Sometimes history is cruel: a civilization starts to fall apart and a stable social order starts to unravel; upheaval and uncertainty abound. Tyrants ride high, old notions of justice vanish, and people may feel they have nowhere to turn for relief. In some ways, this is the story of human civilization.

Indeed, this is what happened to the Chinese world in the thirteenth century when the Mongol conquerors mangled China and left the Chinese social order in tatters.

This book, from one the pioneering and preeminent translators of Zen for the West, presents a selection of Zen lessons from four teachers in four successive generations whose public lives spanned a turbulent period in Chinese history. These four Zen masters were all eminent teachers, and their teaching words reflect the state of the art of Zen teaching in their time. And they are, even now, all vividly relevant.

Selfless Love shows how meditation can help us realize that we don’t love—we are love.

Gentle, elegant, and radically inspiring, Selfless Love presents a holistic, experiential meditative path that enables us to see beyond our preconceived notions of identity, spirituality, and humanity. Drawing equally from Zen parables, her experience as a mental health therapist, and the Gospels, Ellen Birx shows us that through meditation we can recognize that our true selves are not selves at all—that all beings are united in unbounded, infinite awareness and love, beyond words.

Recognizing the limitations of language in describing the indescribable, Birx concludes each chapter in the Zen tradition of “turning words” with a verse meant to invite insights.

Geshe Lhundub Sopa’s Steps on the Path to Enlightenment is a landmark commentary on what is perhaps the most elaborate and elegant Tibetan presentation of the Buddhist path, Tsongkhapa’s monumental Lamrim Chenmo. In this third volume of five, readers are acquainted with the bodhisattva’s path and the altruistic desire to make service to others the driving force of spiritual development.

It begins with an explanation of what distinguishes the Mahayana practitioner from other Buddhists and goes on to describe the nature of bodhichitta. Geshe Sopa then provides a detailed commentary on the two methods to develop this awakening attitude: the techniques of sevenfold cause-and-effect and exchanging self and other.

While bodhichitta’s significance in Mahayana Buddhism is universally known, Geshe Sopa illustrates how bodhichitta can motivate a devoted practitioner toward complete enlightenment and how this is accomplished through the performance of the bodhisattva perfections. Whether engaged in a scholarly study or personal practice of the Lamrim Chenmo, Geshe Sopa’s guiding voice leads readers to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the bodhisattva way.

A Spirituality & Practice “Best Spiritual Books of 2010” winner.

First Invite Love In is a beautiful collection of exercises inspired by the ancient meditative arts of Tibetan Buddhism. Tana Pesso and the Penor Rinpoche work together to create a guidebook for anyone who would like to live more compassionately, wisely, and with an open and inviting heart.

Moment by moment, thought by thought, step by step we can transform our minds through time-tested compassion practices, and ultimately create a garden of delight out of any life history or current circumstance, regardless of how traumatic or difficult. There are countless examples of people from all spiritual paths, faiths, and religions who have experienced terrible hardships or even themselves created hardships and suffering for others, who have turned their minds towards love and compassion and found peace and happiness.

As long as our minds are dominated by the conditions of the external world, we are bound to remain in a state of dissatisfaction, always vulnerable to grief and fear. How then can we develop an inner sense of well-being and redefine our relationship to a world that seems unavoidably painful and unkind?

Many have found a practical answer to that question in the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Here at last is an organized overview of these teachings, beginning with the basic themes of the sutras—the general discourses of the Buddha—and continuing through the esoteric concepts and advanced practices of Tantra. Unlike other introductions to Tibetan Buddhism, this accessible, enjoyable work doesn’t stop with theory and history, but relates timeless spiritual principles to the pressing issues of modern life, both in terms of our daily experience and our uniquely Western world view.

This fascinating, highly readable book asks neither unquestioning faith nor blind obedience to abstract concepts or religious beliefs. Rather, it challenges us to question and investigate life’s issues for ourselves in the light of an ancient and effective approach to the sufferings and joys of the human condition.

Very little has been published to date on China’s rich traditions of Buddhist meditation. Inspired by the need to increase meaningful interaction between China and the West on spiritual issues, modern meditation master Hsing Yun here brings this vast legacy to life in straightforward and engaging language. Professor McRae’s introduction to the world of Chinese Buddhism helps place these instructions in their wider context.

Pabongka Rinpoche was one the twentieth century’s most charismatic and revered Tibetan lamas, and in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand we can see why. In this famous twenty-four-day teaching on the lamrim, or stages of the path, Pabongka Rinpoche weaves together lively stories and quotations with frank observations and practical advice to move readers step by step along the journey to buddhahood. When his student Trijang Rinpoche first edited and published these teachings in Tibetan, an instant classic was born. The flavor and immediacy of the original Tibetan are preserved in Michael Richards’s fluid and lively translation, which is now substantially revised in this new edition.

• An interactive outline of Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand can be found at the Kurukulla Center website.
• Read Trijang Rinpoche’s biography at the Treasury of Lives.

The Wheel of Great Compassion is the first book to provide Western readers with a complete understanding of the prayer wheel—an ancient and mystical practice that has long been popular with Buddhists throughout Tibet and Mongolia for its ability to bless the environment, promote healing, increase compassion, and assist practitioners on their journeys to enlightenment.

This book offers a clear description of prayer wheel practice, its meaning and benefits, and its role as an essential ritual and symbol of Tibetan Buddhism. It contains a general introduction to the prayer wheel, photographs and illustrations, six commentaries by Tibetan lamas (including Lama Zopa Rinpoche), and instructions for both prayer wheel construction and proper use.

What is tantra? Who is qualified to practice it? How should it be practiced? What are the results? According to Buddhism, every human being has the potential to achieve profound and lasting happiness. And according to the tantric teachings of Buddhism, this remarkable transformation can be realized very quickly if we utilize all aspects of our human energy—especially the energy of our desires. Introduction to Tantra is the best available clarification of a subject that is often misunderstood. Tantra recognizes that the powerful energy aroused by our desire is an indispensable resource for the spiritual path. It is precisely because our lives are so inseparably linked with desire that we must make use of desire’s tremendous energy not just for pleasure, but to transform our lives. Lama Yeshe presents tantra as a practice leading to joy and self-discovery, with a vision of reality that is simple, clear, and relevant to 21st-century life.

This second volume of the five-volume commentary by the renowned Buddhist scholar Geshe Lhundub Sopa focuses on the key Buddhist concepts of karma, or cause and effect, and dependent origination. Considered one of the finest living Buddhist scholars, Geshe Sopa provides commentaries essential for anyone interested in a sound understanding of Tibetan Buddhist practice and philosophy. Never has a book gone into such clear detail on karma and dependent origination—concepts which, despite many references in contemporary culture, are too often misunderstood. Here, Geshe Sopa starts from the beginning with a faithful reading of the Lamrim Chenmo and, in the end, leaves readers with the proper tools for incorporating core Buddhist concepts into their study, teaching, and practice. 

Read Tsongkhapa’s biography at the Treasury of Lives.

We think of enlightenment as something that happens all at once, like a tidal wave that cleans away everything impure. In truth, however, realization happens incrementally, from moment to moment. And in any moment when true wisdom is recognized, all concepts and afflictions are freed right on the spot and we can affirm for ourselves that the experience of enlightenment is possible. When we do, we experience a moment of the mind of a buddha—“momentary buddhahood.”

In this tantalizing presentation, Anyen Rinpoche offers a vision of the crucial necessity of mindfulness in any exploration of the Buddha’s path—especially the path of tantric practice.

This is an inspiring and practical introduction for parents, health workers, policy makers, educators, spiritual students, and others to an integrated system of health care that includes body, emotions, mind, spirit, relationships, and environment. An invaluable guide for anyone interested in anything from holistic healthcare to the myths, legends, and child-rearing practices of the Tibetan people.

Hidden Spring is the first book to demonstrate in moment-to-moment detail how Buddhist meditation and practice can help us cope with the ordeal of life-threatening disease. In 1995, Sandy Boucher—a well-known Buddhist and feminist writer—was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. In vivid prose, she describes her year-long encounter with the disease, and reveals how meditation techniques and understanding of Buddhist principles prepared her to meet the mental and physical challenges of her illness.

This intimate account of the development of a Western Buddhist meditator is a triumphant tale of the human spirit in its struggle with mortality, and a guide for anyone looking for strength and comfort for their own struggles.

In One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing My Self and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat, American teacher of Korean Zen Jane Dobisz (Zen Master Bon Yeon), recalls her first solitary meditation stint in the woods. Luckily, this is not just a recounting of a winter’s worth of cabin fever. Instead, Dobisz takes us into her cabin, and into her mind, as she tries—at least temporarily—to live a Walden-like existence.

All the bowing and meditating and wood-chopping that is part and parcel of her retreat is hardly first nature, but the good-humored and tenacious Dobisz is able to adapt, and to relate her hundred days with moving insight and humanity. Her Solitude in fact offers us all a chance to commune with her and to look inside and rediscover our own grace.

When we break free from the habits that limit us, a new world of possibilities opens up. In Let Go, Martine Batchelor leads the way there.

Negative patterns of mind may manifest as fear, avoidance, depression, addiction, judgment of self or other, and any of a host of other physical, mental, or psychological forms. Let Go aims at understanding what really lies at the root of these behaviors so we can reclaim control. Each chapter concludes with an exercise or guided meditation as a tool for the reader to work with negative habits in new and creative ways. You don’t have to be a Buddhist for them to work. You just need to want to move on.

Helpful exercises and guided meditations—designed to build understanding of our negative habits, as well as the confidence and skill needed to instead embrace our greatest qualities—appear throughout the book.

Batchelor also looks at Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for depression, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz’s use of meditation to deal with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), successful combinations of meditation and Twelve-Step programs, and offers her own innovations.

The desire to act generously arrives like uninvited guest, unexpectedly, like a lightning bolt, in a mere moment. A gesture, a news story, a quotation in a book, a passing remark can change everything. For many, that moment is enough for generosity to move into their hearts and minds and become central to their lives.

This book will help readers open their hearts to the power of their own innate generosity, their desire to make a difference in the world, to help make someone’s day a little brighter or their world a bit more secure. It will kindle a spark in readers’ hearts that moves them into the sunshine of a more generous life. If one life is more generous, we all prosper. That is one of generosity’s most wonderful qualities: it is utterly contagious.

Barbara Bonner’s Inspiring Generosity is an invitation to savor a sampling of the very best inspirations on the subject of generosity. It includes fourteen contemporary stories of “generosity heroes” whose lives have been transformed by the power of generosity. Sprinkled throughout these stories are writings, poems, and quotes from Shakespeare, Hafiz, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Wendell Berry, Sharon Olds, Naomi Shibab Nye, Donald Justice, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Steinbeck, James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, Seneca, Albert Schweitzer, Anne Frank, and many others.

Odds are that you or someone you know could truly benefit from Meditation and Relaxation in Plain English. After all, who wouldn’t like to have less stress—and more enjoyment—from life?

Meditation and Relaxation in Plain English teaches us how to achieve just that, with potent tools that are easy to learn, enjoy, and keep doing. And these practices do so much more than allow us freedom from anxiety and stress: they allow us to be a better friend to ourselves, and to the people around us.

Steps on the Path to Enlightenment: The Foundation Practices marks the first volume of a much-anticipated, comprehensive commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo by the renowned Buddhist scholar, Geshe Sopa.

This landmark commentary on what is perhaps the most elegant Tibetan presentation of the Buddhist path offers a detailed overview of Buddhist philosophy, especially invaluable to those wanting to enact the wisdom of the Buddha in their lives.

In the Lamrim Chenmo, Tsongkhapa explains the path in terms of the three levels of practitioners: those of small capacity who seek happiness in future lives, those of medium capacity who seek liberation from the cycle of suffering, and those of great capacity who seek full enlightenment in order to benefit all beings. This volume covers the topics common to the first level: Tsongkhapa’s explanations of the role of the teacher, his exhortation to take the essence of human existence, the contemplation of death and future lives, and going for the refuge.

Given his vast knowledge and his experience in both Tibetan and Western contexts, Geshe Sopa is the ideal commentator of this work for the modern student of Tibetan Buddhism.

Read Tsongkhapa’s biography at the Treasury of Lives.

“We cannot find ourselves, or be ourselves, alone.”—from Mixing Minds

Mixing Minds explores the interpersonal relationships between psychoanalysts and their patients, and Buddhist teachers and their students. Through the author’s own personal journey in both traditions, she sheds light on how these contrasting approaches to wellness affect our most intimate relationships. These dynamic relationships provide us with keen insight into the emotional ups and downs of our lives—from fear and anxiety to love, compassion, and equanimity. Mixing Minds delves into the most intimate of relationships and shows us how these relationships are the key to the realization of our true selves.

Welcome to One City—Population: Everyone—where everything you do matters: What you wear. What you say. What you think/ignore/buy/don’t buy… You’ve lived here your whole life, whether you know it or not.

Ethan Nichtern, the charismatic and creative force behind New York’s Interdependence Project is your guide to the beauty that is everywhere in the urban jungle—in the rattling of subway trains, the screechings of traffic, the hum and drone of millions scurrying for work, food, sustenance, art, culture, and meaning. There may be no greater setting for exploring the great truth that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expounded: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

With its pop-culture savvy, humor, and literary liveliness, One City melds Dr. King’s message with modern Buddhist wisdom to explain how we might best live together—no matter who we are, and no matter where.