Be a Light Unto Yourself


Book Description

An accessible self-help guide to learning to trust yourself, inspired by the spiritual teachings of the Buddha. Gautama Buddha was the founder of what we know as Buddhism, a spiritual tradition that is recognized throughout the world as one of compassion, peace, and understanding. Like his final words, Gautama Buddha's teachings were often simple phrases that carried profound thoughts and implications. When the words of the Buddha were gathered together, a special collection was made - The Dhammapada or The Way of Truth. Be a Light Unto Yourself relates the story of Gautama Buddha and the spiritual revolution he began. It is a collection of teachings that relate strongest to the power and depth of the statement “Be a light unto yourself.” This book teaches you to know yourself and to always look within yourself for guidance and to trust your own senses. Among the teachings you'll find: “Your life is determined by the nature of mind . . . A silent mind creates a peaceful life. Happiness will follow this mind like an ever-present shadow.” “Not in the sky, not in the deepness of the sea, not in the rocky clefts of the mountains is there a spot in the world where you can hide from yourself.” “If you can govern your anger like a charioteer his chariot, you are a real driver; otherwise you simply hold the reins.”




BE A LIGHT UNTO YOURSELF


Book Description

I was acquainted with the name of Meher Baba when as a kid I heard my grandfather Dr. Hira Lall Chopra often mention his name as a spiritual awakener of the twentieth century who lived in Ahmednagar. It was recently that, in the course of my study on the spiritual world and on spiritualism, I came across the name of Meher Baba. His name not only evoked my childhood memories but also spurred me on to undertake deeper study to gain insight into the life and achievements of Meher Baba. In the course of this pursuit I also went to Avatar Meher Baba Centre, New Delhi. The Centre was very helpful in providing information and reading material on the life and teachings of Meher Baba. I must admit that, on studying the available material on the life and achievements of Meher Baba, I was wonderstruck as to how an ordinary person, leading an ordinary life, by a twist of fate, not only realized spirituality but also turned into an ardent spiritual awakener for the rest of mankind in this predominantly materialistic world. Man is essentially a spiritual being and, in my opinion, requires material gains only for peaceful existence in order to achieve his objective of spirituality, and come closer to his Creator – God. But in pursuit of material gains, men, at large, tend to distance themselves from spirituality and thus from God. For those who earnestly seek spirituality, I feel the teachings of Meher Baba can help them to achieve their objective. It is for this reason that I have penned down my findings and thoughts in the form of this book on the life and teachings of Avatar Meher Baba which may help all those who seek spirituality and God - consciousness. (Dr). ANU DHAWAN NEW DELHI July 2014




A Light to Yourself


Book Description

I n t h e s e t a l k s , g i v e n i n E u r o p e a n d I n d i a , K r i s h n a m u r t i g o e s i n t o t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f g o i n g i n t o p r o b l e m s o p e n l y , w i t h o u t c o n c l u s i o n s . " . . b e c a u s e w e a p p r o a c h o u r p r o b l e m s p a r t i a l l y , t h r o u g h a l l t h e s e v a r i o u s f o r m s o f c o n d i t i o n i n g , i t s e e m s t o m e t h a t w e a r e t h e r e b y n o t u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e m . I f e e l t h a t t h e a p p r o a c h t o a n y p r o b l e m i s o f m u c h m o r e s i g n i f i c a n c e t h a n t h e p r o b l e m i t s e l f , a n d t h a t i f w e c o u l d a p p r o a c h o u r m a n y d i f f i c u l t i e s w i t h o u t a n y p a r t i c u l a r f o r m o f c o n d i t i o n i n g o r p r e j u d i c e , t h e n p e r h a p s w e w o u l d c o m e t o a f u n d a m e n t a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e m . " A n e x t e n s i v e c o m p e n d i u m o f K r i s h n a m u r t i ' s t a l k s a n d d i s c u s s i o n s i n t h e U S A , E u r o p e , I n d i a , N e w Z e a l a n d , a n d S o u t h A f r i c a f r o m 1 9 3 3 t o 1 9 6 7 t h e C o l l e c t e d W o r k s h a v e b e e n c a r e f u l l y a u t h e n t i c a t e d a g a i n s t e x i s t i n g t r a n s c r i p t s a n d t a p e s . E a c h v o l u m e i n c l u d e s a f r o n t i s p i e c e p h o t o g r a p h o f K r i s h n a m u r t i , w i t h q u e s t i o n a n d s u b j e c t i n d e x e s a t t h e e n d . T h e c o n t e n t o f e a c h v o l u m e i s n o t l i m i t e d t o t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e t i t l e , b u t r a t h e r o f f e r s a u n i q u e v i e w o f K r i s h n a m u r t i ' s e x t r a o r d i n a r y t e a c h i n g s i n s e l e c t e d y e a r s . T h e C o l l e c t e d W o r k s o f f e r s t h e r e a d e r t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o e x p l o r e t h e e a r l y w r i t i n g s a n d d i a l o g u e s i n t h e i r m o s t c o m p l e t e a n d a u t h e n t i c f o r m




Three Steps to Awakening


Book Description

A unique, adaptable model for meditation practice that ties together elements of the various Buddhist traditions The deceptively simple three-phase method presented in Three Steps to Awakening is a meditation practice that can be worked with for a lifetime. Larry Rosenberg looks to Zen, Insight Meditation, and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti to find three kinds of meditation that anyone can do and that complement each other in a wonderful way: (1) breath awareness, (2) breath as anchor, and (3) choiceless awareness. Having the three methods in one’s repertoire gives one meditation resources for any life situation. In a time of stress, for example, one might use breath awareness exclusively. Or on an extended retreat, one might find choiceless awareness more appropriate. The three-step method has been taught to Larry’s students at the Cambridge Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for many years. After teaching the three-step method, Larry goes on to show how to bring the awareness gained in meditation to the world off the cushion, into relationships and into all areas of daily life.




How to See Yourself As You Really Are


Book Description

Full of insights and very practical, this important book by the Dalai Lama shows that self-knowledge is the key to personal development and creating positive relationships How to See Yourself As You Really Are is based on a fundamental Buddhist belief that love and insight work together to bring about enlightenment, like two wings of a bird. It provides a new perspective on the psychological problems of hurting ourselves through misguided, exaggerated notions of self, others, events and physical things. It shows how even our senses deceive us, drawing us into unwise attachments and negative actions that can only come back to haunt us in the future. Drawing on wisdom and techniques refined in Tibetan monasteries for more than a thousand years, and adopting as its structure traditional Buddhist steps of meditative reflection, How to See Yourself As You Really Are includes practical exercises and gives readers a clear path to assess their growth and personal development. The book is enlivened throughout with warm personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's experiences as a life-long student, a meditator, a political leader and an international figure working with other Nobel Peace Laureates to address crises around the world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet. Today, he lives in exile in Northern India and works tirelessly on behalf of the Tibetan people, as well as travelling the world to give spiritual teachings to sell-out audiences. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.




Breath by Breath


Book Description

A “wonderfully accessible” interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings on breathwork in meditation, from a leading insight meditation teacher (Joseph Goldstein, author of The Experience of Insight) Freedom from suffering is not only possible, but the means for achieving it are immediately within our grasp—literally as close to us as our own breath. This is the 2,500-year-old good news contained in the Anapanasati Sutra, the Buddha's own teaching on cultivating both tranquility and deep insight through the full awareness of breathing. In this book, Larry Rosenberg brings this timeless meditation method to modern practitioners, using the insights gained from his many years of practice and teaching. With wisdom, compassion, and humor, he shows how the practice of breath awareness is quietly, profoundly transformative—and supremely practical: if you're breathing, you've already got everything you need to start.




Tao of Zen


Book Description

The premise of The Tao of Zen is that Zen is really Taoism in the disguise of Buddhism—an assumption being made by more and more Zen scholars. This is the first Zen book that links the long-noted philosophical similarities of Taoism and Zen. The author traces the evolution of Ch'an The The Tao of Zen is a fascinating book that will be read and discussed by anyone interested in both Taoism and Zen




The Gospel According to Matthew


Book Description

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.




Revelation


Book Description

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.




Gee You Are You


Book Description

Gee You Are You is a book about a life's journey from here to here. On the front cover is a picture of me at thirty-three years of age, sitting on a cold marble floor in front of my teacher and friend, Osho, in Pune, India. On the back cover I am the ripe old age of sixty-six. As Bob Dylan once sang, ―Oh, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.‖ Yes, my body is now twice as old and yet I feel half my age... the magic of meditation.Through my years of peeling the layers of my own onion, I have turned my life from maditation in the outer world to meditation in my inner world. While reading this book, you will be constantly challenged to witness that you are not so much your conditioning in the marketplace of your hometown, but more that the world is appearing in you... that you are not the mind. And more than that, you are a child of the universe who is in charge of his own existence. In meditation this often called No-mind. So get ready to know how big you are... and that your mind is no longer your boss. Love is.