Awakening the Laughing Buddha within


Book Description

This book is a pioneering & unique blend of Taoism with the healing power of laughter. It helps you stay upbeat in a crazy world, so you live a rich, fulfilled, happy life on your own terms. It combines laughter readiness with laughter yoga, nls: natural laughter skills with laughter the best medicine. It is a story, a manual, and a guide to help you awaken your own laughing Buddha within and live a life of fulfillment and delight. By following the progressive set of simple exercises you boost your physical & emotional health, ease stress & depression, and develop an open-hearted connection with yourself and others.




Laughing Buddha


Book Description

The book talks about the spirit of the Laughing Buddha which is a state of ultimate relaxation, happiness and contentment. Sakshi Chetana brings in this book the rare combination of ancient Buddhist wisdom and its practical use in our daily lives in the modern world for living in joy. Buddha has had an immeasurable influence on the human race. The Laughing Buddha is a practical aspect of the Buddha, who, after enlightenment, showed us the way to a euphoric living right in the middle of our daily chores and responsibilities. In other words, Sakshi has brilliantly introduced the wisdom of Buddhism for ecstatic living in a market-place. This book wonderfully explores the legends and lessons from the life of Laughing Buddha, whose spirit we can imbibe for a delightful living. Lucidly and beautifully written, the Laughing Buddha" contains the wisest spirit of Buddhism in a readily understandable and accessible form, often in a question-answer format, for even those, who are new to Buddhism. The book is an enjoyable read for everyone who aspires to live a joyful and meaningful life.




Autoethnographies in Psychology and Mental Health


Book Description

This autoethnographic volume gathers a multiplicity of different voices in autoethnographic research from across psychology and mental health disciplines to address topics ranging from selfhood, trauma, emotional understanding, clinical psychology, and the experience of grief. Edited by two leading figures, this volume broadens the concept of psychology beyond its conventional, mainstream academic boundaries and challenges pre-conceived and received notions of what constitutes ‘psychology’ and ‘mental health’. This book collects new autoethnographic writers in psychology and mental health from across as diverse a range of disciplines and, in doing so, makes a strong case for the legitimacy of subjectivity, emotionality and lived experience as epistemic and pedagogic resources. The collection also troubles the related concept of ‘mental health.’ In contemporary times, this is either biomedically over-colonised (welcomed by some but resisted by others), often regarded by lay and professional people alike in terms of an ‘ordered or disordered’ binary (comforting for some but associated with stigma and othering for others), or, at worst, is reduced to a set of hackneyed memes – the stuff of Breakfast television (well-intentioned and undoubtedly reassuring and helpful for some but patronising and naïve for others). Overall, the volume promotes the subjective and lived-experiential voices of its contributors – the hallmark of autoethnographic writing. Autoethnographies in Psychology and Mental Health will be of interest to psychology and mental health students and professionals with an interest in qualitative inquiry as it intersects with autoethnography and mental health.




Buddhism in America


Book Description

Buddhism in America provides the most comprehensive and up to date survey of the diverse landscape of US Buddhist traditions, their history and development, and current methodological trends in the study of Buddhism in the West, located within the translocal flow of global Buddhist culture. Divided into three parts (Histories; Traditions; Frames), this introduction traces Buddhism's history and encounter with North American culture, charts the landscape of US Buddhist communities, and engages current methodological and theoretical developments in the field. The volume includes: - A short introduction to Buddhism - A historical survey from the 19th century to the present - Coverage of contemporary US Buddhist communities, including Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Theoretical and methodological issues and debates covered include: - Social, political and environmental engagement - Race, feminist, and queer theories of Buddhism - Secular Buddhism, digital Buddhism, and modernity - Popular culture, media, and the arts Pedagogical tools include chapter summaries, discussion questions, images and maps, a glossary, and case studies. The book's website provides recommended further resources including websites, books and films, organized by chapter. With individual chapters which can stand on their own and be assigned out of sequence, Buddhism in America is the ideal resource for courses on Buddhism in America, American Religious History, and Introduction to Buddhism.




The LAAF Way


Book Description

“The world needs more laughter-based solutions. I find this LAAF Way, where Ranga integrates laughter with meditation, to be a perfect tool to enhance mental, emotional and social wellbeing”– Dr. Madan Kataria. Founder, Laughter Yoga Why don’t more people meditate? Why don’t people meditate more? Can meditation be less intimidating, and more fun? It most certainly can. Introducing The LAAF Way, where laughter is the joyful gateway to profound inward journeys. Ranga offers us a lighter, brighter, and more authentic way—not simply to meditate, but to live all of life in a state of wellbeing, fulfillment and flow.




Smile at Fear


Book Description

Insights and strategies for claiming victory over fear, from “one of the most remarkable and brilliant teachers of modern times” (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart) Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears—perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, of financial hardship, or of losing a loved one. Chögyam Trungpa shows us that most of us suffer from a far more pervasive fearfulness: fear of ourselves. We feel ashamed and embarrassed to look at our feelings or acknowledge our styles of thinking and acting; we don’t want to face the reality of our moment-to-moment experience. It is this fear that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering, despair, and distress. In Smile at Fear, Chögyam Trungpa offers us a vision of moving beyond fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and delight in life that lies at the core of our being. Drawing on the Shambhala Buddhist teachings, he explains how we can each become a spiritual warrior—a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness.




The Awakening Guide


Book Description

Waking up spiritually is a life-altering event that shifts the world view, and changes the perception of what it means to be human. It is a significant grace in anyone's life, bringing the potential for profound peace, unconditional love and intuitive wisdom. However, spiritual "seekers" rarely have a clear understanding of what it means to become Awakened or Self-realized, nor do they recognize the natural tendency to become stuck in various cul-de-sacs along the way, or know how to cope with the challenges that arise in this process. Awakening is both sudden and gradual, often beautiful and ecstatic, but it can also be disorienting as the "seeker" falls away. Few spiritual systems or therapists are able to offer guidance to those in this process, and this can lead to confusion, detours and lengthy periods of darkness before embodiment and freedom are established. "The Awakening Guide" reveals how the search for love, wisdom and wholeness unfolds for those who meditate, and also those who have sudden awakenings to expanded consciousness, radiant emptiness, Oneness and the realization of Self. This might happen following breathing or energy practices, transmission or diksa, traumatic or near-death events, drug experiments, biofeedback, or spontaneously while walking down the street. Consciousness shifts. Wham! Another reality is opened, and the world you know changes before your eyes. Consciousness is invited to recall itself as Source. An initial awakening is seldom permanent, and many seekers are disappointed to discover that this first flash of insight was only a glimpse, and the subsequent months and years require trust, patience and a commitment to living in Truth if they hope to be stabilized in an awakened state. This inspirational book, written by a non-dual teacher and therapist who has explored the path of spiritual awakening for more than 40 years, and witnessed the spiritual emergence of over 2000 people, is a companion to support a new perspective as an old identity falls away. It offers some guidelines for awakening, descriptions of the varieties of experiences that have been called awakening, comments by people who have had glimpses of awakening, and a revelation of the primary issues and resolutions an awakened person may need to face. It is a companion to Dr. Greenwell's book "The Kundalini Guide."




The Art of You


Book Description

You are a masterpiece - an unfolding work of art, beautiful in the moment and growing every day. The Art of You invites you to answer your call; it presents the perception-shifting vision that both you and your life are creative acts and shows you how to see the exquisite masterpiece you came here to be. Vanessa Tucker harnesses the alchemy of her therapeutic and spiritual practise, her intuitive gift as a teacher, and her dark and illuminating personal experiences, and distils them into tools you can use to rediscover yourself. Packed with narrative paintings, inspiring stories, and practical exercises, she presents five innovative ways of looking at yourself and guides you through an empowering creation process that enables you to: step into your feminine wisdom, connect with your cosmic power and reclaim your beauty, leading you into an empowering space of love and wholeness. Are you ready to answer your creative calling?




The Laughing Buddha of Tofukuji: the Life of Zen Master Keido Fukushima


Book Description

Harris' book serves as a fresh introduction to Zen for Western readers which never fails to convey the radiant spirit of one of the most remarkable spiritual masters of our time.




OM Chanting and Meditation


Book Description

The book provides some powerful Om chanting and meditation techniques to bring balance health and harmony in life. In this book Amit Ray describes several Om chanting and Om meditation methods in detail in a lucid and plain English. In Eastern religions, Om (AUM) is considered as the most sacred mantra. Om is the mantra of integration; integration of individual with the Whole. Om is the mantra of harmony and celebration. Om is the mantra to access the Supreme Divinity residing within us. Om chanting and meditations have healing effects on the body and the mind. This book is a step-by-step guide to practise meditations with the Om. As you practise, a long-lasting sense of well-being manifests in your life. You will notice a sense of joyfulness entering your life along with an ability to appreciate the many gifts that surround you. This book will help both the beginners as well as the advanced practitioners.