Buddhist Religion

Friends Big Panda and Tiny Dragon journey through the seasons of the year together, day and night, in rain and in sun. Travelling through nature, they find hope and inspiration in the world around them, realising that even in the darkest of days, spring will always return. Feel the calming influence of Big Panda, who reminds us of the bigger picture while appreciating the simplicity of small moments. Explore your surroundings with the inquisitive eye of Tiny Dragon, our friend who is big in heart if not in stature.

As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition?

Do you want to live a happier and more peaceful life? When people hear the word "Buddhism", they automatically assume that it refers to a religion. Anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, can incorporate Buddhist principles into their daily lives without having to give up their own. More than 300 million people around the world are practicing Buddhism, a simple and practical philosophy that can improve your life and help you find inner peace and happiness. Buddhism is a way of life based on a spiritual path that ultimately leads to enlightenment.

Gyodo Haguri (1881-1965) was a Shin Buddhist priest whose keen appreciation for Shinran’s teaching was controversial from the standpoint of Hongwanji doctrine. His classic book Transformation of One’s Entire Being: The Culmination of Other-Power Faith (1953) was published in translation as The Awareness of Self (1967) with a prologue and epilogue by Taitetsu Unno.

Gallileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world and in their wake have left an uneasy co-existence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical enquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality?

A collection of Zen stories to amuse and illuminate. Includes all the stories from classic Zen literature: 101 Zen Stories, The Gateless Gate, The Ten Bulls and Centering. Includes the soundtrack The Mysterious Sound of Wind In the Bamboo - a 43 minute collection of Zen inspired Japanese music by The Matsu Take Ensemble.

An ancient and deeply revered practice, Buddhism is even more popular now than it has been in decades. The secret behind its steady rise is due in part to the plethora of benefits Buddhism reaps upon those who practice it and apply its teachings to their lives. Through mindfulness and meditation, Buddhism injects peace and clarity into the minds and lives of those who dedicate themselves to it. Those wonderful benefits can be a part of your life as well through the careful study of its various tenets.

If the Buddha were alive today, what would he say about the unique challenges we face? In Tea and Cake With Demons, NYC-based mindfulness and meditation teacher Adreanna Limbach shares a down-to-earth, often humorous, and delightfully insightful discussion of Buddhism through the lens of modern life - and all our cultural, technological, and still-timeless obstacles. Throughout, Adreanna shares simple meditation practices, personal anecdotes, and traditional Buddhist tales that help you embrace the full experience of being human.

Traditional economics measures the ways in which we spend our income, but doesn't attribute worth to the crucial human interactions that give our lives meaning. Clair Brown, an economics professor at U.C. Berkeley and a practicing Buddhist, has developed a holistic model, one based on the notion that quality of life should be measured by more than national income. Brown advocates an approach to organizing the economy that embraces rather than skirts questions of values, sustainability, and equity.

The excitement you feel after hearing good news or achieving a goal is fleeting, but true happiness - that is, the warm feeling of deep contentment and joy - is lasting, and it can be yours in every moment. The Buddha's Way of Happiness is a guide to putting aside your anxieties about the future, regrets about the past, and constant longing to change your life for the better, and awakening to the joy of living.

My dear children, do not blame others for your lack of success. Seek the cause of your ills in yourselves. Unless you are blinded by vanity you will discover your fault, and having discovered it you will see the way out of it. The remedy for your ills, too, lies in yourselves. Never let your mental eyes be covered by the dust of selfishness. If you heed my words and obey these injunctions you will, when you come to die, continue to live in the good Karma that you have stored up, and your souls will be immortalised according to your deeds.

The author of Breakfast with Buddha brings his characteristic whimsy to a new novel about New York book editor Otto Ringling and Mongolian monk Volya Rinpoche, who embark on a road trip from Rinpoche's meditation center in North Dakota to the glitter and glitz of the Las Vegas strip.

Buddhism has a lot to say about suffering - and there are likely few times we suffer more intensely than when we break up with a romantic partner. It feels like you may never recover sometimes. But Lodro Rinzler has wonderfully good news for those suffering heartbreak: The 2,500-year-old teachings of the Buddha are the ultimate antidote for emotional pain. And you don't need to be a Buddhist for them to apply to you.

This rich, timely, and highly original portrait of the Buddha explores both the archetypal religious icon and Buddha the man. In lucid and compelling prose, Armstrong brings to life the Buddha's quest, from his renunciation of his privileged life to the discovery of a truth that he believed would utterly transform human beings and enable them to live at peace in the midst of life's suffering.

In this user’s guide to psychedelic Buddhism, Lama Mike Crowley presents techniques for Buddhists who wish to incorporate psychedelics into their practice as well as for psychonauts who are interested in the maps of inner space provided by Buddhism. The author details how psychedelics have led to spontaneous awakening experiences, such as “Indra’s net” and universal voidness, that were once thought to be available only to advanced meditators.

Many of us, even on our happiest days, struggle to quiet the constant buzz of anxiety in the background of our minds. All kinds of worries—worries about losing people and things, worries about how we seem to others—keep us from peace of mind. Distracted or misled by our preoccupations, misconceptions, and, most of all, our obsession with ourselves, we don't see the world clearly—we don't see the world as it really is.

Diligence is the essential quality to inspire joy and openheartedness for Buddhist practice and daily life. In this commentary focused on the Diligence Chapter from Shantideva’s eighth-century classic The Way of the Bodhisattva, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche illuminates how diligence is the inner vigor that sparks enthusiasm despite difficulty, the dynamic armor that protects against laziness, and the inner strength that aims to meet the world with joy and openheartedness.

Here are the stories of those who have encountered and embraced the way of life called Shin Buddhism (or Jodo Shinshu). Starting from other religious traditions and backgrounds, the writers have “crossed over” to become part of the Shin Buddhist community in the U.S. and Canada. In powerful essays, they share personal experiences and explain how their paths found a new direction.

Written in India in the early eighth century CE, Santideva's The Bodhicaryavatara takes as its subject the profound desire to become a Buddha and save all beings from suffering. The person who enacts such a desire is a Bodhisattva. Santideva not only sets out what the Bodhisattva must do and become; he also invokes the intense feelings of aspiration which underlie such a commitment, using language which has inspired Buddhists in their religious lives from his time to the present.

In this book, J.D. Gilbert challenges the preconceptions around this ancient religion by showing how Buddhism has been and remains a dynamic and evolving framework for universal truths and personal transformation.