Books by Sangharakshita

In this last volume of memoirs we find Sangharakshita arriving back in England after twenty years in the East. He is expecting to stay no more than a few months. But the months become years and as he comes to know the as yet small world of British Buddhism, he realizes that it is here that he may best be able to `work for the good of Buddhism'.

This volume contains all of Sangharakshita's poems, offering a truly complete collection, and also includes six short stories, written over many years and some of them previously unpublished, also shedding new light on the imagination and perceptions of their author.

This volume introduces the Complete Works volumes that include Sangharakshita's commentaries on a range of traditional Buddhist texts, beginning with The Eternal Legacy, an introduction to the canonical literature of Buddhism, and concluding with Wisdom Beyond Words, Sangharakshita's much-loved commentary on several Perfection of Wisdom texts.

Viele Menschen im Westen erleben die Übung von Verehrung und Hingabe als sehr konfrontativ und ignorieren diesen Teil der buddhistischen Praxis gerne. Sangharakshita lenkt uns gekonnt durch Schwierigkeiten hindurch, die uns dabei begegnen können. Er zeigt auf, welche wesentliche Rolle Rituale und Ehrerbietung im spirituellen Leben spielen, da sie die Sprache des Herzens sprechen. Er leitet uns durch die Siebenfältige Puja, eine poetische Abfolge von spirituellen Stimmungen, und vermittelt uns ein Gefühl für die Tiefe spiritueller Praxis, die sich durch Rezitation, Opfergaben und Mantras offenbart.

Zu Recht erwartet man vom Buddhismus, dass er relevant für das Hier und Jetzt sei. Aber wo ist das Hier und wann ist das Jetzt?Seit den Tagen des Buddha hat man versucht, die letztliche Wahrheit seiner Lehre in vollständig rationalen Begriffen auszudrücken. Die Prajnaparamita- oder 'Vollkommenheit der Weisheit' - Lehren stellen auf schwindelerregende Art einen Ausgleich zu diesem Unterfangen dar und sind zugleich eine raffinierte Ohrfeige für jeden, der sich auf es einlassen will.Als sie vor zweitausend Jahren zu Kernlehren des Mahayana - Buddhismus wurden, sollten Texte wie die Ratnaguna-Samcayagatha, das Diamantsutra und das Herzsutra dem Ideal des Bodhisattva neuen Antrieb geben: Dem Menschen, dessen ganzes Streben dem Erlangen von Erleuchtung zum Wohle aller Wesen gewidmet ist. Sie sind einzigartige, außergewöhnliche Lehren, die sich an praktische, alltägliche Dinge im Leben von Buddhisten richten, jedoch auf eine Art und Weise, die den rationalen Verstand ins Schleudern bringen kann.Obwohl Gelehrter, besitzt Sangharakshita sowohl Einsicht wie auch intellektuelle Klarheit. Als Gründer der Buddhistischen Gemeinschaft Triratna (ehem. Freunde des Westlichen Buddhistischen Ordens) befasst er sich natürlich und zwingend mit den unmittelbaren Anliegen von Buddhisten, die im Westen praktizieren.Diese Perspektive ist von entscheidender Bedeutung bei einer Anleitung zu Texten, die Ziel und Berechtigung buddhistischer Praxis als "Prise Nonsens, als Hauch von Lewis Carroll" ausdrücken. Da gefährlich verwirrend, sind sie für leichtsinnige Schüler ein rascher Weg in beliebte Sackgassen - oder in das innerste Herz der Wirklichkeit.

Il Nobile Ottuplice Sentiero ? il pi? conosciuto degli insegnamenti del Buddha. é antico, poich¿ risale al primo discorso del Buddha, ed ? molto apprezzato come un tesoro unico di sapienza e guida pratica su come vivere la nostra vita.Il Nobile Ottuplice Sentiero comincia con una visione, un momento di intuizione, cui segue la trasformazione dei nostri pensieri e delle nostre azioni alla luce della verit¿. Questo volume ? unÕintroduzione approfondita al Nobile Ottuplice Sentiero, che pur rimane pratica, interessante e accessibile. Sangharakshita traduce gli insegnamenti antichi e li rende pertinenti al modo in cui viviamo oggi la nostra vita.Sangharakshita (Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood , nato il 26 agosto 1925) ? un insegnante e scrittore buddhista e fondatore della Comunit¿ Buddhista Triratna.

In the Sign of the Golden Wheel tells the story of the `middle period' of the fourteen years Sangharakshita was based in the Indian hill station, Kalimpong. Precious Teachers covers the last period of Sangharakshita's time in Kalimpong. Here are vivid encounters with people - a damsel in distress, a dakini, and many others.

Sangharakshita approaches communicating Buddhism in the West from two very different, but equally illuminating, angles. In the first part, he introduces the apparently exotic worlds of Tibetan Buddhism and its creative symbols, and Zen Buddhism. In the second part he examines the practice of Buddhism in the context of Western culture

The first part of this volume describes the arising of the bodhicitta and the bodhisattva's path to Enlightenment in a weaving together of the sublime and the inspiringly practical, and the second part is a commentary on Santideva's classic 8th-century text, the Bodhicaryavatara, based on a seminar given in 1973.

This volume of Sangharakshita's Complete Works includes Facing Mount Kanchenjunga, the second in the series of his memoirs, and, in Dear Dinoo, some very personal letters.Facing Mount Kanchenjunga covers the period 1950-1953, beginning with Sangharakshita's arrival in Kalimpong as a twenty-four-year-old sramaa'era, and his response to his teacher's injunction to 'stay here and work for the good of Buddhism!' In the pages that follow we are drawn into a deeply committed Dharma life lived in unusual circumstances and among some very colourful characters. As he recalls the significant events of those years - the setting up of the Kalimpong Young Men's Buddhist Association; the creation of a new Buddhist journal, whose contributors included Conze, Guenther, Govinda and other leading Buddhist writers of the time; accompanying the Sacred Relics of the Buddha's chief disciples; advising on the making of a Buddhist film; giving lectures; discovering Dharmapala; meeting Dhardo Rimpoche; in fact, working in every way to spread the Dharma - Sangharakshita also affords the reader glimpses of his inner life, his struggles and disappointments, his aspirations and inspirations, his responses to the beauties of nature, and his feeling for friendship.The twenty-nine letters collected together in Dear Dinoo span the period 1955-1974, giving a sighting of Sangharakshita's life as he experienced it at the time, including what happened on the day of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's untimely death in 1956. We are also afforded a glimpse of the unusual friendship that sprung up between the young English monk and the Montessori teacher. Kalyanaprabha's Introduction highlights some of the significances of the correspondence, including reflections on Sangharakshita, Women, and Friendship. A friend who often appears in the letters, Dr Dinshaw Mehta, Servant of God, and one time naturopath to Gandhi, is the subject of the appendix.

This is the continuing story of Milarepa and his disciple Rechungpa, first encountered in volume 18 of The Complete Works. As portrayed in The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Rechungpa is a promising disciple, but he has a lot to learn, being sometimes proud, distracted, anxious, desirous of comfort and praise, over-attached to book learning, stubborn, sulky and liable to go to extremes. In other words, he is very human, and surely recognizable to anyone who has embarked on the spiritual path. He all too often takes his teacher's advice the wrong way, or simply ignores it, and it takes all of Milarepa's skill, compassion and patience to keep their relationship intact and help his unruly disciple to stay on the path to Enlightenment.In the story that begins this volume, matters come to a head when Milarepa burns the books that Rechungpa went all the way to India to acquire, but by the end of the volume, Rechungpa is able to set out on his own mission to teach the Dharma. Much happens in between.Sangharakshita's commentary, based on seminars given in the late 1970s and early 1980s, draws from the stories of Milarepa and his wayward disciple much valuable advice for any would-be spiritual practitioner.

The story of the spiritual journey of the famous Tibetan yogi Milarepa is often told, but less well known are the stories of his encounters with those he met and taught after his own Enlightenment, eleven of which are the catalyst for volumes 18 and 19 of The Complete Works. The first three were originally published in The Yogi's Joy, and to these have been added an intriguing fourth, 'The Shepherd's Search for Mind'.The other seven stories form a sequence tracing the relationship between Milarepa and his disciple Rechungpa, from their first meeting to their final parting, when Rechungpa is exhorted to go and teach the Dharma himself. As portrayed in The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Rechungpa is a promising disciple, but he has a lot to learn, being sometimes proud, distracted, anxious, desirous of comfort and praise, over-attached to book learning, stubborn, sulky and liable to go to extremes. In other words, he is very human, and surely recognizable to anyone who has embarked on the spiritual path. He all too often takes his teacher's advice the wrong way, or simply ignores it, and it takes all of Milarepa's skill, compassion and patience to keep their relationship intact and help his unruly disciple to stay on the path to Enlightenment.Sangharakshita's commentary is based on seminars he gave to young, enthusiastic but as yet inexperienced Dharma followers, and while much can be gleaned from it about the path of practice of the Kagyu tradition, the main emphasis is simply on how to overcome the difficulties that are sure to befall the would-be spiritual practitioner, how to learn what we need to learn - in short, the art of discipleship.

The nine texts in this volume, composed over a period of more than thirty years, show Sangharakshita's unfolding insight into the meaning, significance and centrality of Going for Refuge. It includes some of his most important communications to the Order he founded: on the ten ethical precepts, and the history of his Going for Refuge.

Anagarika Dharmapala, founder of the Maha Bodhi Society, was the first person to take the Dharma to countries across the whole globe. He ranks as one of the greatest Buddhist figures of modern times. Sangharakshita's biographical sketch, based on Dharmapala's own diaries, recounts the extraordinary story with a vividness that leaves the reader uplifted and inspired. This volume also contains other writings including the sometimes controversial columns of 'Himavantavasi', as well as book reviews and the memorable sixty-five 'Immortal Sayings' of Anagarika Dharmapala.

In this first volume of memoirs Sangharakshita describes how, from a working-class childhood in the London suburb of Tooting, he came, a twenty-four-year-old Buddhist novice monk, to Kalimpong in the eastern Himalayas.

For Buddhists everywhere, the Three Jewels - the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha - are at the heart of daily life and practice. But how can we engage with these precious ideals in a way that makes a difference to how we live? In this volume are gathered three much loved books, Who is the Buddha?, What is the Dharma? and What is the Sangha?

One of Sangharakshita's most far-reaching contributions to modern Buddhism was giving shape to the Buddhist conversion movement begun by the great Indian reformer, Dr B.R. Ambedkar. In 1956, along with thousands of his followers, Ambedkar renounced the Hindu caste system - according to which they were 'untouchable' - and converted to Buddhism.

The pieces collected here were written over a ten year period crucial to the development of Sangharakshita's thought and expression. From visionary early writings to the later articles leavened by deep reflection, there emerges the unmistakeable voice of the writer of A Survey of Buddhism.

How do we live wisely? Sangharakshita outlines how in this companion volume of commentary on Nagarjuna's Precious Garland, showing us how to use our positive ethical position, our momentum in goodness, to develop a deep understanding of the nature of life.

In this highly readable handbook on the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, Sangharakshita guides the reader through this sometimes complex religion.

In a world of increasingly confused ethics, Sangharakshita looks back over the centuries for guidance from Nagarjuna, one of the greatest teachers of the Mahayana tradition. Living Ethically explores the relationship between an ethical lifestyle and the development of wisdom.