Spirituality Buddhism

Alchemists sought to transform lead into gold. In the same way, says Tara Bennett-Goleman, we all have the natural ability to turn our moments of confusion and emotional pain into insightful clarity. Emotional Alchemy maps the mind and shows how, according to recent advances in cognitive therapy, most of what troubles us falls into ten basic emotional patterns, including fear of abandonment, social exclusion (the feeling we don't belong), and vulnerability (the feeling that some catastrophe will occur).

It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, each other, and our world. Proposing that spiritual attainment does not have to be detached from intimacy or eroticism, Open to Desire begins with an exploration of the state of dissatisfaction that causes us to cling to irrational habits.

It is almost impossible to understand Zen by studying it as you would other intellectual pursuits. The best way to understand Zen is, simply, to Zen. This is what author Eugen Herrigel allows us to do by sharing his own fascinating journey toward a comprehension of this illuminating philosophy. In Japan, an art such as archery is not practiced solely for utilitarian purposes such as learning to hit targets. Archery is also meant to train the mind and bring it into contact with the ultimate reality.

Fifteen years after his number one New York Times best seller, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Deepak Chopra revisits "the forgotten miracle" – the body's infinite capacity for change and renewal. You cannot take advantage of this miracle, Chopra says, unless you are willing to completely reinvent your body, transforming it from a material object to a dynamic, flowing process. "Your physical body is a fiction," Chopra contends. Every cell is made up of two invisible ingredients: awareness and energy.

In this book, renowned Buddhist teacher Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche leads us through the three steps of his Emotional Rescue Plan. First, Mindful Gap is the practice of creating a safe distance between you and your emotions, which gives you the psychological space to work with their energy. Clear Seeing involves recognizing the bigger picture. Finally, Letting Go is the practice of releasing stressful physical and emotional energy through physical exercise, relaxation, and awareness.

We live in turbulent and uncertain times. Anger and hatred are dividing us instead of bringing us closer together. What's needed is not more of the same, but a deliberate shift to consciousness and love. Join Alex Mill, a former monk who trained in a Zen monastery for 14 years, as he guides you along his personal, true-life journey. He'll recount how he found Zen awareness practice and pursued it to discover freedom, and reveal the principles he learned so that you, too, can access the wisdom and tools necessary to bring the monastery's refuge into your own life, right where you are.

Bushido. This one word contains a wealth of meaning. Honor and grace, strength and compassion, loyalty and vengeance. Bushido is the warrior code of the samurai, a standard of conduct and an unwritten guide for right behavior and attitude. It is the core principle of ethics in Japan, an ideal that extends into every aspect of life and character.

One of most important but little known concepts of Western occultism is that of the egregore, an autonomous psychic entity created by a collective group mind. An egregore is sustained by belief, ritual, and sacrifice and relies upon the devotion of a group of people, from a small coven to an entire nation, for its existence. An egregore that receives enough sustenance can take on a life of its own, becoming an independent deity with powers its believers can use to further their own spiritual advancement and material desires.

In a chance encounter with India's Top Ten Social Influencers, the Dalai Lama is asked to how to use the 'law of attraction' to manifest abundance. He points out that material wellbeing was never the goal of such practices as he begins to explain their true purpose. It is a purpose that His Holiness's Cat goes on to explore with her usual warm-hearted and wonky-legged aplomb. Is the world much more a projection of our mind than we suspect? Can a few precious insights transform our reality?

While many accounts of the Buddha’s life mix legend and history, this compelling new biography discriminates between fact and fiction to reveal Gautama, the remarkable human being behind the myth, and sheds new light on his teachings. Plunging us into the noises, smells and jostling streets of Gautama’s world, Vishvapani Blomfield brings the Buddha to life as a passionate and determined individual - a strikingly modern figure who rejected contemporary beliefs.

The Ashtavakra Gita is one of Ramana Maharshi’s most recommended scriptures. In this scripture, the path of self-realization is clearly laid forth in the clearest and most eloquent dialogue. Peace to all.

In this recorded retreat, based on the program Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change held at Omega Institute, Pema Chödrön and her teaching assistant, Meg Wheatley, provide a wealth of wisdom for learning to step right into the river: to be completely, fearlessly present even in the hardest times, the most difficult situations. It's the secret of being fully alive.

In Tantric Transformation, we are introduced to the sacred and ancient tradition of tantra by a contemporary tantric master Osho. We are given a detailed map of tantra: inner man, inner woman; the meeting of man and woman; the transformation of energy through sex, love, and meditation. Based on the Royal Song of Saraha, we are not just introduced to an Asian sex tradition, but with Osho we enter the higher levels of transformation. Here, we find tantra as a door to freedom.

Nichtern examines the Buddhist concept of the Eight Worldly Winds, the four paired opposites of praise and blame, pleasure and pain, fame and insignificance, and success and failure. By delving into these dichotomies, listeners gain invaluable insights into their relationships with others (including teachers, friends, leaders, the disgraced, and the adored) and themselves. With four transformative meditation exercises, this book empowers listeners to cultivate and access their innate confidence and wisdom.

The Sutra of 42 Chapters is a scripture complied in the first century CE. Each saying comes from Buddha, but the whole work was a new anthology created especially for introducing Buddhism in a new country. That’s why it makes such a good, basic introduction to the world view of Gautam Buddha.

Êtes-vous diagnostiqué bipolaire ? Connaissez-vous quelqu’un souffrant de cette maladie, et luttant pour se trouver soi-même ? Recherchez-vous la paix, ou êtes-vous intéressé par le bouddhisme ? Trouble bipolaire ou vérité de l’éveil spirituel ? Suivez le parcours d'Arthuro Jobsquare, bipolaire, de Paris à Montréal, en passant par Londres, jusqu'à l'état de bouddha. Une aventure fantastique, un pied de nez à la bipolarité. Une détermination impressionnante pour s’élever au dessus de cette maladie qui menaçait de le contrôler pour toujours.

The Heart Sutra is Buddhism in a nutshell. It has had the most profound and wide-reaching influence of any text in Buddhism. This short text covers more of the Buddha’s teachings than any other scripture, and it does so without being superficial or hurried. Although the original author is unknown, he was clearly someone with a deep realization of the Dharma. For this new English translation, Red Pine has utilized various Sanskrit and Chinese versions, refining the teachings of dozens of ancient teachers together with his own commentary to offer a profound word-for-word explication.

When her granddaughter was accepted to Naropa University, the celebrated author Pema Chödrön promised that she'd speak at the commencement ceremony. Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better contains the wisdom shared on that day. "What do we do when life doesn't go the way we hoped?" begins Pema. "We say 'I'm a failure.'" But what if failing wasn't just "okay"... but the most direct way to becoming a more complete, loving, and fulfilled human being?

Après sa Divine Comédie, voyage sonore dans la Mythologie européenne, la romancière Amélie Nothomb nous accompagne, dans une deuxième saison très personnelle, à la rencontre du Japon de son enfance, avec ses mythes, ses rites et ses cultures. Dans ce documentaire audio de 10 épisodes, enrichi en son binaural, nous explorons les mythes et spiritualités japonais aux côtés d’Amélie Nothomb. Nous découvrons, dans ses yeux, un pays vecteur de réalisations personnelles.

One of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most beloved books, The Sun My Heart contains the journey, on the path of everyday practice, from mindfulness to insight. Using the objects and events of everyday life in his hermitage in Plum Village—the gradual settling of the pulp in a glass of apple juice or the wind blowing into the room and scattering papers about—Thich Nhat Hanh draws from Buddhist psychology, epistemology, and the world of contemporary literature and science to guide the reader along the path of clarity and understanding.