Buddhism: branches and groups Books

Enlightened Contemporaries is the first book to compare the lives and teachings of three of the world's most admired spiritual masters: Francis of Assisi, the Christian saint; Dogen, the great Zen Buddhist teacher; and Rumi, the Islamic Sufi...

Zen koans, beginning some 1500 years ago, refer to stories or questions arising in encounters between monks and old Chinese and Japanese masters, and include commentaries designed to help the Zen practitioner awaken. Koans like Hakuin's What is...

Wellsprings of the Great Perfection presents the primary sources explaining how the Dzogchen teachings came into this world, who received them and through whom they passed. It is an impressive collection of original translations from a vast number of...

Tara is an inspirational figure to many practitioners. She embodies the most compelling and vital qualities of the feminine: beauty, grace, and the ability to nurture, care for and protect. In addition, she is a true warrior, vanquishing fear and...

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones offers a remarkable collection of primary sources which enable readers to experience the meaning of Zen directly for themselves. It includes:101 Zen Stories, a collection of tales recounting the experiences of Chinese and Japanese...

A world of dew And within every dewdrop A world of struggleThe iconic three-line haiku form is increasingly popular today as people embrace its simplicity and grace-and its connections to the Japanese ethos of mindfulness and minimalism. Say more with...

Learn how to create a tranquil outdoor space at home with this practical and inspiring guide!With instructive drawings and step-by-step techniques, Inside Your Japanese Garden walks you through designing and creating your very own Japanese garden. From...

THE RENOWNED TEACHER AND AUTHOR'S SPIRITUAL MEMOIR, AS TOLD THROUGH HIS LIFELONG ENCOUNTERS WITH ANIMALS AND NATUREThis book of sutras - wisdoms - provides spiritual and practical teachings on the importance of humanity's relationship with animals and...

In simple and direct language, the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen contains teachings on a complete path to enlightenment, based on eight songs by the 17th century yogi and poet, Karma Chagmey. The Bardo Guidebook is straightforward, direct instructions...

Following in Your Footsteps, Volume III: The Lotus-Born Guru in Tibet connects the reader with the sacred sites of Guru Padmasambhavathe forefather of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume provides guidance through multiple resources so that today's...

Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in India presents the incredible feats of Guru Padmasambhava in the Indian subcontinent. This tantric embodiment of awakening spent hundreds of years training with the greatest masters of India, practicing...

Following in Your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in Nepal presents the incredible feats of Guru Padmasambhava in the Himalayan land of Nepal. This tantric embodiment of awakening spent years in retreat in these hills and valleys, gave countless teachings...

Inspiration from wilderness mystics from around the world, including Henry David Thoreau, Bai Juyi, Rainer Maria Rilke, Lalla, Rachel Carson, John Muir, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Simone Weil, the Baal Shem Tov, Hermann Hesse, Kahlil Gibran, Emily...

If you think meditation is only for monks, think again. Today's world seems to be growing more and more stressful by the minute-for all of us. So now, as a teacher of Tibetan Buddhist practice and a 21st century woman, Lama Tsomo offers...

Employing the tenets of Zen Buddhist awareness practice, the book provides numerous exercises and self-help tools for working through problems with resistance, revealing how resistance operates in everyday life and guiding readers to consider how they...

Aura Glaser wrote this book to remedy a deficiency she discovered while engaged in psychological research-a nearly complete omission of the importance and cultivation of compassion. Other books exploring Buddhism and psychology have focused on what the...

With a new foreword by historian and martial artist Alexander Bennett, Shaolin Kung Fu details the oldest form of this ancient Chinese martial art. Shaolin Kung Fu is prized for its elegant style, effectiveness as a fighting system and as an exercise...

Thousands of readers - from prisoners to priests - have embraced Jerry Braza's insights - adopting and integrating the mindfulness practices and habits this book presents. This new edition expands on the author's time-tested approach, introducing...

Introduction to Zen Training is a translation of the Sanzen Nyumon, a foundational text for beginning meditation students by Omori Sogen - one of the foremost Zen teachers of the twentieth century. Written to provide a solid...

Named one of TIME magazine's 100 Greatest Men of the Century, Bruce Lee's impact and influence has only grown since his untimely death in 1973. Part of the seven-volume Bruce Lee Library, this installment of the famed martial artist's private notebooks...

Zen Masters of Japan is the second book in a series that traces Zen's profoundly historic journey as it spread eastward from China and Japan, toward the United States. Following Zen Masters of China, this book concentrates on Zen's significant passage...

Zen Masters of China presents more than 300 traditional Zen stories and koans, far more than any other collection. Retelling them in their proper place in Zen's historical journey through Buddhist Chinese culture, it also tells a larger story: how, in...

"Somebody comes into the Zen center with a lighted cigarette, walks up to the Buddha statue, blows smoke in its face, and drops ashes on its lap. You are standing there. What can you do?" This is a problem that Zen Master Seung Sahn is fond of posing to...

"Zen Flesh, Zen Bones," the best-selling collection of the most popular enlightenment stories, anecdotes, and koans of Zen literature, introducing a generation of Americans to Zen. Included here are four Zen and pre-Zen classics:101 Zen...

Not believing, but only experiencing, says Osho in this inspiring book, is a way of finding truth and meaning. While Nietzsche's declaration that "God is dead, therefore man is free" was an incredible step in understanding, he argues, it is in itself a...

Bruce Lee was more than just a man of action - he was a man of words. A voracious reader, Lee studied text after text, taking meticulous notes to devise his theories both in fighting and in life strategy. For the first time in paperback, John Little, who...

Film, television and popular fiction have long exploited the image of the serene Buddhist monk who is master of the deadly craft of hand-to-hand combat. While these media overly romanticize the relationship between a philosophy of non-violence and the...

This beautiful book, illustrated with more than 400 photographs and drawings, is the first full retrospective of his work to be published anywhere. It includes 37 gardens in a wide variety of types and settings: traditional or contemporary, urban or...

In Soul of the Samurai respected author and translator Thomas Cleary reveals the true essence of Bushido or Zen warrior teachings according to 17th-century Japanese sword master Yagyu Munenori and his Zen teacher Takuan Soho...

Nirvana has become an idealized word associated with the juxtaposition of a cult rock celebrity who died before his time and a vague new age version of Eastern religion. An altered state to be hoped for, but likely unattainable, reinforcing that all too...

We remove dust to sweep away our worldly desires. We scrub dirt to free ourselves of attachments. We live simply and take time to contemplate the self, mindfully living each moment. It's not just monks that need to live this way. Everyone in today's busy...

Discover the mind and body benefits of yantra yoga exercises, Buddhist wisdom, and Tibetan philosophy for a happier and healthier life.  Allow the teachings of sacred Himalayan philosophy to improve your mind, body, and soul. These Tibetan rituals...

At the beginning of a North American teaching career that would span seventeen years, the meditation master Chšgyam Trungpa conducted five pivotal seminars covering various dharmic topics. The transcripts from these seminars are collected here so that...

Connect more meaningfully to the cultural wisdom and spiritual teachings of Buddhism. Explore Buddhist traditions and older ways of connecting with spirituality by going straight to the heart of mystical traditions. Zen Buddhism explores the spiritual...

The "Core Teachings of the Dalai Lama" series begins with this small book of teachings by His Holiness, the perfect introduction to traditional Tibetan Buddhist thought and practice. There is no one more suited to introduce beginners--and remind seasoned...

This new translation of Padampa Sangye's One Hundred Verses, beautifully rendered into English, provides timely guidance for people trying to practice the Buddhist path in the workaday world. This commentary on Padampa Sangye's classic verses of advice...

We can realize the highest truth in each moment when we learn to see through the illusion of the self. Anam Thubten, in remarkably easy-to-understand language, provides teachings for doing exactly that, based on the wisdom of the Buddhist traditions. He...

"After his enlightenment, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths-the foundation and essence of all forms of Buddhism. The first truth diagnoses the nature of our existential illnesses and neuroses. The second explores their causes and conditions for...

What is Zen? It's an ancient spiritual system rooted in Buddhism that began in China and spread throughout Asia, finally reaching the West. It encompasses meditation, mindfulness, and calming the mind exactly what so many of us need and crave in this...

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön, in the Thorsons Classics Edition, offers timeless wisdom and compassionate advice for navigating life's most challenging moments. Drawing from her extensive experience as a...