In fresh and inviting language and making frequent use of strikingly clear diagrams and illustrations, Unlearning the Basics challenges many of our common-sense understandings about ourselves and the world. The author lays out a new way of seeing that enables us to live more serenely, more compassionately, and more free from the slings and arrows of our busy lives.
Along the way, Rishi Sativihari looks at love and grasping, at “the great unfixables,” and at how vulnerability and pain feed the “evolution of character”-all in the service of helping us return to our true home and find new ways to flourish. Grounded in the Buddhist tradition yet completely free from the formulas of traditional, tired presentations, Unlearning the Basics has an informal, straightforward style that will immediately captivate the reader.
“We all have the same human mind—each and every one of us has the same potential. Our surroundings and so forth are important, but the nature of mind itself is more important… To live a happy and joyful life, we must take care of our minds.”—His Holiness the Dalai Lama
At the heart of this book is The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel of the Oral Tradition, an accessible and nonsectarian treatise on penetrating the nature of mind by Khöntön Peljor Lhündrub, a teacher of the Fifth Dalai Lama. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s broad-ranging overview of this work insightfully distills some of the most central themes of Buddhism: why the mind is so essential to the tradition, what distinguishes the levels of consciousness, and how different schools of Tibetan Buddhism elaborate those distinctions. Profound and erudite, it brings the reader closer to a fresh and direct experience of Buddhism’s central truths.
Along with his lucid translations, José Cabezón provides an introduction to the root text and presentations of the life and works of Khöntön Rinpoche, all richly annotated.
- Read Khöntön Peljor Lhündrub’s biography at the Treasury of Lives.
The Essence of Zen is an expert’s guided tour of the ins and outs of the tradition’s approach to meditation, enlightenment, and the oneness of all things. To read it is to enter into one of modern Japanese Zen’s most subtle and sophisticated minds.
Sekkei Harada skillfully pushes us to drop those parts of ourselves that grasp and make demands regarding our understanding or progress in meditation practice. He enables us to see clearly-and steer clear of-the philosophical stumbling blocks that can make the path precarious.
The Essence of Zen represents the most succinct of his teachings, making it of immediate value to anyone with an interest in Zen. The book also contains Harada’s explanations of the differences between the tradition’s primary schools, making it particularly helpful to newcomers.
Welcome and much-needed addition to the literature for psychotherapists, therapists-in-training, and occupational therapists and other types of teachers. Mindful Therapy offers to them ways to bring the teachings of Buddhism into a psychotherapeutic practice—and a thorough explanation of the benefits of doing so. The book will be of value to therapists of every variety, in the way that Medicine and Compassion, while molded for caregivers in general, was applauded by medical journals.
Author Tom Bien offers an energizing an expansive perspective. Grounded in his understanding of Buddhist teachings, his book suggests a model of integration of particular value to beginning therapists or those still in training, offering ways in which the therapist can mindfully care for themselves amid the challenges of their practice. Tools useful to clients, as well, are discussed.
Bien sees therapists as practicing in the ancient traditions of various healers of spirit, whose greatest skill and gift to others is, above all, the mindful presence.
Mindful Therapy is comprised of a useful, highly-readable balance of theoretical groundwork, personal experience, case studies, and practice exercises.
Intimately and without jargon, How to Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow describes the path to peace amid all of life’s ups and downs. Using step-by-step instructions, Toni Bernhard illustrates how to be fully present in the moment without clinging to joy or resisting sorrow. This opens the door to a kind of wellness that goes beyond circumstances. Actively engaging life as it is in this fashion holds the potential for awakening to a peace and well-being that are not dependent on whether a particular experience is joyful or sorrowful. This is a practical book, containing dozens of exercises and practices, all of which are illustrated with relatable personal stories from the author’s experience.
Other helpful books from Toni include:
How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers
How to Be Sick: Your Pocket Companion
How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide
While the tantric Buddhism found in the Indian and Tibetan traditions is increasingly recognized, in East Asia tantric Buddhism remains largely unknown. This collection brings together twelve key essays on tantric Buddhism in East Asia, drawn from sources that are not commonly available. The collection is organized into four sections: China and Korea, Japan, Deities and Practices, and Influences on Japanese Religion.
Payne’s work, which brings together in one place a “critical mass” of scholarship, will create a sea change in the understanding of the history of East Asian Buddhism and Tantra.
In the tradition of C. S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, Guy Newland offers this brave record of falling to pieces and then learning to make sense of his pain and grief within his spiritual tradition. Drawing inspiration from all corners of the Buddhist world—from Zen stories and the Dalai Lama, to Pema Chödrön and ancient Pali texts—this book reverberates with honesty, kindness, and deep humanity. Newland shows us the power of responding fully and authentically to the death of a loved one.
“After the death of his beloved partner from cancer, Guy Newland finds himself asking how effective his long years of Buddhist practice have been in helping him come to terms with overwhelming grief. Weaving together a wide range of Buddhist sources, this finely written book offers a lucid meditation on what it means to practice the Dharma when everything falls apart.”—Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism without Beliefs and After Buddhism
Relieve and release the stiffness that comes from prolonged sitting—at a desk, behind the wheel, or on a meditation cushion—with these easy-to-follow exercises.
All meditators know the discomfort of cramping joints and aching backs. Free yourself from pain with this beautifully illustrated guide. The book is organized anatomically, helping readers to immediately focus on the part of the body that causes them pain: tense shoulders, stiff knees, sore hips, etc. Sit with Less Pain also includes instructions for flowing series of movements, which combine several exercises into smooth sequences, for readers who have mastered the individual stretches and want a more complete experience. Gorgeous, clear illustrations and lay-flat binding—which lets the book stay open at the proper page—will help readers perfect the poses.
How do we build resilient children who can handle life’s challenges?
As parents today, we often feel that our role is to protect our children from the world: to cushion them when they fall, to lift them over obstacles, and to remove sharp rocks from their path. But controlling a child’s entire environment and keeping all pain at bay isn’t feasible—we can’t prepare the world for our children, so instead we should focus on preparing our children for the world. “The solution is not removing impediments from our children’s lives,” writes Krissy Pozatek, “it is compassionately encouraging them to be brave.” We need to show our kids how to navigate their own terrain.
If our kids face small hurdles, small pains, at a young age and learn to overcome these obstacles, they will be much better equipped to face larger trouble later in life. Early lessons in problem solving teach self-confidence and self-reliance—and show us that our kids are tougher than we think. Krissy draws her lessons from her experience guiding children in wilderness therapy and from her Buddhist practice—showing us that all life is as unpredictable as mountain weather, that impermanence is the only constant, and that the most loving act a parent can do is fearlessly ready their child to face the wilderness.
For parents of children of all ages.
Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1904) was one of the foremost tantric masters of his time. This new series includes his visionary teachings on the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), the pinnacle of practice in Tibet’s oldest Buddhist school. Volume 1 contains four works explaining the view and practice of the Great Perfection, the signature style of meditation of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism:
The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra: This work is considered the root distillation of Düdjom Lingpa’s wisdom.
Essence of Clear Meaning: This definitive commentary, which unpacks the quintessential verses of The Sharp Vajra, is based on Düdjom Lingpa’s oral teachings recorded by his disciple Pema Tashi.
The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers: Düdjom Lingpa narrates the essential Dharma teachings from the perspective of an old man rejecting superficial appearances.
The Enlightened View of Samantabhadra: A masterful exposition of the Great Perfection is revealed as a dialogue between wisdom beings who bestow a treasury of pith instructions and specific advice for practitioners.
While the teachings in this series have inspired generations of Tibetans, few have been published in translation—until now.
The tradition known as the Path with the Result, or Lamdré‚ is the most important tantric system of meditation practice and theory in the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume contains an unprecedented compilation of eleven vital works from different periods in the history of the Path with the Result in India and Tibet, including the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virūpa (ca. seventh–eighth centuries), the basic text of the tradition. The collection also includes six writings by Jamyang Khyentsé Wangchuk (1524–68) and an instruction manual composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–62). None of the works in this book have ever been published before in any European language, and most of these writings traditionally have been considered secret. The present translation, an important new volume of the Library of Tibetan Classics, has been made with the personal approval and encouragement of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, head of the Sakya tradition. Students of the Lamdré will rejoice at the availability and lucidity of this major translation of key Sakya texts.
Learn more about the Library of Tibetan Classics
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Learn more about the following masters at the Treasury of Lives:
In the beginning, before the beginning, there was Mu.
And Mu was Mu and that was that and it was good.
This lush, beautifully illustrated narrative breathes humanity and warmth into one of the most famous and enigmatic koans of the Zen tradition.
The Story of Mu uses luminous illustrations and a mythic narrative structure to convey the great potential for peace and enlightenment that we all carry hidden within ourselves. Shot through with ineffable “thisness and thusness,” Mu spins a visually rich, cosmogonic fable about the origins of the universe of space, time, matter, and life. It also touches something lost but always present within the human heart: an awakeness that is without flaw, from the beginning before the beginning.
Includes a complementary essay from Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford.
Click here to flip through The Story of Mu.
Young children have strong emotions, but often are unsure of how to articulate and handle them. Just Me and My Mind aims to help kids recognize their emotions and thoughts—and then act accordingly. The book includes interactive pages of emotions (happy, scared, sad, loving, angry). The reader pulls an image of the emotion from the mind of the child, helping the reader to understand why emotions might arise. The book continues by illustrating how children can “clean out and settle” their minds with quiet contemplation.
How to use this book:
It’s easy! Just pull the tab in our hero’s head. A thought will appear, illustrating the cause of the current emotion.
The aphorisms of the Seven-Point Mind Training present a powerful and counter-intuitive call to Buddhist practice—view reality as dreamlike, contemplate the kindness of your enemies, give up expectations of reward, change yourself but remain as you are! When he fled Tibet, Gomo Tulku carried in his heart this widely studied Tibetan text, which he turned to time and again when faced with difficulties in life. Having relied on this practice to transform his own hardships, he shares here an inspired commentary to help us get through ours. Mirroring the simplicity of the original, Seven Steps to Train Your Mind succinctly provides a practical description of how to train the mind and develop the mental qualities of peace, joy, and wisdom that will carry one through any circumstance.
This book was previous published as Becoming a Child of the Buddhas.
Read Chekawa Yeshe Dorje’s biography at the Treasury of Lives.
One of Spirituality & Practice’s Best Spiritual Books of 2014!
Embark on a poignant and sometimes comic journey through Zen, poetry, and the transformative, personal practice of writing.
In Zen Encounters with Loneliness Terrance Keenan weaves together poetry, memoir, and raw insight to give voice to the lonely “nobody” in everyone. From his memories of early childhood to his struggles with addiction, writer’s block, and human relationship, Keenan delivers a heart-rending portrayal of the human hunger for selfhood and connection. Through his beautifully crafted literary reflections, he finds that Zen does not comfort our dream of being somebody, rather, it reveals connection only when we face who we really are—nobody. Zen Encounters intimately calls us to recognize that the well of emptiness is also a well of potential—to grow, learn, and overcome adversity.
With a much-needed sense of levity, Daju Suzanne Friedman teaches the art of keeping one’s body, mind, and spirit together while living with cancer.
“Layman Wang once asked his attendant,‘What would you do if a dragon suddenly arrived here?’ His attendant answered, ‘I wouldn’t pay attention to anything else.’ This is how it feels when you’ve been diagnosed with cancer. Your attention and focus shift dramatically towards just this one thing. While single-minded focus can be beneficial, it is also important to remember that you are more than your diagnosis, and that there is more to life than being a patient.”
—from the introduction
In Zen Cancer Wisdom, Daju Suzanne Friedman—Zen teacher, Chinese medicine doctor, and Qigong specialist—shares the inspirations, insights, and humor that helped her to continue to live fully in the face of cancer. With sections devoted to soothing the spirit, harnessing the mind, nourishing the body, and qigong stretches for soothing aches and pains, Friedman provides thoughtful guidance on topics ranging from hair loss and constipation to coping with stress and learning to laugh again. Each chapter begins with an anecdote drawn from the Zen tradition, followed by personal reflection, and a brief guided practice specifically for cancer patients. Pocket-sized, with short, buoyant chapters, and meditation exercises designed to be practicable anywhere in only a few minutes time, Zen Cancer Wisdom is the perfect companion book for cancer patients.
A Classical Tibetan Reader answers a long-standing need for well chosen readings to accompany courses in classical Tibetan language. Professor Bentor has built her Tibetan reader out of time-tested selections from texts that she has worked with while teaching classical Tibetan over the past twenty years. She has assembled here a selection of Tibetan narratives, organized to introduce students of the language to complex material gradually, and to arm them with ample reference materials in the form of glossaries customized to individual readings.
Instructors will find this reader an invaluable tool for preparing lesson plans and providing high-quality reading material to their students. Students, too, will find the selections contained in the reader engaging. Even novice readers of Tibetan will feel welcomed and encouraged, thanks to the author’s astute judgment of student capacity.
The most enduring and widely read spiritual work to emerge from Buddhism’s classical age in India is surely Shantideva’s Bodhisattva Way of Life. Among its many fans is the Dalai Lama, who quotes from it frequently. Here much-loved monk and meditator Rene Feusi distills Shantideva’s masterpiece verse by verse. Reflecting both the lyricism of the original verses and their wealth of inspiring reflections on the virtues to be cultivated by bodhisattvas, The Beautiful Way of Life is a brilliant condensation of a masterpiece and a lucid entryway into timeless insights. Feusi also provides tips for using the verses in a series of guided contemplations.
Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy came to Tibet from India and became the basis of all of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetans, however, differentiated two streams of Madhyamaka philosophy—Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika. In this collection, leading scholars in the field address the distinction on various levels, including the philosophical import for both Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka and the historical development of the distinction itself.
Learn more about the Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism series.
Learn more about Tsongkhapa and Mipham Gyatso at the Treasury of Lives.
In The Good Heart, the Dalai Lama provides an extraordinary Buddhist perspective on the teachings of Jesus. His Holiness comments on well-known passages from the four Christian Gospels, including the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the mustard seed, the Resurrection, and others. Drawing parallels between Jesus and the Buddha—and the rich traditions from which they hail—the Dalai Lama delivers a profound affirmation of the sacred in all religions. Readers will be uplifted by the exploration of each tradition’s endless merits and the common humanity they share.