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The Still Point Dhammapada: Living the Buddha's Essential Teachings
By Geri Larkin. 2003
The Dhammapada is much loved by Buddhist practitioners as a simple and straightforward rendition of some of Buddha's core teachings,…
and is read daily by thousands of people. While there are many translations available, few have an inclusive – and lyrical – sensibility. In studying various versions of this sacred text, Larkin noted many discrepancies and embarked upon an entirely original translation. Each instalment gets tested at the Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple in Detroit, a remarkable Zen centre in the heart of one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the country. This small gift hardcover will have the appeal of the Thomas Byrom/Ram Dass edition, but will be made even more accessible with each chapter's introduction containing a powerful contemporary anecdote from the Still Point Temple community. This 'Downtown Dhammapada' will appeal not only to Buddhists, but to those who also appreciate beautifully rendered sacred texts as simply good reading.Plant Seed, Pull Weed: Nurturing the Garden of Your Life
By Geri Larkin. 2008
Gardens have often been used as metaphors for spiritual nurturing and growth. Zen rock gardens, monastery rose gardens, even your…
grandmother's vegetable garden all have been described as places of refuge and reflection. Drawing on her experience working at Seattle's premier gardening center, Zen teacher Geri Larkin shows how the act of gardening can help you uncover your inner creativity, enthusiasm, vigilance, and joy. As your garden grows, so will your spirit.Larkin takes you through the steps of planning, planting, nurturing, and maintaining a garden while offering funny stories and inspiring lessons on what plants can teach us about our lives. As soothing as a bowl of homemade vegetable soup, Plant Seed, Pull Weed will entertain, charm, and inspire you to get your hands dirty and dig deep to cultivate your inner self.In 1956, pilot Nate Saint and four other missionaries were killed in Ecuador by the Waodani(Auca) Indians they had come…
to serve. Now Nate's gripping story of faithful service for Christ is brought up to date through the epilogue written by his son, Steve.Gardens of Awakening: A Guide to the Aesthetics, History, and Spirituality of Kyoto's Zen Landscapes
By Kazuaki Tanahashi. 2024
Renowned artist Kaz Tanahashi reveals the deep, inner spiritual connections that Zen gardens can foster, with over 75 stunning full-color photos…
of the masterpiece gardens of Kyōto, Japan.Imagine yourself in Kyōto, Japan, gazing at an ancient temple garden. How would you contextualize what you are seeing? What is the history of this centuries-old contemplative art form of Zen gardening? What are its symbols and concepts?Richly illustrated with full-color photographs, Gardens of Awakening guides you through a series of Zen temple gardens, most of which were created from the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries. Some are teeming with plants and flowing water, while others have only rocks and sand. All share in the Zen aesthetics of awakening.Through essays and commentary on Mitsue Nagase&’s striking photographs, beloved Zen artist and translator Kazuaki Tanahashi presents the gardens in terms of seven qualities that arise from Zen practice: direct, ordinary, vigorous, gleaming, pivotal, nondual, and inexhaustible. Relating these qualities to the development of Zen culture and its influence on Japanese art, Gardens of Awakening invites you deep into the heart of Zen.The Forbidden Daughter: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor
By Zipora Klein Jakob. 2021
The unforgettable true story of a girl born in the Kovno Ghetto, and the dangerous risk her parents faced in…
defying the barbarous Nazi law prohibiting childbirth.Elida Friedman was not supposed to have been born. In the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, Nazi law forbade Jewish women from giving birth. Yet despite the fear of death, Dr. Jonah Friedman and his wife Tzila, choose to bring a daughter into the world, a little girl they name Elida—meaning non-birth in Hebrew.To increase their child’s chance of survival, the Friedmans smuggle the baby out of the ghetto and into the arms of a non-Jewish farm family when Elida is only three months old. It is the beginning of a life marked by constant upheaval. When the Nazis raze the entire Kovno Ghetto, Jonah and Tzila are among those killed. Their only child is left orphaned and alone, dependent on the kindness of strangers.Despite her circumstances, Elida grows up, changing families, countries, continents, and even names, countless times. Surviving the war and the Holocaust that stole her parents, the young woman never gives up hope. In her lifelong pursuit to find love and belonging, she works to rebuild her identity and triumph over her terrible circumstances.A moving, powerful chronicle of overcoming impossible odds, The Forbidden Daughter is the true story of one unforgettable woman and her will to survive.Waking Up in Heaven: A True Story of Brokenness, Heaven, and Life Again
By Crystal McVea, Alex Tresniowski. 2013
New York Times bestseller! A remarkable and inspirational memoir about one woman's near-death experience, who was dramatically changed by the…
nine minutes she spent in heaven.On December 10, 2009, McVea, a thirty-two-year-old mother of four, went to the hospital for a routine procedure. While undergoing treatment, her face suddenly turned a dark shade of blue, then black. Her mother screamed for help, and a nurse tried to revive her…to no avail. Today, Crystal does not remember what happened in that hospital room during the nine minutes she was unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. She has no memory of the panic and the rushing nurses and the loud cries of &“Code Blue.&” She only remembers drifting off…and waking up in heaven. This unexpected meeting of a self-described sinner and skeptic with her God changed everything. Raised Christian, she had left her faith behind after childhood abuse and the subsequent struggles and suffering of her troubled teens and early adulthood. She longed to believe but felt abandoned, broken, and undeserving. A moving autobiographical testament to the power of divine love and forgiveness, Waking Up in Heaven shares the message of hope, healing, and compassion McVea brought back from her brush with God. This brave, honest account of years lost to shame and guilt will inspire those who&’ve stumbled along their own spiritual journey, with the uplifting reminder that no one is beyond the reach of grace and redemption, and that, in the words of the author, &“God is real. Heaven is real. And God&’s love for us is the realest thing of all.&”Sons And Daughters Of The Buddha: Daily meditations from the buddhist tradition
By Christopher Titmuss. 2002
Christopher Titmuss believes that the work of the great Buddhist writers can provide profound spiritual, religious, social, political and environmental…
insights. This collection of inspirational quotes, one thought-provoking excerpt for every day of the year, draws on the very best Buddhist writings from early sages to the work of contemporary writers such as Jack Kornfield and Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a book readers will want to keep for many years, and dip into time and again.Buddhist Public Advocacy and Activism in Thailand: A Rhetoric of Dignity and Duty
By Craig M. Pinkerton. 2024
This book studies Buddhist public advocacy and activism in Thailand—a movement often broadly called socially engaged Buddhism—from the perspective of…
rhetorical studies, specifically, on humanizing and dehumanizing communication practices. In modern Thailand and historical Siam, Buddhism has been integral to the social change processes shaping civil society and an emerging democracy. This study examined two problems: How do contemporary Buddhists in Thailand use rhetorical practice to influence the way the issues they work on are understood, and how do these Buddhists justify their advocacy and activism in rhetorical practice? To the first, a rhetoric of dignity, or humanization, was the central answer. To the second, a rhetoric of duty was the central answer. For researchers in Southeast Asian Studies, Thai Studies, and Buddhist Studies, this book offers a fresh perspective on socially engaged Buddhism through the lens of the communication discipline. For researchers in Psychologyand Communication, it sheds light on the understudied practices of humanizing communication. The bulk of the current research is focused on its opposite—dehumanization—and most of this literature is in the field of psychology even though humanization and dehumanization are fundamentally and ontologically communication phenomena. For researchers within the field of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, this book advances innovations in the emerging practices of rhetorical field methods by applying rhetorical criticism to interview data in a new way and provides a non-western perspective on communication and rhetorical theory for which there has been continual calls.A Search In Secret India: The classic work on seeking a guru
By Paul Brunton. 1934
'He found many marvelous things...But now and then a man of real spirituality set his feet on the way that…
finally led him to what he had looked and hoped for.' New York Times Book Review The late Paul Brunton was one of the twentieth century's greatest explorers of and writers on the spiritual traditions of the East. A Search in Secret India is the story of Paul Brunton's journey around India, living among yogis, mystics and gurus, some of whom he found convincing, others not. He finally finds the peace and tranquility which come with self-knowledge when he meets and studies with the great sage Sri Ramana Maharishi.The Road Home: My Journey
By Stanislaus Kennedy. 2011
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, or Sister Stan as she is affectionately known, has been described as a visionary and social innovator.…
Now, in The Road Home she looks back on her life - from her early years growing up on the family farm in the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, to the day when, at the age of eighteen, she made the life-changing decision to become a nun. Inspired by the work of Mother Mary Aikenhead, who founded the Sisters of Charity in 1815, Stan went on to dedicate her life to the service of the poor and to fighting for a fairer, more equal society.Here, as she reflects on the many challenges she has met, both personal and political, she recalls how she was also inspired by her mentor, Bishop Peter Birch and how, under his guidance she helped to set up an innovative model of community care in Kilkenny - a model that was to become a blueprint for the rest of Ireland.Over the years Stan also developed into a formidable campaigner and worked tirelessly - sometimes against severe opposition - to establish other immensely influential human rights and social justice agencies, includingFocus Ireland, now the biggest national voluntary organisation for the homeless, Young Social Innovators, a national social justice education programme for young people, and The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), which supports the rights of migrants and their families and is a catalyst for public debate. In 2000, Stan also founded The Sanctuary - a meditation and spirituality centre in Dublin where, amidst the bustle of city life, people can experience peace, quiet, and the space to explore and develop their inner world.Inspiring and thought-provoking, this fascinating memoir provides a unique insight into the life and work of one of the most influential social activists of our day, the many political battles she has fought and won, and how, with dogged determination and courage, she has shaped the lives and the fortunes of thousands of people. Quite simply, The Road Home is the remarkable story of a remarkable woman.The Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Science and Our Day-to-Day Lives
By Gay Watson, Stephen Batchelor and Guy Claxton. 1999
The Buddhist view of the mind - how it works, how it goes wrong, how to put it right -…
is increasingly being recognised as profound and highly practical by scientists, counsellors and other professionals. In The Psychology of Awakening, this powerful vision of human nature, and its implications for personal and social life, are for the first time brought to a wider audience by some of those most influential in exploring its potential for the way we live today. These include: David Brazier Jon Kabat Zinn Francisco Varela Joy Manne Geshe Thubten Jinpa Mark Epstein Gay Watson Maura Sills Guy Claxton Stephen Batchelor Deeply relevant, accessible and authoritative, The Psychology of Awakening will be of interest to all those who wish to understand the workings of their minds a little better and who are also seeking new ways of mastering the challenges - personal, professional and cultural with which modern life confronts us all.The Practice of Not Thinking: A Guide to Mindful Living
By Ryunosuke Koike. 2012
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'Practical and life-changing ways to get out of our heads and back into really living' YOU MagazineWhat if…
we could learn to look instead of see, listen instead of hear, feel instead of touch? Former monk Ryunosuke Koike shows how, by incorporating simple Zen practices into our daily lives, we can reconnect with our five senses and live in a more peaceful, positive way. When we focus on our senses and learn to re-train our brains and our bodies, we start to eliminate the distracting noise of our minds and the negative thoughts that create anxiety. By following Ryunosuke Koike's practical steps on how to breathe, listen, speak, laugh, love and even sleep in a new way, we can improve our interactions with others, feel less stressed at work and make every day calmer. Only by thinking less, can we appreciate more.Now and Zen: Notes from a Buddhist Monastery: with Illustrations
By Eiyû Murakoshi. 1998
'In Japan we have an expression, 'Float like Cloud, Flow like Water'. Its meaning is: to live free and unconstrained'In…
this short introduction to Zen Buddhism, a practising Japanese monk shares the many lessons he has learned from life inside a temple.With charm and humour, he guides us through everything from meditation to tea-drinking ceremonies, the meaning of koans to preparing Zen food. Accompanied by the author's own illustrations, this book invites you to change your perception through the wisdom of monastic life.Moments of Stillness
By Stanislaus Kennedy. 2009
In her long-awaited book, Sister Stan draws upon her memories of childhood and the special moments of awareness and mystery…
which have nourished and enriched her life. As she offers simple reflections to help us focus on the many gifts and blessings that surround us each day, she helps us to connect to our inner world, and the deep, nurturing silence that lies within.Millennial Nuns: Reflections on Living a Spiritual Life in a World of Social Media
By The Daughters of Saint Paul. 2021
Discover how to engage in a faith-filled life in the era of social media from a group of young, consecrated…
Catholic sisters.Friend. Artist. Writer. Businesswomen. Advocate. Scholar. The women whose pieces are included in this book hold many different titles. But they all share two important characteristics. First, they are all young women. Second, they are all consecrated religious of the Catholic order the Daughters of Saint Paul. They are millennial nuns.More and more people—especially millennials—are turning to religion as a source of comfort and solace in our increasingly chaotic world. But rather than live a cloistered life of seclusion, the Daughters of Saint Paul actively embrace social media, using platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to evangelize, collectively calling themselves the #MediaNuns.In this &“funny and poignant&” (Colleen Carroll Campbell, award-winning author of The Heart of Perfection) memoir, eight of these Sisters share their own discernment journeys, struggles, and crises of faith that they&’ve overcome, and episodes from their daily lives. Through these reflections, the Sisters also offer practical takeaways and tips for living a more spiritually-fulfilled life, no matter your religious affiliation.In a collection as diverse and varied as the Daughters of Saint Paul themselves, Millennial Nuns will appeal to anyone looking to discover more about balancing faith with the modern age.The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place
By David Sheff. 2020
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Boyexplores the transformation of Jarvis Jay Masters who has become one…
of America&’s most inspiring Buddhist practitioners while locked in a cell on death row. Jarvis Jay Masters&’s early life was a horror story whose outline we know too well. Born in Long Beach, California, his house was filled with crack, alcohol, physical abuse, and men who paid his mother for sex. He and his siblings were split up and sent to foster care when he was five, and he progressed quickly to juvenile detention, car theft, armed robbery, and ultimately San Quentin. While in prison, he was set up for the murder of a guard—a conviction which landed him on death row, where he&’s been since 1990.At the time of his murder trial, he was held in solitary confinement, torn by rage and anxiety, felled by headaches, seizures, and panic attacks. A criminal investigator repeatedly offered to teach him breathing exercises which he repeatedly refused. Until desperation moved him to ask her how to do &“that meditation shit.&” With uncanny clarity, David Sheff describes Masters&’s gradual but profound transformation from a man dedicated to hurting others to one who has prevented violence on the prison yard, counseled high school kids by mail, and helped prisoners—and even guards—find meaning in their lives.Along the way, Masters becomes drawn to the principles that Buddhism espouses—compassion, sacrifice, and living in the moment—and he gains the admiration of Buddhists worldwide, including many of the faith&’s most renowned practitioners. And while he is still in San Quentin and still on death row, he is a renowned Buddhist thinker who shows us how to ease our everyday suffering, relish the light that surrounds us, and endure the tragedies that befall us all.Fight for the Forgotten: How a Mixed Martial Artist Stopped Fighting for Himself and Started Fighting for Others
By Justin Wren, Loretta Hunt. 2015
From notable mixed martial artist and UFC fighter Justin Wren comes a personal account of faith, redemption, empowerment, and overwhelming…
love as one man sets out on an international mission to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.Justin knows what it feels like to be wronged. Bullied as a child, he dreamed of becoming a UFC fighter and used his anger as fuel to propel his dream into reality. But the pain from his childhood didn’t dissipate. Instead, Justin fell into a spiral of depression and addiction, leading him on a path toward destruction. Kicked out of his training community and with no other place to go, Justin agreed to attend a men’s retreat, and it was there he found God.As Justin began piecing his life back together, he joined several international mission trips that opened his eyes and his heart to a world filled with suffering deep in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There he met the Mbuti Pygmy tribe, a group of people persecuted by neighboring tribes and forced into slavery. His encounter with the Pygmy tribe left him wondering who was there to help them and in that moment Justin stepped out of the ring and into a fight for the forgotten.From cage fighter to freedom fighter, Justin’s story is a deeply personal memoir with a bigger message about a quest, justice, and the amazing things that can happen when we relinquish our lives to God.Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America
By Mel White. 1994
&“Compelling…eloquent and compassionate…We learn as much about growing up in the Christian right as we do about gay life in…
Mel White&’s heartfelt and revealing memoir.&” —San Francisco ExaminerUntil Christmas Eve 1991, Mel White was regarded by the leaders of the religious right as one of their most talented and productive supporters. He penned the speeches of Oliver North. He was a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, worked with Jim Bakker, flew in Pat Robertson&’s private jet, walked sandy beaches with Billy Graham. What these men didn&’t know was that Mel White—evangelical minister, committed Christian, family man—was gay. &“An engrossing journey to unite sexuality with faith&” (Dallas Morning News), Stranger at the Gate details Mel White&’s twenty-five years of being counseled, exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong. But his salvation—to be openly gay and Christian—is more than a unique coming-out story. It is a chilling exposé that goes right into the secret meetings and hidden agendas of the religious right. Told by an eyewitness and sure to anger those Mel White once knew best, Stranger at the Gate is a warning about where the politics of hate may lead America…an important book by a brave man whose words can make us both richer in spirit and much wiser too.Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son
By Peter Manseau. 2005
The 1950s was a boom time for the Catholic Church in America, with large families of devout members providing at…
least one son or daughter for a life of religious service. Boston was at the epicenter of this explosion, and Bill Manseau and Mary Doherty -- two eager young parishioners from different towns -- became part of a new breed of clergy, eschewing the comforts of homey parishes and choosing instead to minister to the inner-city poor. Peter Manseau's riveting evocation of his parents' parallel childhoods, their similar callings, their experiences in the seminary and convent, and how they met while tending to the homeless of Roxbury during the riot-prone 1960s is a page-turning meditation on the effect that love can have on profound faith. Once married, the Manseaus continued to fight for Father Bill's right to serve the church as a priest, and it was into this situation that Peter and his siblings were born and raised to be good Catholics while they witnessed their father's personal conflict with the church's hierarchy. A multigenerational tale of spirituality, Vows also charts Peter's own calling, one which he tried to deny even as he felt compelled to consider the monastic life, toying with the idea of continuing a family tradition that stretches back over 300 years of Irish and French Catholic priests and nuns. It is also in Peter's deft hands that we learn about a culture and a religion that has shaped so much of American life, affected generations of true believers, and withstood great turmoil. Vows is a compelling tale of one family's unshakable faith that to be called is to serve, however high the cost may be.God Gave Me You: A True Story of Love, Loss, and a Heaven-Sent Miracle
By Tricia Seaman, Diane Nichols. 2016
When a single mother with terminal cancer asked a nurse she’d met in the oncology ward to raise her son,…
neither could have imagined the miracles God had in store.God Gave Me You tells the true story of how these two incredible mothers met, the immediate bond they formed, and the ups and downs of joining families as one’s earthly life ebbed away. The miracle of these two families coming together demonstrates that family isn’t always blood—sometimes it’s made up of the people God gives you if you have a willing heart.Oncology nurse Tricia Seaman and her family had their hearts set on adopting a son. They were months into the grueling process when Tricia met a terminally ill cancer patient on her regular rounds. Curiously, the two shared the same name. Trish Somers was that patient—a single mom whose world revolved around her eight-year-old son, Wesley. As the young mother poured out her fears and emotions during her post-operative care, Tricia sensed theirs would be like no other nurse-patient relationship she had experienced in her career.When the cancer spread, it became clear Trish had only a short time left to live. That’s when the inconceivable happened: Trish asked her nurse—a woman who had been a complete stranger just days before—to raise her beloved son when she passed away.God Gave Me You will inspire you with a story of courage, trust, and faith that God’s plans are bigger and more amazing then we could hope for on our own. It’s a story you’ll turn to again and again when you’re looking for hope and a reason to believe in miracles.