The Meaning of Life


Book Description

Each of us struggles with the existential questions of meaning, purpose, and responsibility. In The Meaning of Life, the Dalai Lama examines these questions from the Buddhist perpective, skillfully guiding us to a clearer understanding that can li...




The Wheel of Life


Book Description

Translation of a series of lectures in Tibetan given in London, 1984.




Awakening from the Daydream


Book Description

Hell realms, gods, and hungry ghosts—these are just a few of the images on the Buddhist wheel of life. In Awakening from the Daydream, discover how these ancient symbols are still relevant to our modern life. In Awakening from the Daydream, meditation teacher David Nichtern reimagines the ancient Buddhist allegory of the Wheel of Life. Famously painted at the entryway to Buddhist monasteries, the Wheel of Life encapsulates the entirety of the human situation. In the image of the Wheel we find a teaching about how to make sense of life and how to find peace within an uncertain world. Nichtern writes with clarity and humor, speaking to our contemporary society and its concerns and providing simple practical steps for building a mindful, compassionate, and liberating approach to living.




Tibet


Book Description

This exquisitely illustrated volume presents an intimate, Family of man-life portrait of Tibet and its people.




Luminous Emptiness


Book Description

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a best-seller for three decades, is one of the most widely read texts of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the years, it has been studied and cherished by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. Luminous Emptiness is a detailed guide to this classic work, elucidating its mysterious concepts, terms, and imagery. Fremantle relates the symbolic world of the Tibetan Book of the Dead to the experiences of everyday life, presenting the text not as a scripture for the dying, but as a guide for the living. According to the Buddhist view, nothing is permanent or fixed. The entire world of our experience is constantly appearing and disappearing at every moment. Using vivid and dramatic imagery, the Tibetan Book of the Dead presents the notion that most of us are living in a dream that will continue from lifetime to lifetime until we truly awaken by becoming enlightened. Here, Fremantle, who worked closely with Chögyam Trungpa on the 1975 translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Shambhala), brings the expertise of a lifetime of study to rendering this intriguing classic more accessible and meaningful to the living. Luminous Emptiness features in-depth explanations of: • The Tibetan Buddhist notions of death and rebirth • The meaning of the five energies and the five elements in Tibetan Buddhism • The mental and physical experience of dying, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition




Book Of Earths


Book Description

THIS BOOK OF EARTHS began years ago, as a collection--maps of the Earth, the Moon, the heavens. For it occurred to me, not long ago, that it would be "fun" to put them all together, and many others with them, chosen to fill in the gaps of the original group. Luckily for the fun of it, the search about to begin would not be limited to what we know about the Earth, else it would have ended before it began; for we live in a universe of which we know little, and on a planet of which we know perhaps less. It would include not only what we know, or think to-day we know, but also anything that has been believed or felt or no more than "guessed" to be the picture of the Earth and its place in the universe.




The Meditative Path


Book Description

Once, the Mula Nasruden was searching the ground under a street lamp. "Can I help?" asked a friend. "I lost my key in the house," said Nasruden. "But then why look out here?" "Because the light is better in the street," came the reply. Nasruden is a great fool in Middle Eastern folklore. Only by turning on the light inside his house -- his inner psyche --will he find the key. John Cianciosi shows us how to do just that. Directly from the heart, this practical, nonreligious book guides the reader of any faith to reduce stress, increase health, and achieve inner peace. It clearly explains the meditative process and offers very simple exercises to balance theory and practice. Each chapter includes Q&A sections based on the average reader's experience and crafted from the author's twenty-four years of teaching, first as a Buddhist monk and now in lay life. Of all primers on meditation, this one excels in showing how to slow down life in the fast lane.




Leaving Buddha


Book Description

Where Does the Search for Truth Lead? When Tenzin Lahkpa is fifteen years old, his parents give him over to a local temple in Tibet as an offering. Unable to change his fate, he wholeheartedly embraces his life as a monk and begins a quest for full enlightenment through the teachings of Buddhism. From his local monastery to the famed Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, he learns deep mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism. Yearning to study with the current Dalai Lama, he eventually escapes from China by means of an excruciating, two-thousand-mile, secret trek over the Himalayas—barefoot, with no extra gear, changes of clothing, or money. His dream is realized when he finally sits under the Dalai Lama himself. But his desire to go deeper only grows, leading him to unexpected conclusions…. Follow the fascinating, never-before-told, true story of what causes a highly dedicated Tibetan Buddhist monk to make the radical decision to walk away from the teachings of Buddha and leave his monastery to follow Jesus Christ. Discover the reasons other monks want him dead before he can share his story with others. Leaving Buddha dares to expose the mysterious world of Tibetan Buddhism, with its layered teachings, intricate practices—and troubling secrets. Ultimately, it tells a moving story about the search for truth, the path of enlightenment, and how no one is beyond the reach of a loving God. This gripping narrative will resonate with people from all backgrounds and nations.




Reinventing the Wheel


Book Description

Awarded the Prix Stanislas Julien by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Wheel of Rebirth is one of the most basic and popular images in Buddhist visual culture. For nearly two thousand years, artists have painted it onto the porches of Buddhist temples; preachers have used it to explain karmic retribution; and philosophers have invoked it to illuminate the contrast between ignorance and nirvana. In Reinventing the Wheel, noted scholar Stephen F. Teiser explores the history and varied interpretations of the Wheel of Rebirth, a circle divided into sections depicting the Buddhist cycle of transmigration. Combining visual evidence with textual sources, Reinventing the Wheel shows how the metaphor of the wheel has been interpreted in divergent local traditions, from India to Tibet, Central Asia, and China. Teiser deftly shows how written and painted renditions of the wheel have animated local architectural sites and religious rituals, informing concepts of time and reincarnation and acting as an organizing principle in the cosmology and daily life of practicing Buddhists. Engaging and accessible, this uniquely pan-Buddhist tour will appeal to anyone interested in Buddhist culture, as well as to scholars of religious studies, art history, architecture, philosophy, and textual studies.




The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala


Book Description

Now back in print comes this stunning visual introduction to the artistic and spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism--the Kalachakra Sand Mandala. "Spiritual vision communicated by art and ritual."--"Tricycle." 36 color photos. 199 b&w photos.