The Best Buddhist Writing 2008


Book Description

Features a collection of Buddhist-inspired writings on a wide range of issues by talented contributors, including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, and Thich Nhat Hanh.




The Best Buddhist Writing 2005


Book Description

Wise and witty, heartfelt and profound, this second volume in an annual series brings together the year's most notable prose and verse inspired by the power and insight of Buddhist practice. Compiled by the editors of Shambhala Sun , North America's oldest and most widely read Buddhist magazine, the collection offers a lively array of styles, perspectives, and concerns of contemporary Buddhists. The twenty-five talented contributors include familiar favorites as well as some surprising voices who will delight and enlighten the reader, with pieces ranging from personal memoir, adventure travelogue, prison journal, and poetry, to advice for practitioners and wisdom teachings of the masters. Among this year's outstanding selections are: * Natalie Goldberg looks at the complex and troubled relationship with the two most important men in her life: her father and her Zen teacher. * The Dalai Lama explains Buddhism's signature doctrine of emptiness. * Dharma teacher Gaylon Ferguson writes on issues of self-worth and social justice for people of color. * Journalist Joan Duncan Oliver reflects on her struggle with twin addictions: "a drink and a man." * Thich Nhat Hanh offers personal meditations to help us lead a more wholesome and mindful life. * Cognitive psychologist Eleanor Rosch discourses on mind, meditation, and the creative process. * Peter Matthiessen ponders the longing for adventure as he travels the Antarctic. * Zen teacher John Tarrant tells how he applied a famed koan as his mother was dying. Contributors: Faith Adiele * Geoffrey Shugen Arnold * Rick Bass * Edward Espe Brown * Michael Carroll * Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche * Peter Coyote * John Daido Loori * H. H. the Dalai Lama * Scott Darnell * Gretel Ehrlich * Gaylon Ferguson * Norman Fischer * Gehlek Rimpoche * Natalie Goldberg * Joseph Goldstein * Jeff Greenwald * Erik Hansen * Sam Harris * Joan Duncan Oliver * The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche * Barbara Rhodes * Lewis Richmond * Eleanor Rosch * Andrew Schelling * Gary Snyder * John Tarrant * Thanissaro Bhikkhu * Thich Nhat Hanh * Claude Anshin Thomas * Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche * Francisco J. Varela




The Best Buddhist Writing 2009


Book Description

A treasury of the most notable, profound, and thought-provoking Buddhism-inspired writing published in the last year. The Best Buddhist Writing 2009 includes: * An interview with novelist Tom Robbins * Guiding principles for a new ecospirituality from Thich Nhat Hanh * Jack Kornfield on basic human goodness * Pico Iyer's portrait of the Dalai Lama * Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle on a couple's journey through Alzheimer's disease * The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on the true, enlightened nature of mind * Wendy Johnson on bringing the beginner's mind to gardening * A mindfulness practice from Pema Ch�dr�n to help us wake up to the world around us * Joan Halifax on approaching death with fearlessness and compassion * Peggy Rowe-Ward and Larry Ward with stories, meditations, and exercises for experiencing love in a new and deeper way * Natalie Goldberg on the art of writing personal memoir * Dzigar Kongtr�l on our search for happiness * Sharon Salzberg on overcoming passion, aggression, and ignorance in our relationships * Stephanie Kaza on making environmentalism a spiritual path, not just a change in lifestyle * Meshuga-wisdom from Rabbi Rami Shapiro * John Welwood on how we can use our relationships for profound spiritual growth * And much more




The Best Buddhist Writing 2010


Book Description

Here is this year’s installment in the series Publishers Weekly says "does a great service by highlighting views and themes as they modulate with each passing year." The Best Buddhist Writing 2010 is an eclectic, inspiring collection of writings from the Buddhist perspective. Selected by the editors of the Shambhala Sun, North America’s leading Buddhist-inspired magazine, the essays, articles, and interviews in this anthology offer an entertaining mix of writing styles and reflect on a wide range of issues. Included are pieces by Gaylon Ferguson, Norman Fischer, Jaimal Yogis, H. H. the Dalai Lama, Joan Sutherland, Mingyur Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chödrön, Diane Ackerman, Huston Smith, Susan Piver, Shozan Jack Haubner, and many others.




The Making of Buddhist Modernism


Book Description

A great deal of Buddhist literature and scholarly writing about Buddhism of the past 150 years reflects, and indeed constructs, a historically unique modern Buddhism, even while purporting to represent ancient tradition, timeless teaching, or the "essentials" of Buddhism. This literature, Asian as well as Western, weaves together the strands of different traditions to create a novel hybrid that brings Buddhism into alignment with many of the ideologies and sensibilities of the post-Enlightenment West. In this book, David McMahan charts the development of this "Buddhist modernism." McMahan examines and analyzes a wide range of popular and scholarly writings produced by Buddhists around the globe. He focuses on ideological and imaginative encounters between Buddhism and modernity, for example in the realms of science, mythology, literature, art, psychology, and religious pluralism. He shows how certain themes cut across cultural and geographical contexts, and how this form of Buddhism has been created by multiple agents in a variety of times and places. His position is critical but empathetic: while he presents Buddhist modernism as a construction of numerous parties with varying interests, he does not reduce it to a mistake, a misrepresentation, or fabrication. Rather, he presents it as a complex historical process constituted by a variety of responses -- sometimes trivial, often profound -- to some of the most important concerns of the modern era.




Handbook of Mindfulness in Education


Book Description

This handbook addresses the educational uses of mindfulness in schools. It summarizes the state of the science and describes current and emerging applications and challenges throughout the field. It explores mindfulness concepts in scientific, theoretical, and practical terms and examines training opportunities both as an aspect of teachers’ professional development and a means to enhance students’ social-emotional and academic skills. Chapters discuss mindfulness and contemplative pedagogy programs that have produced positive student outcomes, including stress relief, self-care, and improved classroom and institutional engagement. Featured topics include: A comprehensive view of mindfulness in the modern era. Contemplative education and the roots of resilience. Mindfulness practice and its effect on students’ social-emotional learning. A cognitive neuroscience perspective on mindfulness in education that addresses students’ academic and social skills development. Mindfulness training for teachers and administrators. Two universal mindfulness education programs for elementary and middle school students. The Handbook of Mindfulness in Education is a must-have resource for researchers, graduate students, clinicians, and practitioners in psychology, psychiatry, education, and medicine, as well as counseling, social work, and rehabilitation therapy.




Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth


Book Description

Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth is a clear and remarkably practical presentation of a core Buddhist teaching on the nature of reality. Geshe Tashi Tsering provides readers with an excellent opportunity to enhance not only thier knowledge of Buddhism, but also a powerful means to profoundly enhance their view of the world. The Buddhist teaching of the''two truths'' is the gateway to understanding the often-misunderstood philosophy of emptiness. This volume is an excellent source of support for anyone interested in cultivating a more holistic and transformative understanding of the world around them and ultimately of their own conciousness




Be the Refuge


Book Description

A must-read for modern sanghas--Asian American Buddhists in their own words, on their own terms. Despite the fact that two thirds of U.S. Buddhists identify as Asian American, mainstream perceptions about what it means to be Buddhist in America often whitewash and invisibilize the diverse, inclusive, and intersectional communities that lie at the heart of American Buddhism. Be the Refuge is both critique and celebration, calling out the erasure of Asian American Buddhists while uplifting the complexity and nuance of their authentic stories and vital, thriving communities. Drawn from in-depth interviews with a pan-ethnic, pan-Buddhist group, Be the Refuge is the first book to center young Asian American Buddhists' own voices. With insights from multi-generational, second-generation, convert, and socially engaged Asian American Buddhists, Be the Refuge includes the stories of trailblazers, bridge-builders, integrators, and refuge-makers who hail from a wide range of cultural and religious backgrounds. Championing nuanced representation over stale stereotypes, Han and the 89 interviewees in Be the Refuge push back against false narratives like the Oriental monk, the superstitious immigrant, and the banana Buddhist--typecasting that collapses the multivocality of Asian American Buddhists into tired, essentialized tropes. Encouraging frank conversations about race, representation, and inclusivity among Buddhists of all backgrounds, Be the Refuge embodies the spirit of interconnection that glows at the heart of American Buddhism.




The Best Buddhist Writing 2012


Book Description

A collection of Buddhist-inspired writings selected by the editor as the best published in 2011.




The Best Buddhist Writing 2011


Book Description

A thought-provoking mix of the most notable and insightful Buddhism-inspired writing published in the last year. The Best Buddhist Writing 2011 includes: • Karen Miller's story of love, marriage, and dishes • Joanna Macy on the First Noble Truth and healing from the legacy of Chernobyl • Brian Haycock's taxi ride on the Dharma Road • His Holiness the Dalai Lama's manifesto on tolerance • Dzogchen Ponlop on the rebel buddha inside you • An adoption love story by Leza Lowitz • Ira Sukrungruang's humorous meditation on death • Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel on finding the courage to live in reality as it is • Susan Piver on the wisdom of a broken heart • Thich Nhat Hanh on healing the wounded child within • Matthieu Ricard's answer to the question: why meditate? • Rick Bass on the lessons of the Gulf oil spill • Pico Iyer's insider's look at the heart of the Dalai Lama • And much more