Holiness then teaches on the importance of investigating and understanding the progressive levels of mind and consciousness—from coarse to subtle—so that we can properly train our minds from within this informed perspective. Drawing from the second and third turning of the wheel of the Dharma, His Holiness also discusses techniques to more fully engage more subtle levels of consciousness that are less susceptible to the more habituated forms of conceptual elaboration and thinking.
You’ll discover His Holiness’s motivation for creating the Science and Philosophy in Indian Buddhist Classics series, as His Holiness shares his hopes that this volume will further conversations with scientists about the nature of the mind and help individuals develop greater emotional hygiene. He discusses how Indian Buddhist teachings on the mind, which are so nuanced in their differentiations of mental processes, can enrich scientific research.
Included in the conversation are Thupten Jinpa, editor of the series; translator Dechen Rochard; and John D. Dunne, translator and author of the book’s contextual essays. Thupten Jinpa speaks to the series as a whole and the key sources and topics covered in this volume, specifically the highly ambitious nature of the series in making complex material available to the contemporary reader, including previously unpublished material. John Dunne provides insight into the contextual essays, specifically his efforts to build bridges between Western science and philosophy and Indian Buddhist perspectives. Lastly, Dechen Rochard shares about the translation process for this volume.
This episode was recorded as part of the official book launch for Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind.
Sounds of Innate Freedom
Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahāmudrā are historic volumes containing many of the first English translations of classic mahāmudrā literature. The texts and songs in these volumes constitute the large compendium called The Indian Texts of the Mahāmudrā of Definitive Meaning, compiled by the Seventh Karmapa, Chötra Gyatso (1456–1539). The collection offers a brilliant window into the richness of the vast ocean of Indian Mahāmudrā texts cherished in all Tibetan lineages, particularly in the Kagyü tradition, giving us a clear view of the sources of one of the world’s great contemplative traditions.
This first volume in publication contains the majority of songs of realization, consisting of dohās (couplets), vajragītis (vajra songs), and caryāgītis (conduct songs), all lucidly expressing the inexpressible. These songs offer readers a feast of profound and powerful pith instructions uttered by numerous male and female mahasiddhas, yogīs, and ḍākinīs, often in the context of ritual gaṇacakras and initially kept in their secret treasury. Displaying a vast range of themes, styles, and metaphors, they all point to the single true nature of the mind—mahāmudrā—in inspiring ways and from different angles, using a dazzling array of skillful means to penetrate the sole vital point of buddhahood being found nowhere but within our own mind. Reading and singing these songs of mystical wonder, bliss, and ecstatic freedom, and contemplating their meaning in meditation, will open doors to spiritual experience for us today just as it has for countless practitioners in the past.
Alejandro Chaoul: Body, Breath, and Mind in Tibetan Yoga (#99)
In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with author, teacher, and researcher Dr. Alejandro Chaoul. Alejandro has been teaching meditation and Tibetan yoga (tsa lung and trul khor) workshops under the Ligmincha Institute since 1995 and recently released Tibetan Yoga, a Wisdom Academy online course. During this episode, which was recorded as part of our live Wisdom Dharma Chats program, Alejandro discusses the history of Tibetan yoga and its relationship to yoga in the Indian traditions; the foundational triad of body, breath, and mind within the practice; and what makes Tibetan yoga unique. He delves into the benefits of practicing Tibetan yoga, including how the postures are meant to support and enhance meditative states and aid with both dullness and excitation in meditation, and how holding one’s breath is a way of holding one’s mind. He shares how he is researching the ongoing effects and benefits of these techniques in cancer patients and how they can help everyone cultivate genuine well-being, as each movement offers you an opportunity to “wake up.”
The Chakrasamvara Root Tantra
A key text for one of the most important Buddhist tantric traditions, the Chakrasamvara Root Tantra has been passed down to us from the ancient mahasiddhas and yogis of India. This foundational ritual text is one of the earliest of the yogini tantras—tantric scriptures that emphasize female deities. This melodic translation by David Gonsalez maintains the poetic structure of the original, making it ideal for practitioners and harmonious to recite. It is at once an object of devotion, a profound instruction, and a beautiful poem meant to inspire spiritual seekers.
The Dechen Ling Practice Series from Wisdom Publications is committed to furthering the vision of David Gonsalez (Venerable Losang Tsering) and the Dechen Ling Press of bringing the sacred literature of Tibet to the West by making available many never-before-translated texts.
The material in this book is strictly intended for those who have received the proper empowerments.
Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pāli
Bhikkhu Bodhi’s sophisticated and practical instructions on how to read the Pāli of the Buddha’s discourses will provide students of early Buddhism and Pāli language an intimate acquaintance with the language and idiom of these sacred texts. Here the renowned English translator of the Pāli Canon opens a window onto key suttas from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, as he takes a sutta and gives a literal translation of each sentence followed by a more natural English rendering, after which he explains the meaning of each word and the grammatical forms involved. In doing so, students can determine the meaning of each word and phrase and gain familiarity with the distinctive idioms and style of expression in the Pāli suttas—and thus gain an intimacy with the words, and world, of the earliest Buddhist writings.
Ven. Bodhi’s meticulously selected anthology of suttas provides a systematic overview of the Buddha’s teachings, mirroring the four noble truths, which is generally regarded as the most concise formulation of the Buddha’s guide of liberation. Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pāli shares with readers not only exceptional instruction in language acquisition and translation theory and practice but also a systematically nuanced study of the substance, style, and method of the major early Buddhist discourses.
Grieving is Loving
A new book of poems, quotations, reflections, and stories from the author of one of the most beloved books on grief & loss.
This book is a companion to carry with you throughout your day, to touch in with and be supported by when bearing the unbearable pain of a loved one’s death—whether weeks or years since their passing.
In the style of a quote-a-day collection, this book from Wisdom’s bestselling author Joanne Cacciatore distills down the award-winning book Bearing the Unbearable into easy-to-access small chunks, and includes much brand-new material, including new prose and poems from Dr. Jo and other sources.
If you love, you will grieve—and nothing is more mysteriously central to becoming fully human.
Our culture often makes the bereaved feel alone, isolated, broken, and like they should just “get over it”—this book offers a loving antidote.
Open to any page of Grieving Is Loving and you’ll find something that will instantly help you feel not alone, while honoring the full weight of loss.
This book is comprised of quotations from Bearing the Unbearable, and other sources as well, plus an enormous amount of new material from Dr. Jo. Especially well-suited for the grieving mind that may struggle with concentration, just 30 seconds on any page will empower, hearten, and validate any bereaved person—helping give strength and courage to bear life’s most painful losses.
“Grieving Is Loving is a wise, moving, and compassionate book. Reading it brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of the loss of loved ones 30 and 45 years ago. Not only should its message be read and internalized by those suffering the loss of a beloved, but also by those with friends who have lost or are likely to lose someone in the future—in other words, by everyone.”
—Irving Kirsch, PhD, Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Hull, author of The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
Toni Bernhard: Self-Compassion and the First Noble Truth (#98)
In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with acclaimed Wisdom author Toni Bernard. In this powerful conversation, which was recorded as part of our live Wisdom Dharma Chats program, Toni discusses her most recent book, How to Be Sick: Your Pocket Companion, and shares her personal story detailing how her practice has helped and continues to help her come to terms with living with a chronic illness. You’ll hear Toni revisit some of her earliest quandaries: Who am I if I’m not a law professor? How can I flourish with so many restrictions on my life? How can I overcome judgment and have compassion for myself and for others in the midst of such difficulty? She also explains how a deeper understanding of the four noble truths has reshaped her experience of suffering and shares practices from her new book that helped her come to terms with living a restricted life. As an expert at living with a chronic illness that often requires her to stay at home, Toni offers an unparalleled view on how to live well and practice compassion in a pandemic.
Toni was a law professor for twenty-two years at the University of California before illness forced her into an early retirement. Since then, Toni has written many popular books on her experiences, which have changed many lives. Some of her titles include How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers, as well as How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness, and How to Wake Up.
I See You, Buddha
An instant classic, this book will help children (and their parents) learn patience and to see the good in everyone—including themselves! It will also help children meet difficult circumstances, such as being sick, doing chores, and not getting everything they want—and help them overcome low self-esteem and negative self-talk.
I See You, Buddha is based on a chapter in the Lotus Sutra, one of the most influential Buddhist texts worldwide—a classical scripture that has inspired a whole genre of works, especially in Japan, known as Lotus Literature. The Lotus Sutra teaches the way of the bodhisattva—a being engaged in compassionate, enlightened activity in the service of all—by offering examples of what this activity might look like in the world. One such model in the text is Bodhisattva Never Disrespectful (or Never Disparaging), who, despite troubling encounters with and even harsh treatment from others, bows down respectfully to everyone, recognizing their Buddha nature and honoring their own journeys along the bodhisattva path to enlightenment—whether they know they’re future buddhas or not!
Listen to author Josh Bartok as he reads I See You, Buddha in this video reading.
Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2
Coming soon to the Reading Room on the Wisdom Experience.
This, the second volume in the Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics series, focuses on the science of mind. Readers are first introduced to Buddhist conceptions of mind and consciousness and then led through traditional presentations of mental phenomena to reveal a Buddhist vision of the inner world with fascinating implications for the contemporary disciplines of cognitive science, psychology, emotion research, and philosophy of mind. Major topics include:
- The distinction between sensory and conceptual processes and the pan-Indian notion of mental consciousness
- Mental factors—specific mental states such as attention, mindfulness, and compassion—and how they relate to one another
- The unique tantric theory of subtle levels of consciousness, their connection to the subtle energies, or “winds,” that flow through channels in the human body, and what happens to each when the body and mind dissolve at the time of death
- The seven types of mental states and how they impact the process of perception
- Styles of reasoning, which Buddhists understand as a valid avenue for acquiring sound knowledge
In the final section, the volume offers what might be called Buddhist contemplative science, a presentation of the classical Buddhist understanding of the psychology behind meditation and other forms of mental training.
To present these specific ideas and their rationale, the volume weaves together passages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers like Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Nāgārjuna, Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti. His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s introduction outlines scientific and philosophical thinking in the history of the Buddhist tradition. To provide additional context for Western readers, each of the six major topics is introduced with an essay by John D. Dunne, distinguished professor of Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice at the University of Wisconsin. These essays connect the traditional material to contemporary debates and Western parallels, and provide helpful suggestions for further reading.
The Diamond Cutter Sutra
In the profound teachings of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, the Buddha offers a view of the world that deconstructs our normal categories of experience to show us that what we think are real entities in the world are actually our conceptualizations. The Buddha teaches us to cut our attachment to all phenomena and to the “I,” which are empty of inherent existence, and in so doing, cut the root cause of our suffering. Yet without wise guidance we may think that because all phenomena are empty there is no need to be attached to virtue, and thus we fall into the worst trap of all—an attachment to emptiness. How do we destroy our attachment without being led astray?
With this question in mind, Dzogchen Master Khenpo Sodargye provides sparkling commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra so that we understand its actual meaning, thus preparing us to understand the view of the Great Perfection and Mahamudra. Before recognizing the nature of the mind, we learn we must hold on to things that are virtuous and right. Like a boat, these can help us cross a river; until we reach the other shore, it makes no sense to give them up.
The Grand Delusion
In The Grand Delusion, bestselling author Steve Hagen drills deeply into the most basic assumptions, strengths, and limitations of religion and belief, philosophy and inquiry, science and technology. In doing so, he shines new light on the great existential questions—Why is there Something rather than Nothing? What does it mean to exist? What is consciousness? What is the nature of truth?—and does so from an entirely unexpected direction.
Ultimately, this book reveals how all of our fundamental questions stem from a single error, a single unwarranted belief—a single Grand Delusion.
Upcoming Author Events
Steve Hagen will be leading a weekly online Grand Delusion study group beginning January 6 at 7:30 p.m. CST, providing a chance for readers to consider in greater detail subtleties in the text that might not be immediately apparent. These observations will include additional material that was culled from the original text in preparation for publication. Depending on how many are in attendance, this study may also provide an opportunity for readers to take on the role of ANYONE and question the author. Visit the study group website for access to live Zoom meetings and for audio archives of the study group. Please contact the Dharma Field Zen Center office for more information.
Your Life IS Meditation
This book’s message is bold and clear: Your life is meditation—every moment and every circumstance can be a place of mindfulness practice and transformation. Your entire life is a path to awakening; nothing is too mundane, nothing is left out. Mark Van Buren excels at communicating in a simple and breezy fashion the nothing-special quality of spiritual practice and how mindfulness helps us make peace with life as it actually is. He leaves the reader feeling empowered, encouraged, and up for the task of living a life of at least just a little bit more freedom and peace.
“Through personal and funny stories Mark makes accessible the path to beginning to integrate meditation into a way of well-being in our daily life.”—Koshin Paley Ellison, author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up
“Friendly, simple, and wise words for those who would like to bring a little light and kindness into their daily lives.”—Ben Connelly, Soto Zen priest, secular mindfulness teacher, and author of Mindfulness and Intimacy
The Buddhist Analysis of Matter
The Buddhist Analysis of Matter is an in-depth study of the Buddhist view of the nature and composition of matter as interpreted in Theravāda Buddhism. The study is mainly based on the seven treatises of the canonical Abhidhamma as well as the subsequent commentarial exegesis. However, in order to bring the subject into a wider perspective and to present it with a measure of precision, it takes into consideration the parallel doctrines of the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools of Buddhism. These were two of the leading non-Mahāyāna schools with which the Theravādins had much in common. Both subscribed to a realistic view of existence: while the former had a tendency to extreme realism, the latter had a predilection, but not a commitment, to subjectivism.
Acclaimed scholar Y. Karunadasa’s Buddhist Analysis of Matter provides a much-needed micro view of the topic with a detailed examination of the Theravādins’ list of rūpa-dhammas—the ultimate irreducible factors into which material existence is analyzed. It exposes the nature of the basic material elements and explains their interconnection and interdependence on the basis of conditional relations. It concludes with an attempt to understand the nature and relevance of the Buddhist analysis of matter in the context of Buddhism as a religion.
New: Grieving Is Loving
Our culture often makes the bereaved feel alone, isolated, broken, and like they should just “get over it”—this book offers a loving antidote.
LEARN MORE
Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2
Coming soon to the Reading Room on the Wisdom Experience.
This, the second volume in the Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics series, focuses on the science of mind. Readers are first introduced to Buddhist conceptions of mind and consciousness and then led through traditional presentations of mental phenomena to reveal a Buddhist vision of the inner world with fascinating implications for the contemporary disciplines of cognitive science, psychology, emotion research, and philosophy of mind. Major topics include:
- The distinction between sensory and conceptual processes and the pan-Indian notion of mental consciousness
- Mental factors—specific mental states such as attention, mindfulness, and compassion—and how they relate to one another
- The unique tantric theory of subtle levels of consciousness, their connection to the subtle energies, or “winds,” that flow through channels in the human body, and what happens to each when the body and mind dissolve at the time of death
- The seven types of mental states and how they impact the process of perception
- Styles of reasoning, which Buddhists understand as a valid avenue for acquiring sound knowledge
In the final section, the volume offers what might be called Buddhist contemplative science, a presentation of the classical Buddhist understanding of the psychology behind meditation and other forms of mental training.
To present these specific ideas and their rationale, the volume weaves together passages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers like Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Nāgārjuna, Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti. His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s introduction outlines scientific and philosophical thinking in the history of the Buddhist tradition. To provide additional context for Western readers, each of the six major topics is introduced with an essay by John D. Dunne, distinguished professor of Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice at the University of Wisconsin. These essays connect the traditional material to contemporary debates and Western parallels, and provide helpful suggestions for further reading.
Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 1
Under the visionary supervision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics brings together classical Buddhist explorations of the nature of our material world and the human mind and puts them into context for the modern reader. It is the Dalai Lama’s view that the explorations by the great masters of northern India in the first millennium CE still have much that is of interest today, whether we are Buddhist or not.
Volume 1, The Physical World, explores the nature of our material world—from the macroscopic to the microscopic. It begins with an overview of the many frameworks, such as the so-called five aggregates, that Buddhist thinkers have used to examine the nature and scope of reality. Topics include sources of knowledge, the scope of reason, the nature and constituents of the material world, theories of the atom, the nature of time, the formation of the universe, and the evolution of life, including a detailed explanation of the early Buddhist theories on fetal development. The volume even contains a brief presentation on early theories about the structure and function of the brain and the role of microorganisms inside the human body. The book weaves together passages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers such as Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Nāgārjuna, Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti. Each of the major topics is introduced by Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s principal English-language translator and founder of the Institute of Tibetan Classics.
The Foundations of Mindfulness
In this course, you’ll discover some of the most meaningful and profound applications of mindfulness, under the guidance of renowned scholar-monk Venerable Bhikkhu Anālayo and a group of expert guest teachers.
Note: As an act of Dhammadāna, Ven. Anālayo has waived royalty payments for this course.
The Diamond Cutter Sutra
In the profound teachings of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, the Buddha offers a view of the world that deconstructs our normal categories of experience to show us that what we think are real entities in the world are actually our conceptualizations. The Buddha teaches us to cut our attachment to all phenomena and to the “I,” which are empty of inherent existence, and in so doing, cut the root cause of our suffering. Yet without wise guidance we may think that because all phenomena are empty there is no need to be attached to virtue, and thus we fall into the worst trap of all—an attachment to emptiness. How do we destroy our attachment without being led astray?
With this question in mind, Dzogchen Master Khenpo Sodargye provides sparkling commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra so that we understand its actual meaning, thus preparing us to understand the view of the Great Perfection and Mahamudra. Before recognizing the nature of the mind, we learn we must hold on to things that are virtuous and right. Like a boat, these can help us cross a river; until we reach the other shore, it makes no sense to give them up.
Introduction to the Manual of Insight
In this course led by respected insight meditation teachers Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters, you’ll be introduced to the Manual of Insight by the renowned teacher and meditation master Mahāsi Sayadaw, a foundational text at the root of the widespread practice of mindfulness in the West today. Through a series of video lectures and live video conferences on this foundational text about the practice of mindfulness, Steve offers clear guidance in navigating essential topics including mental purification, deepening insights at increasing stages of momentary concentration, and the nature of nibbāna. Kamala and Steve offer weekly guided meditations to bring the text alive in your own practice. Through select readings, short quizzes and community interactions, you’ll be supported in navigating the Buddha’s liberating Noble Eightfold path as articulated in this seminal text. This is a course produced in partnership with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. BCBS is offering a limited number of scholarships; email them to learn more.
Approaching the Buddhist Path
Now in Paperback!
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been publicly teaching Buddhism for decades. The Library of Wisdom and Compassion collects his presentations of every step of the path to enlightenment, compiled and coauthored by one of his chief Western disciples, the American nun Thubten Chodron.
The Buddha wanted his students to investigate, to see for themselves whether what he said were true. As a student of the Buddha, the Dalai Lama promotes the same spirit of investigation, and as the rich tradition of the Buddha makes its way into new lands and cultures, His Holiness has recognized that new approaches are needed to allow seekers in the West to experience the relevance of the liberating message in their own lives. Such an approach cannot assume listeners are free from doubt and already have faith in Buddhism’s basic tenets. The Library of Wisdom and Compassion series, therefore, starts from the universal human wish for happiness and presents the dynamic nature of the mind. This first volume also provides a wealth of reflections on Buddhist history and fundamentals, contemporary issues, and the Dalai Lama’s own personal experiences. It stands alone as an introduction to Buddhism, but it also provides a foundation for the systematic illumination of the path in the volumes to come.
The Library of Wisdom and Compassion
The Library of Wisdom and Compassion collects the Dalai Lama’s decades of presentations of every step of the path to enlightenment. It has been compiled and coauthored by one of his chief Western disciples, the American nun Thubten Chodron.
Cultivating Emotional Balance
In this program inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and developed with eminent psychologist Dr. Paul Ekman, Tibetan Buddhist teacher B. Alan Wallace and second-generation emotion researcher Dr. Eve Ekman invite you to discover greater happiness and well-being. Using insights and methods drawn from both Western psychology and Buddhist contemplative practices, we investigate our inner life in order to improve our outer life. Designed using evidence-based, practical, and secular strategies to benefit people from all walks of life, this course helps us explicitly seek to cultivate wise aspirations and values, learn how to develop our attention skills, and then begin to cultivate emotional balance—the emotional intelligence that can lead to genuine happiness and a fulfilling life.
The Zen Master’s Dance
A fresh take on how to read Dōgen.
In The Zen Master’s Dance, Jundo Cohen takes us deep into the mind of Master Dōgen—and shows us how to join in the great and intimate dance of the universe. Through fresh translations and sparkling teaching, Cohen opens up for us a new way to read one of Buddhism’s most remarkable spiritual geniuses.
Emptiness: A Practical Course for Meditators
This 8-lesson course with renowned insight meditation teacher Guy Armstrong explores the teachings on emptiness that point to a series of understandings and practices leading to deep insight and a radical experience of liberation.
Awakening from the Daydream
“Traditionally in Buddhism, these six realms are viewed as actual, objective destinies into which one can be born, but Nichtern focuses on them as psychological and emotional states that we cycle through over the course of a lifetime, and maybe even over the course of a day or an hour. Unpacking these six states of mind and their emotional foundation, he shows us how we can use the Wheel of Life teachings, in combination with meditation practice, as a path to self-awareness and emotional freedom.”
—Lion’s Roar
In Awakening from the Daydream, meditation teacher David Nichtern reimagines the ancient Buddhist allegory of the Wheel of Life. Famously painted at the entryway to Buddhist monasteries, the Wheel of Life encapsulates the entirety of the human situation. In the image of the Wheel we find a teaching about how to make sense of life and how to find peace within an uncertain world.
Nichtern writes with clarity and humor, speaking to our contemporary society and its concerns and providing simple practical steps for building a mindful, compassionate, and liberating approach to living.
Tibetan Yoga
While yoga has been popularized in the West as a practice for physical health and well-being, the ancient practices of Tibetan yoga have often remained secretive.
Now, in this groundbreaking new Wisdom Academy course, Dr. Alejandro Chaoul explains the history of the trul khor, or magical movements, guides you through each yogic posture and movement, and teaches you to work with your body and breath to expand your meditation practice and cultivate well-being in your day-to-day life. Dr. Chaoul has spent the last thirty years studying, translating, and practicing the trul khor. Now with the blessing of contemporary masters—including the late His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, His Eminence Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche—he is sharing these precious and rare teachings with you, in a format that allows them to be accessible to a modern audience.
Grieving is Loving
A new book of poems, quotations, reflections, and stories from the author of one of the most beloved books on grief & loss.
This book is a companion to carry with you throughout your day, to touch in with and be supported by when bearing the unbearable pain of a loved one’s death—whether weeks or years since their passing.
In the style of a quote-a-day collection, this book from Wisdom’s bestselling author Joanne Cacciatore distills down the award-winning book Bearing the Unbearable into easy-to-access small chunks, and includes much brand-new material, including new prose and poems from Dr. Jo and other sources.
If you love, you will grieve—and nothing is more mysteriously central to becoming fully human.
Our culture often makes the bereaved feel alone, isolated, broken, and like they should just “get over it”—this book offers a loving antidote.
Open to any page of Grieving Is Loving and you’ll find something that will instantly help you feel not alone, while honoring the full weight of loss.
This book is comprised of quotations from Bearing the Unbearable, and other sources as well, plus an enormous amount of new material from Dr. Jo. Especially well-suited for the grieving mind that may struggle with concentration, just 30 seconds on any page will empower, hearten, and validate any bereaved person—helping give strength and courage to bear life’s most painful losses.
“Grieving Is Loving is a wise, moving, and compassionate book. Reading it brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of the loss of loved ones 30 and 45 years ago. Not only should its message be read and internalized by those suffering the loss of a beloved, but also by those with friends who have lost or are likely to lose someone in the future—in other words, by everyone.”
—Irving Kirsch, PhD, Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Hull, author of The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
This volume offers a complete translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon. The Saṃyutta Nikāya consists of fifty-six chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha’s suttas or discourses. The chapters are organized into five major parts.
The first, The Book with Verses, is a compilation of suttas composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha in his full grandeur as the peerless “teacher of gods and humans.” The other four books deal in depth with the philosophical principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They combine into orderly chapters all the important short discourses of the Buddha on such major topics as dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Noble Truths.
Among the four large Nikāyas belonging to the Pali Canon, the Saṃyutta Nikāya serves as the repository for the many shorter suttas of the Buddha where he discloses his radical insights into the nature of reality and his unique path to spiritual emancipation. This collection, it seems, was directed mainly at those disciples who were capable of grasping the deepest dimensions of wisdom and of clarifying them for others, and also provided guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth.
The present work begins with an insightful general introduction to the Saṃyutta Nikāya as a whole. Each of the five parts is also provided with its own introduction, intended to guide the reader through this vast, ocean-like collection of suttas.
To further assist the reader, the translator has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the meaning of the texts.
Distinguished by its lucidity and technical precision, this new translation makes this ancient collection of the Buddha’s discourses accessible and comprehensible to the thoughtful reader of today. Like its two predecessors in this series,
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha is sure to merit a place of honour in the library of every serious student of Buddhism.
Buddhahood in This Life
Now available for the first time in English, Buddhahood in This Life presents the Great Commentary of Vimalamitra—one of the earliest and most influential texts in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It explores the theory and practice of the Great Perfection tradition in detail, shows how Dzogchen meditation relates to the entirety of the Buddhist path, and outlines how we can understand buddhahood—and even achieve it in our lifetime.
This essential text includes topics such as:
- How delusion arises
- The pathway of pristine consciousness
- How buddhahood is present in the body
- and more.
Translator Malcolm Smith includes an overview, analysis and clarification for all topics. Buddhahood in This Life covers fine details of Dzogchen meditation, including profound “secret instructions” rarely discussed in most meditation manuals. This text is essential for any serious student of the Great Perfection.
Introduction to Dzogchen
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In this online course led by B. Alan Wallace, you’ll be introduced to the view, meditation, and way of life of Dzogchen—the Great Perfection tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Wallace takes us through a remarkable text by nineteenth-century master Düdjom Lingpa, The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers, and guides us in meditations that help us begin to discover the Great Perfection for ourselves. Additional selected readings, quizzes, and the opportunity to discuss this material with an international community of learners will augment your understanding and help you integrate this profound path into your daily life.
The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception
The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception is a revised edition of the classic guide to the Lamdre, a key system of meditation of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Written by one of the first Tibetan masters to live and teach in the United States, it is rendered in a lyrical style that entertains, inspires, and motivates the reader. A key work for all those who are eager to develop and deepen their meditation practice.
Learn more about Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup at the Treasury of Lives.
Varieties of Buddhist Meditation
Discover the theory and practice of the different types of meditation as taught in India and Tibet with acclaimed scholar John Dunne.
Contemplative practice plays a central role in all Buddhist traditions, and this course offers an accessible account of the varieties of core practices and their underlying theories. We begin by exploring the styles of practice prominent in early Buddhism, and then examine the new versions of practice, including tantric approaches, that arise with the Mahāyāna or “Great Vehicle” in India. We then turn to the contemplative styles that these Indian approaches inspire in the traditions of Tibet, such as the nondual practice of mahāmudrā.
Coming July 26 to the Wisdom Academy.
Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth
Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth is a clear and remarkably practical presentation of a core Buddhist teaching on the nature of reality. Geshe Tashi Tsering provides readers with an excellent opportunity to both enhance their knowledge of Buddhism and deepen their perspective on the world.
The Buddhist teaching of the “two truths” is the gateway to understanding the often-misunderstood philosophy of emptiness. This volume is an excellent source of support for anyone interested in cultivating a more holistic and transformative understanding of the world around them and ultimately of their own consciousness.
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