The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring


Book Description

What makes you purr?Of all the questions in the world, this is the most important. It is also the great leveler. Because no matter whether you are a playful kitten or a sedentary senior, a scrawny alley Tom or a sleek-coated uptown girl, whatever your circumstances, you just want to be happy. Not the kind of happy that comes and goes like a can of flaked tuna but an enduring happiness. The deep-down happiness that makes you purr from the heart. Before leaving for a teaching tour to America, the Dalai Lama poses a challenge to his beloved feline, HHC (His Holiness’s Cat): to discover the true cause of happiness. Little does she know what adventures this task will bring! A hair-raising chase through the streets of McLeod Ganj leads to an unexpected revelation about the perils of self-obsession. An encounter with the mystical Yogi Tarchen inspires a breakthrough discovery about her past—one with dramatic implications for us all. And overheard conversations between ivy-league psychologists, high-ranking lamas, and famous writers who congregate at the Himalaya Book Café help her explore the convergence between science and Buddhism on the vital subject of happiness. Sparkling with wisdom, warmth, and a touch of mischief, The Dalai Lama’s Cat and the Art of Purring is a charming reminder of why HHC is becoming one of the most-loved cats around the world.So what is the true cause of purring? The Dalai Lama whispers this secret on his return—only for the ears of HHC and those with whom she has a karmic connection . . . that, dear reader, means you!




The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Power of Meow


Book Description

"If you ever doubted that your feline companion has her own inner life, just watch what happens when she falls asleep, and loses conscious control of her physical being . . . a twitching of limbs, a quivering of the jaw, sometimes perhaps a snuffling noise or a meow. . . . Cats may indeed be capable of great mindfulness. But we are thinking beings, too. In my own case, unfortunately, a being who thinks rather too much." In the latest installment of the Dalai Lama’s Cat series, His Holiness’s Cat ("HHC") is on a mission: to think less, to experience more, to live in the moment. She soon learns the proper phrase for this, being mindful, or, a concept better known to her as the power of meow. What ensues is a journey to discover her own true nature, to gain a deeper understanding of her mind, and to experience life’s greatest joy, the here and now. Throughout, she shares encounters with familiar inhabitants of Dharamsala, as well as a whole new cast of characters: a senior exec from one of Silicon Valley’s most famous social media companies (hint: the name rhymes with "litter"), the Pope’s beloved dog (who shares a shockingly similar title: HHD, His Holiness’s Dog), and a public health inspector who threatens to have our poor narrator banned from the Himalaya Book Café. In this follow-up to the Dalai Lama’s Cat and the Art of Purring, readers escape to the enchanting and exotic world of the Dalai Lama’s monastery in the Himalayas, and take a peek inside the mind of a delightfully imperfect creature on the path to enlightenment. By accompanying HHC on her journey, you will learn new ways to relate to your own mind: slowing down, finding peace, and abiding in the boundless radiance and benevolence that is your own true nature.




The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Four Paws of Spiritual Success


Book Description

The Dalai Lama’s Cat is back! Latest title in the ever-popular and bestselling series. The Dalai Lama's Cat is back: irreverent, vain-and delightfully insightful as ever! When the Dalai Lama's inner circle is set the task of providing His Holiness with a book he can give his visitors, an unexpected volunteer stretches out her paws. The book is to summarise the four key elements of Tibetan Buddhism-and, importantly, to communicate how it feels to be in the profoundly reassuring presence of His Holiness. Who better to do this than his much-loved feline? Through encounters with celebrity visitors and her own intriguing adventures, the Dalai Lama's Cat explains all four key themes, not so much as ideas but as practices to be embodied. Along the way she even gets a new title: "Therapy Cat". If you have ever sought a summary of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom, albeit from an unusual and whiskery source, this may just be the book to get you purring!




The Dalai Lama's Cat


Book Description

A stray cat is rescued and brought to live with the Dalai Lama and upon observing the many visitors that pay their respects to the holy man learns what it means to achieve peace and happiness in a materialistic world.




Returning to Silence


Book Description

A renowned Zen teacher and contemporary of Shunryu Suzuki explores the many pillars of Zen spirituality, explaining how we can bring these practices into our daily lives For twenty-five hundred years Buddhism has taught that everyone is Buddha—already enlightened, lacking nothing. But still there is the question of how we can experience that truth in our lives. In this book, Dainin Katagiri points to the manifestation of enlightenment right here, right now, in our everyday routine. Genuineness of practice lies in “just living” our lives wholeheartedly. The Zen practice of sitting meditation (zazen) is not a means to an end but the activity of enlightenment itself. That is why Katagiri Roshi says, “Don't expect enlightenment—just sit down!” Based on the author's talks to his American students, Returning to Silence contains the basic teachings of the Buddha, with special emphasis on the meaning of faith and on meditation. It also offers a commentary on “The Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance” from Dogen Zenji's Shobogenzo, which speaks in depth about the appropriate actions of those who guide others in the practice of the Buddha Way. Throughout these pages, Katagiri Roshi energetically brings to life the message that “Buddha is your daily life.”




Moondust


Book Description

In 1999, Andrew Smith was interviewing Charlie Duke, astronaut and moon walker, for the Sunday Times. During the course of the interview, which took place at Duke's Texan home, the telephone rang and Charlie left the room to answer it. When he returned, some twenty minutes later, he seemed visibly upset. It seemed that he'd just heard that, the previous day, one of his fellow moon walkers, the astronaut Pete Conrad, had died. The more Charlie spoke the more Andrew realised that his grief was something more than the mere fact of losing a friend. 'Now theres only nine of us,' he said. Only nine. Which meant that, one day not long from now, there would be none, and when that day came, no one on earth would have known the giddy thrill of gazing back at us from the surface of the moon. The thought shocked Andrew, and still does. Moondust is his attempt to understand why. The Apollo moon programme has been called the last optimistic act of the 20th Century. Over a strange three year period between 1969 and 1972, twelve men made the longest and most eccentric of all journeys, and all were indelibly marked by it. In Moondust Andrew sets out to interview all the remaining astronauts who walked on the moon, and to find out how their lives were changed for ever by what had happened. 'Where do you go after you've been to the moon?' In addition to this question that would prove hugely troubling to many of the returned astronauts, they also had to deal with the fantasies of faceless millions at their backs, for this was the first truly global media event. The walkers would forever be caught between the gravitational pull of the moon and the earth's collective dreaming.




The Desert World


Book Description




Public Speaking


Book Description

PUBLIC SPEAKING: THE EVOLVING ART, 2ND EDITION/ENHANCED is a fully integrated book and technology program that matches the expectations of today's students while preserving the well-respected traditions of public speaking instruction. The text comes automatically packaged with a printed access code to a variety of online tools: CourseMate (which houses the interactive activities); Speech Builder Express, Speech Studio 2.0, and access to the eBook. Each chapter's material, both in the book and online, takes you through a sequence that starts with reading the text, moves to watching unique integrated videos, segues to companion interactive activities that ask you to apply chapter concepts in hypothetical scenarios, and then to advance work on your own speech project. A unique, practical pedagogical system in the text -- "Read it, Watch it, Use it, Review it" -- gives structure to each chapter, and directs you to the easy-to-access online material. "Apply It" Boxes give you an opportunity to use your newly-gained public speaking skills in situations outside of the classroom.




Visions


Book Description

This volume collects the research of today's scientists to explore the possibilities of the science of tomorrow. Among the issues covered are how decoding DNA will allow us to alter and reshape our genetic heritage, and how quantum physicists will harness the energy of the Universe.