Essential Buddhism

Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, from Tibetan caves to Tokyo temples to redwood retreats. To an outside viewer, it might be hard to see what they all have in common. In Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and American Buddhist nun Thubten Chodron map out with clarity the convergences and the divergences between the two major strains of Buddhism - the Sanskrit traditions of Tibet and East Asia and the Pali traditions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Some 25 centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. What does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts? Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha's teachings. The time has come, he feels, to articulate a coherent, ethical, contemplative, and philosophical vision of Buddhism for our age.

“Ram Dass lived a full life and then some. His final statement is thorough and, yes, enlightening.” —Kirkus Reviews Perhaps no other teacher has sparked the fires of as many spiritual seekers in the West as Ram Dass. If you’ve ever embraced the phrase “be here now,” practiced...

This lucid overview of the Buddhist path takes the perspective of the three "vehicles" of Tibetan Buddhism: the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. While these vehicles are usually presented as a historical development, they are here equated with the attitudes that individuals bring to their Buddhist practice. Basic to them all, however, is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice.

This is the first book to offer the great master's incisive wisdom in short selections taken from the whole range of his voluminous works. The pithy and powerful readings, arranged according to theme, provide a perfect introduction to Dogen - and inspire spiritual practice in people of all traditions.

This user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions - beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” - and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction - as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life.

Learn how to overcome the worries, insecurities and fears that hold you back in this perspective-shifting book. Drawing on his years of experience as a celebrated Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh shows that by mastering the practices of mindfulness, you can learn to identify the sources of pain that cause fear and move past them to live a mindful and happy life.

Brought to you by Penguin. Every person's life is a journey toward themselves. The School for Broken Hearts, founded by bestselling mega-monk Haemin Sunim, provides a safe and caring space for people going through a difficult stage in life. Following on from his first two immensely successful...

This treasury of essential Buddhist writings draws from the most popular Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese sources. Among the selections are some of the earliest recorded sayings of the Buddha on the practice of freedom, passages from later Indian scriptures on the perfection of wisdom, verses from Tibetan masters on the enlightened mind, and songs in praise of meditation by Zen teachers.

Hinduism is an ancient religion, philosophy and way of life. Unlike other great religions that are based on a small set of books, there are hundreds of texts in Hinduism, most of which are very voluminous. They span not merely centuries, but millennia. And most importantly, these ancient...

Reiki is an ancient and profoundly simple system of “laying on of hands” healing derived from Tibetan Buddhism. In the West, Reiki has been kept highly secret for many years. ESSENTIAL REIKI presents full information on all three degrees of this healing system, most of it in print for the...

New York Times bestselling author Damien Echols presents an unabridged audiobook of the spiritual practices that helped him survive and transcend his ordeal on death row. At age 18, Damien Echols was sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. “I spent my years in prison training to be...

Find everyday calmness and clarity with simple mindfulness meditations and exercises. Mindfulness meditations are a great way to cultivate awareness and acceptance of the here and now - Practicing Mindfulness makes it easy and accessible with 75 evidence-based exercises designed to bring calmness and compassion into your day-to-day.

Discover the Infinite Possibilities of the "Vertical Dimension" of Existence Eckhart Tolle has long taught a curious truth: You’re not your possessions. You’re not your career. You’re not the events of your life. You’re not even the contents of your mind. So, who are you? With The...

The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its 18 volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own.

This program includes an introduction read by the author. A modern guide to the teachings of Buddhism. Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha’s Life, Teachings, and Practices is an indispensable guide to a 2,600-year-old wisdom tradition that has transformed the lives of millions across...

Little is known of the life of Zen master Huang-Po (Obaku in Japanese). He was born in Fuzhou, China, and died about 850 AD. His main teacher was Pai Chang (Hyakujo) (720 - 814). The main source for Huang-Po's teaching is the Treatise of the Essentials of the Transmission of the Mind, compiled by his student, Pei Xiu. Huang-Po's teaching is focused on the concept of Mind, the essence of intrinsic Buddahood. According to the master, the search for enlightenment was a useless distraction, as seeking for something inevitably separates the seeker from what is being sought.

“Written in words so intimate, calm, kind, and immediate, this extraordinary book feels like a message from our very own heart….Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most important voices of our time, and we have never needed to listen to him more than now.” —Sogyal Rinpoche Fear is destructive...

In How to Listen, Thich Nhat Hanh demonstrates how deep listening is a fundamental building block of good communication. With clear and gentle guidance, we learn how truly listening – to ourselves, to each other, to Mother Earth, and to the many ‘bells of mindfulness’ that are available to us in each moment – is the foundation of our practice, an expression of love and a solution to our deepest and most urgent large-scale conflicts.

A distillation of the acclaimed English translation of a revered Tibetan classic The Tibetan Book of the Dead is the most significant of all Tibetan Buddhist writings in the West and one of the most inspirational and compelling texts in world literature. In Meditations on Living, Dying and Loss...