Buddhist Religion

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.

This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.

Andrew Skilton - Senior Research Fellow in Buddhist Studies, Kings College, London - explains the development of the basic concepts of Buddhism and its spread across the continents during its 2,500 years of history. He begins with a close look at Buddhism in India, where it flourished until the 12th/13th century CE, charting the growth of different schools and practices. By the time it disappeared from its homeland midway through the millennium, it had become established in Central Asia and the Far East in a variety of forms.

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...

International bestselling mindfulness author and early Google engineer Chade-Meng Tan (Meng) teams up with admired American Buddhist abbot Soryu Forall to bring you this vital guide to Buddhism. Meng and Soryu carefully pored over the entirety of the early Buddhist texts (EBTs) to faithfully deliver their profound wisdom, packaged with Soryu's incisive sagacity and Meng's uncanny ability to explain deep concepts humorously and understandably.

Buddhism is one of the most practical and simple belief systems on this planet and it has greatly helped me on my way to become a better person in every aspect possible. No matter if you are totally green when it comes to Buddha's teachings or if you have already heard something about them - this audiobook will help you systematize your knowledge and will inspire you to learn more and to take steps to make your life positively better!

One of the world's most popular Tibetan lamas shares accessible advice for working with adversity and living a spiritual life. Enjoy a variety of meditations on topics from flattery and jealousy to karma and compassion. In each brief chapter, Khenpo Sodargye weaves in stories from ancient classics and modern headlines. Drawing on adages from the Buddha, Confucius, and even Mark Twain, he delivers simple and timeless insights about facing adversity and developing a good heart.

An introductory guide to cultivating patience and opening your heart to difficult circumstances from leading Buddhist teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche.

Is there more to Buddhism than sitting in silent meditation? Is modern Buddhism relevant to the problems of daily life? Does it empower individuals to transform their lives? Or has Buddhism become too detached, so still and quiet that the Buddha has fallen asleep? Waking the Buddha tells the story of the Soka Gakkai International, the largest, most dynamic Buddhist movement in the world today - and one that is waking up and shaking up Buddhism so it can truly work in ordinary people's lives.

IN THE following book I attempt to call the listener's attention to the closeness of Meister Eckhart's way of thinking to that of Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially of Zen Buddhism. The attempt is only a tentative and sketchy one, far from being systematic and exhaustive. But I hope the reader will find something in it which evokes his curiosity enough to undertake further studies of this fascinating topic.

From the best-selling author of the biography of Shunryu Suzuki (Crooked Cucumber), comes a memoir and oral history of Tassajara—a monastery founded in 1967 by Shunryu Suzuki, abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. Peopled like a Sixties film of Buddhist invasion, with hippies, dreamers, lovers, a wave of serious practitioners. Nyogen Senzaki, D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and of course Shunryu Suzuki and Richard Baker are all here. This is the story of what happened at and surrounding the founding of the first Zen monastery in the West.

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.

In little time, Loy has become one of the most powerful advocates of the Buddhist worldview, explaining like no one else its ability to transform the sociopolitical landscape of the modern world. In this, his most accessible work to date, he offers sharp and even shockingly clear presentations of oft-misunderstood Buddhist staples - the working of karma, the nature of self, the causes of trouble on both the individual and societal levels - and the real reasons behind our collective sense of "never enough", whether it's time, money, sex, security...even war.

This remarkable collection of 73 verses contained in the 'Khuddaka Nikaya' section of the Pali Canon dates from the BC 6th century. It is said to be the earliest voices of women in recorded history. The verses, some brief, some more extended, are the utterances of the bhikkhunis, the nuns at the time of the Buddha, concerning their life and their ‘awakening’.

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.

Presents guidance and 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 Explores the use of psychedelics in Buddhist practice, sharing the kind of spiritual...

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.

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?

Discover the origins and traditions of world religions! With so many religions in the world, it isn’t always easy to recall each faith’s key influences, spiritual figures, and dogmas. Written in easy-to-understand language, Religion 101 offers a fascinating—and memorable—glimpse at the...

With his one-of-a kind blend of autobiography, pop culture, and plainspoken Buddhism, Brad Warner explores an A-to-Z of sexual topics; from masturbation to dating, gender identity to pornography. In addition to approaching sexuality from a Buddhist perspective, he looks at Buddhism - emptiness, compassion, karma - from a sexual vantage. Throughout, he stares down the tough questions: Can prostitution be "right livelihood"? Can a good spiritual master also be really, really bad?