Buddhism Biography

At the time of his murder trial, Jarvis Jay Masters was in solitary confinement and spent 22 years in a five-foot-by-11-foot cell. This is where The Buddhist on Death Row takes off. With uncanny clarity, David Sheff describes Masters’ path to enlightenment - from being sullen and violent to discovering how easy and how hard it is to just sit and breathe, how those minutes spawn heightened perception and deepened compassion, the right way to remember one’s pain, and much more.

Composer John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself - and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe. "Remarkably researched, exquisitely written", Where the Heart Beats weaves together "a great many threads of cultural history" (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings) to illuminate Cage’s struggle to accept himself and his relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham. Freed to be his own man, Cage originated exciting experiments that set him at the epicenter of a new avant-garde forming in the 1950s.

According to legend, when the founder of Zen Buddhism was asked about the main principle of his holy teaching, he replied that there was "nothing holy about it!" Now, a millennium and a half later, Tim Burkett reveals how and why the wisdom of nonholiness is the key to a joyful heart. You don't need to go looking for something sacred - the happiness you seek is right where you are.

In this extensive lesson, Tenzin Gyatso beautifully elucidates the meaning of the path to enlightenment. His discourse arises from the Third Dalai Lama's brilliant and powerful work, Essence of Refined Gold, a classic text that summarizes the meaning of all Buddha's teachings. The subject of Essence is the Lam Rim, a term that literally means "stages on the spiritual path." Through his insightful exploration and interpretation of Essence of Refined Gold, the Dalai Lama speaks directly to the listener, offering spiritual advice, personal reflections, and scriptural commentary.

Each of us struggles with the existential questions of meaning, purpose, and responsibility. In The Meaning of Life, the Dalai Lama examines these questions from the Buddhist perspective, skillfully guiding us to a clearer understanding which can liberate us from the prison of selfishness and suffering. Also from the Dalai Lama:
The Art of Happiness.

Appalachian Zen describes a journey we all take, one that Buddhism calls "seeking our true home." Edgy, lyrical, and lovingly rendered, this book recounts how a kid from a Pennsylvania mill-town trailer park grew up—surrounded by backwoods farms and amid grief, violence, and passionate yearning—to become something improbable: a Buddhist minister teaching Zen.

With silence increasingly becoming a stranger to us, one man set out to become its intimate: Pablo d'Ors, a Catholic priest whose life was changed by Zen meditation. With disarming honesty and directness, as well as a striking clarity of language, d'Ors shares his struggles as a beginning meditator: the tedium, restlessness, and distraction. But, persevering, the author discovers not only a deep peace and understanding of his true nature, but also that silence, rather than being a retreat from life, offers us an intense engagement with life just as it is.

When His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to New York City in 1999, he spoke simply and powerfully on the everyday Buddhist practice of compassion. An Open Heart lays out this course of meditation, from the simplest to the most challenging, describing the mental training techniques that will enable anyone of any faith to change their minds and open their hearts. Featuring an afterword by Richard Gere.

Running Toward Mystery is the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi's profound account of his lifelong journey as a seeker. At its heart is a story of striving for enlightenment, the vital importance of mentors in that search, and of the many remarkable teachers he met along the way, among them the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa.

Su Santidad el Dalai Lama expone su visión de la ciencia y de la fe con una única intención: aliviar el sufrimiento humano. Mediante el estudio científico, que nunca ha abandonado, y el llamamiento a la práctica religiosa, el Dalai Lama explora muchos de los grandes y eternos debates y realiza asombrosas conexiones entre algunas cuestiones aparentemente dispares, como la evolución o el karma, llamadas a cambiar nuestra forma de percibir el mundo.

In this meditative memoir - a compelling fusion of Barbarian Days and the journals of Thomas Merton - the author of Saltwater Buddha reflects on his "failing toward enlightenment," his continued search to find meaning and a greater understanding of grace in the world’s oceans as well as everyday life. Born to a family of seekers, Jaimal Yogis left home at 16 to surf in Hawaii and join a monastery - an adventure he chronicled in Saltwater Buddha. Now, in his early 20s, his heart is broken and he’s lost his way.

2006년 출가하여 2011년부터 틈틈이 블로그와 페이스북에 수행기를 올리며 신선한 반향과 공감을 일으켜 온 선방 수좌 원제 스님의 글 모음 『질문이 멈춰지면 스스로 답이 된다』.

Von einem, der auszog, sich selbst zu finden. Was hilft uns, ein freieres Leben zu führen? Auf der Suche nach einer Antwort gibt Björn Lindeblad seine Karriere in der Wirtschaft auf und entscheidet sich für ein Leben als Waldmönch im Dschungel Thailands. Dort wird er zu "Natthiko", zu dem, "der an Weisheit zunimmt". 17 Jahre später geht er zurück nach Schweden und fällt in eine tiefe Depression. Bis er sich auf die Lehren aus seiner Zeit als Mönch besinnt und beschließt, das, was er gelernt hat, weiterzugeben.

Som 36-årig er Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche allerede en verdenskendt tibetansk meditationsmester og den respekterede abbed for tre klostre. Han har rejst jorden rundt for at undervise i meditation og give buddhistiske belæringer og har siden sin barndom levet en beskyttet tilværelse og nydt stor anseelse. En nat lister han ud af sit kloster uden at sige det til nogen. Han ønsker at følge den ældgamle buddhistiske tradition som tiggermunk og vil tilbringe de næste fire år på gaden som omvandrende munk.

Deciding that her life was insufficiently grounded in real-world experience, the author, a Quaker reared as a Catholic, embarked on a year of tending sheep. In this often hilarious book, she describes her time in the barn as well as an extended visit to a Buddhist monastery in France.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's imprisoned State Councilor Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, mother of two, and devout Buddhist, is one of the most inspiring examples of spiritually infused politics and fearless leadership that the world has ever seen. The Voice of Hope is a rare and intimate journey to the heart of her struggle. Over a period of six months, Alan Clements, the first American ordained as a Buddhist monk in Burma in modern times, met with Aung San Suu Kyi shortly after her release from her first house arrest in July 1995.

In Isabel Losada's extraordinary For Tibet with Love, she explores whether it's possible for an ordinary person to change the world, just a little, and if something so serious can be achieved with joy in one's heart. From visits to Nepal and Tibet, to meetings with the Chinese ambassador and Tibetan awareness-raising groups, Isabel single-handedly hatches a stunning PR coup involving Nelson's Column, a 15-meter banner and a base-jumping parachutist that captured headlines worldwide.

Autobiografia e insieme dottrina, che il discepolo Rechung trascrive dalla viva voce del maestro, l'opera segue passo per passo la storia, esemplare eppure umanissima, di Milarepa, fino alla morte (che il discepolo stesso ci narra). L'universo tibetano, entro cui si svolge la storia di Milarepa, è una costruzione elaboratissima e rigorosa, dove la magia è fondamento di tutto.

Kodo Nishimura ist ein buddhistischer Mönch aus einer langen Linie japanischer Mönche. Und er ist LGBTQ+-Aktivist sowie international bekannter Makeup-Artist. Er verbringt sein Leben zwischen einem Kloster in Tokio und den Fashion-Shows dieser Welt. An einem Tag trägt er traditionelle Mönchsgewänder und am nächsten glitzernde High Heels. Er ist stolz auf seine buddhistischen Wurzeln, seine Sexualität und seine Leidenschaft für Mode und Make-Up. Doch das war nicht immer so. Nishimura versteckt sein wahres Selbst viele Jahre vor seinen Lehrer:innen und Freund:innen.

Peaks and Lamas is one of the classic early 20th-century accounts of travelling in the Himalayas on the borders of Tibet. It describes two journeys in the 1930s, one physically active and one more of spiritual investigation. It starts as the title suggests, as a mountaineering adventure, when a group of English climbers set out to climb unconquered peaks in the Himalayas. The audiobook ends with a warning of the deleterious effect of Western culture on traditional art and values and an idealistic polemic on education.