Chod in the Ganden Tradition


Book Description

In Chöd in the Ganden Tradition, we encounter not only the life and teachings of one of the greatest Tibetan masters in modern times, but also instructions in one of the most interesting Tibetan techniques for working with basic fears, applicable to Chöd practitioners from all lineages. The instructions are offered with the engaging directness, wit, and stories for which Rinpoche was legendary. He tells miraculous accounts of the Ganden Oral Lineage masters and then gives detailed explanations of the actual practice, including such topics as the degree of fear necessary for Chöd practice, and how to remember dream and death morning, noon, and night. Also provided are the Chöd sadhanas for chanting in English.




Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod


Book Description

Chod refers to cutting through the ego and emotional entanglements.




Feeding Your Demons


Book Description

Struggling with depression, anxiety, illness, an eating disorder, a difficult relationship, fear, self-hatred, addiction or anger? Renowned Buddhist leader Tsultrim Allione explains that the harder we fight our demons, the stronger they become. If we want to liberate ourselves from the fight once and for all, we must reverse our approach and nurture our demons. This powerful five-step practice forms a strategy for transforming negative emotions, relationships, fears, illnesses and self-defeating patterns. This will help you cope with the inner enemies that undermine your best intentions. By recognising your demons, giving them form and feeding them, you can free yourself from the battle. Enriched with detailed examples to show how others have transformed their demons, Feeding Your Demons will give you remarkable new insight into the forces that threaten to defeat you, along with the tools to achieve inner peace.




Women of Wisdom


Book Description

A “fascinating and inspiring” celebration of women’s spirituality and the female mystics of Tibetan Buddhism—now featuring an updated and expanded author autobiography (San Francisco Chronicle) Women of Wisdom explores and celebrates the spiritual potential of all women, as exemplified by the lives of six Tibetan female mystics. These stories of great women who have achieved full illumination—overcoming cultural prejudices and a host of other problems which male practitioners do not encounter—offer a wealth of inspiration to everyone on the spiritual path. In this revised and expanded edition, Tsultrim Allione’s extensive autobiographical preface and introduction speak directly to the difficulties and triumphs of women in the West who pursue a spiritual life, as she shares her own stories and experiences. Women of Wisdom offers valuable insights to all those interested in women’s spirituality, regardless of background or tradition.




An Atlas of the Himalayas by a 19th Century Tibetan Lama


Book Description

Diana Lange's patient investigations have, in this wonderful piece of detective work, solved the mysteries of six extraordinary panoramic maps of routes across Tibet and the Himalayas, clearly hand-drawn in the late 1850s by a local artist, known as the British Library's Wise Collection. Diana Lange now reveals not only the previously unknown identity of the Scottish colonial official who commissioned the maps from a Tibetan Buddhist lama, but also the story of how the Wise Collection came to be in the British Library. The result is both a spectacular illustrated ethnographic atlas and a unique compendium of knowledge concerning the mid-19th century Tibetan world, as well as a remarkable account of an academic journey of discovery. It will entertain and inform anyone with an interest in this fascinating region. This large format book is lavishly illustrated in colour and includes four separate large foldout maps.




The Life of My Teacher


Book Description

The Dalai Lama tells the life story of his remarkable teacher, Ling Rinpoché, who remained a powerful anchor for him from childhood and into his emergence as a global spiritual leader. The Sixth Ling Rinpoché (1903–83) was a towering figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Combining great learning with great humility, he was ordained by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and went on to serve as the the head of the Geluk tradition and as the senior tutor to the present Dalai Lama. In temperament and wisdom, he had a profound influence on the Dalai Lama’s spiritual development, and he became a steadying presence for His Holiness during the chaotic changes that defined the Tibetan experience of the twentieth century, with the invasion of their county by Communist forces and the subsequent rebuilding of their culture in India. Ling Rinpoché’s extensive travels among exiled communities abroad and across India bouyed the spirits of the Tibetan diaspora, and the training and activities of this consummate Buddhist master, here told by the Dalai Lama in the traditional Tibetan style, will inspire and amaze. Over one hundred archival photos bring the text to life.




The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra


Book Description

Mahamudra, the great sealing nature, refers to systems of meditation on both the conventional and ultimate natures of the mind. These have been transmitted through the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Within the Gelug, Mahamudra teachings occur in a combined Gelug/Kagyu tradition exemplified in the First Panchen Lama's Root Text for the Precious Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra. The work presented here contains two brilliant commentaries by the Dalai Lama. The first is a teaching based directly on the First Panchen Lama's root text. In the second, His Holiness bases his discussion on the First Panchen Lama's own commentary to this text. The book opens with an overview of Mahamudra by Alexander Berzin that discusses the relation of mind appearances and reality and offers practical techniques for overcoming problems of excessive worry, anxiety, and disturbing thoughts. This treasury of practical instruction contains extensive teachings on the nature of mind, the development of shamata, sutra and tantra levels of Mahamudra, and the compatibility of Dzogchen and Anuttarayoga Tantra.




The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One


Book Description

In Tibetan religious literature, Jamgön Kongtrül's Treasury of Knowledge in ten books stands out as a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental Treasury of Knowledge, Jamgön Kongtrül presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. This first book of The Treasury which serves as a prelude to Kongtrul's survey describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition—those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalachakra, and Dzogchen teachings. Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.




Short Vajrasattva Meditation


Book Description

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has composed this short Vajrasattva practice and requested that it be published in a pocket-sized format that is easy for people to carry round and have available at all times. Thus, we can be like the great Atisha - whenever we notice we have broken a vow or created any other kind of negative karma, we can whip out our little Vajrasattva book and purify that negativity with the four opponent powers without a second's delay.




Yoga of Recovery


Book Description

By offering an empowering personal program of self-care in recovery, this book provides guidance for everyone affected by widespread modern 'addictiveness'. The book explores Ayurveda's understanding of both the problem of our 'one addiction process' and its solution. It offers holistic techniques that enhance any of the traditional recovery pathways and beyond any of the common diet/exercise dogma from mainstream media. It covers the stress/addictive tendencies of the doshic types, and links this to how stress affects metabolism, the main determinant of health. The program offered in the book is an integration of the philosophy, psychology and physical practices of Yoga and Ayurveda to help people shift their life trajectory. With Yoga of Recovery, author Durga Leela presents a complete resource for working with individuals recovering from addiction.