Open-Eyed Meditations


Book Description

Open-eyed Meditations is a beautiful compilation of thoughts wherein each meditation takes you on a journey to the past, bringing a secret herb to heal a problem of the present. A true distillation of ancient wisdom tips for modern lives, this unique self-help book uses the wisdom of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to solve your everyday problems. Beyond the storyline, something deeper is waiting to be discovered from these ancient texts. This book is an attempt to uncover the hidden layer of wealth that is cleverly packaged within the commonly known storylines. 'Deep exploration, cogent analysis, and lucid interpretation of stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata . . . This book should be on every bookshelf and in every home.' - Christopher C. Doyle, author 'Intuitive yet pragmatic, Open-eyed Meditations is a lucid and thoughtful window to mindfulness.' - Namita Gokhale, writer 'A wonderful book that reveals many profound secrets through varied meditations, each of which can nurture a different aspect of your life.' - Ashwin Sanghi, author.




Waking Up


Book Description

Spirituality.The search for happiness --Religion, East and West --Mindfulness --The truth of suffering --Enlightenment --The mystery of consciousness.The mind divided --Structure and function --Are our minds already split? --Conscious and unconscious processing in the brain --Consciousness is what matters --The riddle of the self.What are we calling "I"? --Consciousness without self --Lost in thought --The challenge of studying the self --Penetrating the illusion --Meditation.Gradual versus sudden realization --Dzogchen: taking the goal as the path --Having no head --The paradox of acceptance --Gurus, death, drugs, and other puzzles.Mind on the brink of death --The spiritual uses of pharmacology.




Magic of Friendships


Book Description

Do you have numerous friends on social media, but hardly any in real life? Do you find that your relationships don't last? These and similar questions have now become the part and parcel of our lives. Today, more than ever, friendship has become more important than any other relationship. The warmth and companionship that a good friend can provide is unmatched and each one of us craves for that special friend to whom we can unburden our heart or seek help from in troubled times. But not all of us are that lucky! In his book, Shubha Vilas discusses, in a simple and straight-forward manner, what is missing in our friendships today and the various scenarios that prevent people from making and maintaining good friends.




Meditations of John Muir


Book Description

Carry John Muir’s wisdom with you in this inspirational guide that features 60 of his most insightful quotes. As a patriarch of the American environmental movement, John Muir helped to give birth to the national park system, the Sierra Club, and a myriad of smaller groups devoted to saving rivers, redwoods, and wildlife. Yet, he is also a spiritual parent who leads us down unmarked trails of the spirit. By urging us to simply be present in the world around us, loving and honoring it as our garden home, his poetic insight liberates life. In Meditations of John Muir, editor Chris Highland pairs 60 Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips. Let Muir’s words enrich your experience as you ponder the wilderness from riverbank, mountaintop, or as you relax beside your campfire. Inside you’ll find: 60 inspiring John Muir quotes Selections of text from other philosophical minds Short excerpts for convenient reading Muir’s exuberance for nature was the touchstone for his commitment to the earth and all of its creatures. Let him lead you along the ultimate adventure that treks every range of light. Then venture off on your own deertrails of the heart, harkening to his granite gospel that calls for you “to get as near to the heart of the world” as you can.




The Way of Effortless Mindfulness


Book Description

"Effortless mindfulness" is a new way to immediately enter an optimal flow state available to us in the midst of our busy lives. In The Way of Effortless Mindfulness, Loch Kelly teaches that when you "unhook" awareness from chattering thoughts, you can access a peaceful mind and a naturally embodied wakefulness. From this heartful space, students report they find that right action comes easily and a loving tenderness for all of life is freely available. This follow-up to Kelly’s award-winning Shift into Freedom outlines practical and supportive material from neuroscience, psychology, and the wisdom of various spiritual traditions. Here you will find a reader-friendly guide to understanding exactly what effortless mindfulness is, practices for engaging with it, and how to avoid the pitfalls to the full embodiment of this timeless awareness. The Way of Effortless Mindfulness offers a compelling introduction to the next stage in the ongoing mindfulness revolution.




Ramayana: The Game of Life – Book 5: Radiate Confidence


Book Description

Being Patient and Finding Success THE RAMAYANA IS NOT A STORY. IT IS A WAY OF LIFE. IT IS THE GAME OF LIFE. How one expands one’s scope of action with confidence and calm under extremely challenging circumstances is what separates the extraordinary from the ordinary, just like Hanuman did. His selfless determination to stay the course with steadfast focus and faith to accomplish his mission makes him a worthy and inspiring protagonist. Here are some invaluable lessons from his life on overcoming obstacles: Be confident. With unwavering faith in himself, Hanuman jumped across the ocean to find Sita in an unfamiliar land. Say no to distractions. Absolute focus helped him prioritize his course of action. Know your rivals. Competing with Surasa would be futile, so he realized that it was wiser to take on a humbler approach. Are you confident and fearless enough to achieve your goals? RADIATE CONFIDENCE is the fifth book in Ramayana: The Game of Life series. A modern retelling of the Sundara Kanda of Valmiki’s epic, this book highlights Hanuman’s devotion and heroics. Replete with lessons on faithfulness, loyalty, self-confidence, self-belief, fearlessness and all the attributes that help counter challenges and find success, the author, Shubha Vilas, illuminates the path to success. A spiritual seeker and motivational speaker, SHUBHA VILAS helps people in dealing with modernday life situations through the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other dharmic traditions. He conducts leadership seminars in premier institutes across the world.




Ramayana: The Game of Life: Think Big to Win – Book 6


Book Description

THE RAMAYANA IS NOT A STORY. IT IS A WAY OF LIFE. IT IS THE GAME OF LIFE. How one responds to difficult situations when faced with challenges determines the outcome. The ability of Rama’s army of vanaras to envision building the bridge from the mainland to Lanka to rescue Sita is one of the many lessons on faith. Here are some invaluable lessons on overcoming obstacles. Think big. The tiny squirrels contributed in their small ways to build the mammoth bridge to Lanka. Aim high. Sugriva, leading a vanara army, dared to win a war without any armor or training against a sophisticated demon army. Recognise opportunities and adapt. Hanuman could expand his size or contract, focusing on his goal to serve Rama. Are you thinking big to succeed in life? THINK BIG TO WIN is the sixth book in Ramayana: The Game of Life series. A modern retelling of the Yuddha Kanda of Valmiki’s epic, this book highlights the efforts of the various characters who irrespective of their size, stature or abilities, succeeded in helping Rama rescue Sita from Lanka. Teeming with lessons in self-belief and daring to take up tasks which may seem beyond your capacity and accomplishing them, the book evokes progressive attitudes to help you overcome self-perceived limitations and achieve your dreams.




Dreams of Light


Book Description

A world-renowned expert in lucid dreaming and Tibetan dream yoga guides us into the tradition’s daytime practices, a complement to the nighttime practices taught in his previous book Dream Yoga. Most of us are absolutely certain that we’re awake here and now—it’s a given, right? Yet, according to Tibet’s dream yoga tradition, ordinary waking life is no more real than the illusions of our nightly dreams. In his previous book Dream Yoga, Andrew Holecek guided us into Tibetan Buddhism’s nocturnal path of lucid dreaming and other dimensions of sleeping consciousness. Now, with Dreams of Light, he offers us an in-depth, step-by-step guide to its daytime practices. Known as the “illusory form” practices, these teachings include insights, meditations, and actions to help us realize the dreamlike nature of our lives. Through an immersive exploration of the tradition, beginners and seasoned practitioners alike will learn everything they need to deeply transform both their sleeping and waking hours. “If you’ve struggled to awaken in your dreams,” teaches Holecek, “these techniques will often spark spontaneous lucidity during sleep. And if you’re already a successful lucid dreamer, they will open you to new depths of experience throughout your day.” For those wishing to explore Tibetan Buddhism’s profound path for awakening to the true nature of reality—day or night—Dreams of Light shows us the way.




My Bright Abyss


Book Description

A passionate meditation on the consolations and disappointments of religion and poetry




The Mind Illuminated


Book Description

The Mind Illuminated is a comprehensive, accessible and - above all - effective book on meditation, providing a nuts-and-bolts stage-based system that helps all levels of meditators establish and deepen their practice. Providing step-by-step guidance for every stage of the meditation path, this uniquely comprehensive guide for a Western audience combines the wisdom from the teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Clear and friendly, this in-depth practice manual builds on the nine-stage model of meditation originally articulated by the ancient Indian sage Asanga, crystallizing the entire meditative journey into 10 clearly-defined stages. The book also introduces a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, and uses illustrations and charts to help the reader work through each stage. This manual is an essential read for the beginner to the seasoned veteran of meditation.