BUDDHISM: Introducing the Buddhist Experience by Mitchell
Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience focuses on the depth of Buddhist experience as expressed in the teachings and practices of a wide array of its religious and philosophical traditions. Taking a broad and inclusive approach, this unique work spans over 2,500 years, featuring chapters on Buddhism's origins in India; Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism; and Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. It also includes an extensive discussion of modern, socially engaged Buddhism and a concluding chapter on the spread of Buddhism to the West.Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience focuses on the depth of Buddhist experience as expressed in the teachings and practices of a wide array of its religious and philosophical traditions. Taking a broad and inclusive approach, this unique work spans over 2,500 years, featuring chapters on Buddhism's origins in India; Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism; and Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. It also includes an extensive discussion of modern, socially engaged Buddhism and a concluding chapter on the spread of Buddhism to the West. Mitchell provides substantial selections of primary text material throughout that illustrate a great variety of moral, psychological, meditative, and spiritual Buddhist experiences.
RE-ENCHANTMENT: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West by Jeffrey Paine
In a single generation, Tibetan Buddhism developed from the faith of a remote mountain people, associated with bizarre, almost medieval, superstitions, to perhaps the most rapidly growing and celebrity-studded religion in the West.
Disaffected with other religious traditions yet searching for meaning, huge numbers of Americans have found their way to the wisdom of Tibetan lamas in exile. These flamboyant teachers proved to be charismatic and gifted ambassadors for their ancient religion.
EVERYDAY CONSCIOUSNESS AND BUDDHA-AWAKENING by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk
This introduction to Buddhist psychology supplies essential instructions for successful meditation practice. Rinpoche presents meditation practices that can powerfully influence and ultimately transform the mind into the purified mind of a Buddha. Rinpoche clearly describes how consciousnesses operate in everyday perception and how at the time of Buddhahood, these same consciousnesses express the five primordial wisdoms of the five Buddha families.
OPENING TO OUR PRIMORDIAL NATURE by Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal
This is a great introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by highly respected teachers from the Nyingmapa Vajrayana tradition.
This book provides clear and deep explanations of how to uncover our inherent wisdom and compassion. The authors explain how our minds function and what our primordial nature is, they show us how to go about cultivating insight, bodhichitta, and devotion so that our true nature can manifest. It gives detailed instructions on how to meditate using the tantric techniques of visualization, mantra, and formless meditation. At the same time, it is simple and accessible, pointing out how we can see our fundamentally enlightened nature. This is a great introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by highly respected teachers from the Nyingmapa Vajrayana tradition.
Interweaving Buddhist thought with the concerns of the modern couple, Sachs discusses the meaning of true love--from physical pleasure to emotional connection to spiritual transformation.
"A must for anyone seeking to practice the profound path of intimate relationship, as it contains meditations and practical tools for joining deep awareness with passionate intensity."--Tsultrim Allione
THE PRINCIPAL TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM by Tsongkapa & Pabongka Rinpoche, trans. by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin with Geshe Michael Roach
Tsongkapa was the greatest commentator in the history of Buddhism and wrote some 10,000 pages in eloquent explanation of the entire range of the ancient Buddhist classics. He undertook the challenge of compressing all his knowledge into a single poem. The result was his famous Three Principal Paths fourteen verses written for a favored student in a faraway land. -- a great introduction
Tsongkapa's masterpiece appears here with a commentary by the illustrious Pabongka Rinpoche (1878-1941), generally regarded as the foremost Tibetan teacher of Buddhism during the last century. The work has been translated by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, one of the last Buddhist masters of old Tibet.
DHARMA PATHS by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, ed. by Laura Roth
Dharma Paths, the first book of teachings by one of the most highly respected lamas in North America, is a broad and in depth introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. It cuts through the complexity of the Tibetan tradition, revealing a flexible approach based on our individual capacities. Without assuming an academic background or knowledge of Buddhist terminology, Dharma Paths presents both basic and quite advanced material, making the essence of the vast Tibetan teachings suprsingly accessible.
HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment by Mariana Caplan
Dozens of first-hand interviews with respected spiritual teachers and students complement this wide body of information that exposes and illuminates the pitfalls of the spiritual path. Delves into the problems of mistaking mystical experiences for enlightenment, the nature and value of mystical experiences, and corruption among spiritual teachers due to spiritual materialism, inflation and misuse of power. Tells how to test enlightenment, discriminate and integrate experiences on the path--and how to tell if a teacher is genuine. Many teachers share their experience including: Arnaud Desjardins, Joan Halifax, Judith Leif, Reggie Ray, Lee Lozowick, Claudio Naranjo, Charles Tart, Robert Svoboda, Mel Weitzman. Excerpts were taken from Roshi Philip Kapleau, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and others.
This compelling collection of essays, talks, and seminars by Chogyam Trungpa presents the basic teachings of Buddhism as they relate to everyday life. This book is divided into three parts. In "Personal Journey", the author discusses the qualities of openness, inquisitiveness, and good humor that characterize the enlightened Buddha - nature in everyone. In "Stages on the Path", he presents the three vehicles - Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana - that carry the Buddhist practitioner toward enlightenment.
LIGHT ON ENLIGHTENMENT: Revolutionary Teachings on the Inner Life by Christopher Titmuss
"I regard these teachings as revolutionary, since they call upon us to look into every single facet of our existence and our impact upon the world. They challenge us to awaken while in the midst of everyday circumstances. Nothing is ignored."