Books published by Shambhala Publications Inc

A modern introduction to traditional Buddhist psychology This practical overview of Buddhist psychology outlines step-by-step methods for examining the source of our habitual tendencies and hangups. In order to truly free ourselves from perpetuating patterns of suffering, the Buddha offered a clear system for understanding our psychological dispositions, processes, fixations, and challenges--a system known as the Abhidharma. This tradition has been studied by Buddhists for over two millennia. Professor Steven Goodman has taught on the Abhidharma in both universities and Buddhist retreats for over twenty years, making these traditional teachings accessible for a modern readership for the first time. Goodman explains how becoming aware of our mental patterns can liberate us from cycles of emotional pain and shows how the Abhidharma can be applied to meditation practice through exercises of observation and reflection. This is the go-to manual for anyone interested in the world of Buddhist psychology.

Navigate changing emotions with this beautifully illustrated meditation deck featuring 30 cards to help kids ages 4 and up connect more deeply with themselves and others.Help your child become more focused, calm, and capable of dealing with overwhelming emotions. The Monkey Mind Meditation Deck explores the playful and powerful qualities of animals and nature to inspire your child to discover the same qualities in themselves and others. Vibrant images from illustrator Alexander Vidal are paired with key phrases and short meditations or activities to help children learn about themselves without judgment. By getting to know the impulses that give rise to their actions, children can become empowered to make choices that truly serve them best.The deck includes a short booklet explaining the various ways to use the cards and additional notes to tailor the meditations and activities to meet the needs of your child. Encourage playful discovery to help your child learn how to be a captain of their own ship, appreciate the present moment, and venture outside their cocoon. Whether your child wants to draw the cards face down for spontaneous inspiration or select one face up to work on a specific theme, the deck offers authentic exploration and a creative way for children to reflect on difficult topics. The cards will help your child cultivate a safe inner space to handle life's ups and downs, release tension and anxiety, and maintain the emotional freedom needed to explore their unique gifts as they navigate an increasingly complex world.

This collection contains four of the most cherished Tibetan Buddhist commentaries on the practices of visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption-elements that form the core of development stage meditation, one of the most important practices of Buddhist Tantra. The texts within this volume-Ladder to Akanistha, Clarifying the Difficult Points in the Development Stage, The Four Stakes That Bind the Life-Force, and Husks of Unity-are among the most widely studied commentaries on this topic and have formed the basis for spiritual study and practice for centuries. In these eloquent and inspiring translations, Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahapaṇdita explain the fundamental philosophy of the development stage, illuminating its profound insights into the nature of reality and how to utilize these insights through the practice of meditation.

Accessible and practical teachings on the life of Naropa, with verse-by-verse commentary on his two most important Mahamudra songs by a contemporary Karma Kagyu master.Naropa is one of the accomplished lineage holders of the Mahamudra tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In this book, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, a beloved Mahamudra teacher, first tells the extraordinary story of Naropa's life and explains its profound lessons. He follows this with lucid and practical commentaries on two of Naropa's songs of realization, explaining their precious instructions for realizing Mahamudra, the nature of one's mind. Throughout, Thrangu Rinpoche speaks plainly and directly to Westerners eager to receive the essence of Mahamudra instructions from an accomplished teacher.

The Tibetan teaching of Dzog-chen (pronounced ZOAK-chen), also known as Ati yoga, is considered by its adherents to be the definitive and most secret teaching of the Buddha. Primordial Experience is a translation of a key text articulating the Dzog-chen teachings, "Gold Refined from Ore," by Mañjusrimitra, an Indian disciple of the first teacher of Ati yoga. According to the Dzog-chen teachings, purity of mind is always present and only needs to be recognized.

Here is a concise and user-friendly presentation of the ancient Chinese principles of leadership and strategy in the words of the masters themselves. Thomas Cleary has put together this collection of gems of wisdom from six of the great classics, including excerpts from his best-selling translation of The Art of War and other lesser-known but insightful texts.

Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men explores the primal healing methods of shamans all over the world. The author shows that for these extraordinary men and women, healing is not merely the alleviation of symptoms but entails a transformation of one''s relationship to life.

A lucid, practical guide to develop relaxation, awareness, mental clarity, and spiritual insight in your daily life.Since mindfulness is known to be so physically, mentally, and spiritually beneficial, why not practice it right now? Why not in every moment? Burmese Buddhist master Sayadaw U Tejaniya writes that we can indeed practice in this way, and the key is not forceful effort but rather a continuous gentle remembering of our intention to renew our awareness. Thirty-one short chapters--"A Month of Daily Life Meditations"--show precisely how to build a daily life meditation practice that steadily develops relaxation, refreshment, and enlightenment. "The right time to meditate is all day long, from the moment we wake up and open our eyes, until the moment we fall asleep at night," writes U Tejaniya. "If you are practicing correctly with right effort, it will definitely bring peace and joy."

Work with your triggers to find peace in the painful moments and lasting emotional well-being.Psychotherapist David Richo examines the science of triggers and our reactions of fear, anger, and sadness. He helps us understand why our bodies respond before our minds have a chance to make sense of a situation. By looking deeply at the roots of what provokes us--the words, actions, and even sensory elements like smell--we find opportunities to understand the origins of our triggers and train our bodies to remain calm in the face of traumatic experiences. In-the-moment exercises on how to process difficult emotions and physical manifestations are offered throughout the book to cultivate the inner resources necessary to deal with recurring trauma. When we are triggered, Richo writes, "we are being bullied by our own unfinished business." Explore what your body''s knee-jerk reactions to trauma can teach you. Triggers: How We Can Stop Reacting and Start Healing acts as a guide to your body''s powerful responses, helping you to remain calm under pressure and discover the key to emotional healing.

Accessible and practical teachings on both the life of Tilopa, who founded the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and one of his most important texts on the practice of Mahamudra.Most traditions of Mahamudra meditation can be traced back to the mahasiddha Tilopa and his Ganges Mahamudra, a "song of realization" that he sang to his disciple Naropa on the banks of the Ganges River more than a thousand years ago. In this book, Khenchen Thrangu, a beloved Mahamudra teacher, tells the extraordinary story of Tilopa's life and explains its profound lessons. He follows this story with a limpid and practical verse-by-verse commentary on the Ganges Mahamudra, explaining its precious instructions for realizing Mahamudra, the nature of one's mind. Throughout, Thrangu Rinpoche speaks plainly and directly to Westerners eager to receive the essence of Mahamudra instructions from an accomplished teacher.

Embrace the beauty of each day--exactly as it is--with this inspirational journal of quotes from Buddhist teacher and best-selling author Pema Chödrön.This keepsake journal from revered Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön shares thoughtful quotes and offers inviting spaces that await your reflections, insights, and intentions. Find support for challenging times, guidance for uncertainty, and reminders of daily joy. A perfect space for personal reflection and spiritual exploration.

Manage strong emotions and stay positive with this self-care activity journal for teens ages 13 and older.When you feel completely stressed out by your crazy life, it often helps to channel your energy into a project or activity to shift your focus from the negative to the positive. This activity journal contains 50 fun and focused art projects, writing prompts, and exercises to help you find ways to feel more calm, confident, resilient and able to take care of yourself and manage your emotions. This journal will also be an invaluable resource for teachers, guidance counselors, and therapists to use with young people in a group or academic setting.

The new standard work and definitive biography of Tsongkhapa, one of the principle founders of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism--the school of the Dalai Lamas. In this groundbreaking addition to the Lives of the Masters series, Thupten Jinpa, a scholar-practitioner and long-time translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, offers the most comprehensive portrait available of Jé Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), one of the greatest Buddhist teachers in history. A devout monastic, Tsongkhapa took on the difficult task of locating and studying all of the Indian Buddhist classics available in Tibet in his day. He went on to synthesize this knowledge into a holistic approach to the path of awakening. In an achievement of incredible magnitude, he integrated the pivotal yet disparate Mahayana teachings on emptiness while retaining the important role of critical reason and avoiding the extreme of negating the reality of the everyday world. Included in this volume is a discussion of Tsongkhapa's early life and training; his emergence as a precociously intelligent Buddhist mind; the composition of his Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Great Exposition of Tantra, and many other important works; and his founding of the Lhasa Prayer Festival and Ganden Monastery. This is a necessary resource for anyone interested in Tsongkhapa's transformative effect on the understanding and practice of Buddhism in Tibet in his time and his continued influence today.

A comprehensive, accessible guide to the fascinating history of Zen Buddhism--including important figures, schools, foundational texts, practices, and politics.Zen Buddhism has a storied history--Bodhidharma sitting in meditation in a cave for nine years; a would-be disciple cutting off his own arm to get the master's attention; the proliferating schools and intense Dharma combat of the Tang and Song Dynasties; Zen nuns and laypeople holding their own against patriarchal lineages; the appearance of new masters in the Zen schools of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and later the Western world. In The Circle of the Way, Zen practitioner and popular religion writer Barbara O'Brien brings clarity to this huge swath of history by charting a middle way between Zen's traditional lore and the findings of modern historical scholarship. In a clear and often funny style, O'Brien parses fact from fiction while always attending to the greatest interest of contemporary practitioners--the development of Zen doctrine and practice as a living tradition across cultures and centuries.

A deep and radically original exploration of Taoist and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist wisdom through the lens of the life and work of Tu Fu, widely considered China's greatest classical poet.What is consciousness but the Cosmos awakened to itself? This question is fundamental to the Taoist and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist worldview that shapes classical Chinese poetry. A uniquely conceived biography, Awakened Cosmos illuminates that worldview through the life and work of Tu Fu (712-770 C.E.), China's greatest classical poet. Tu Fu's writing traces his life from periods of relative normalcy to years spent as an impoverished refugee amid the devastation of civil war. Exploring key poems to guide the reader through Tu Fu's dramatic life, Awakened Cosmos reveals Taoist/Ch'an insight deeply lived across the full range of human experience.Each chapter presents a poem in three stages: first, the original Chinese; then, an English translation in Hinton's masterful style; and finally, a lyrical essay that discusses the untranslatable philosophical dimensions of the poem. The result is nothing short of remarkable: a biography of the Cosmos awakened to itself in the form of a magisterial poet alive in T'ang Dynasty China.Thirty years ago, David Hinton published America's first full-length translation of Tu Fu's work. Awakened Cosmos is published simultaneously with a newly translated and substantially expanded version of that landmark translation: The Selected Poems of Tu Fu: Expanded and Newly Translated (New Directions).

This daring, visionary book revolutionizes yoga practice--and makes it truly accessible to everyone, in every body, at any age, and in any state of health.Yoga practice has so much to offer us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But many of us feel discouraged to practice because we see young, slim, flexible, well, and able-bodied people dominating yoga spaces. Yet, yoga is truly a practice for all--conferring enormous benefits to our overall well-being as our bodies change, age, and navigate various health challenges. Jivana Heyman, founder of Accessible Yoga, views yoga as a basic human right--saying we all deserve to practice it in whatever state we find our body or mind. Accessible Yoga offers a simple, clear, and wonderfully adaptable practice for all people regardless of ability, health, and body type. Heyman has spent over twenty years sharing yoga with people of all abilities and backgrounds, and in this book, he shares his knowledge by breaking down complex yoga poses, breathing practices, meditation techniques, and yoga teachings into clearly understandable and practical tools we can use every day, regardless of our limitations or challenges.

A stunning tale of spiritual journey, prayer, and detachment told by a Christian pilgrim.This classic work of spiritual literature is the firsthand account of a pilgrim's journey as he endeavors to live out Saint Paul's instruction to "pray without ceasing." The narrator, an unnamed nineteenth-century peasant, sets out on his pilgrimage with nothing but a Bible, rosary, and some dried bread. As he walks, he recites the Jesus prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me")--a prayer that is said to quiet anxiety and fill the heart with love for all creation. With this prayer constantly on his lips, the pilgrim undergoes a profound spiritual education. These pages offer practical advice for every spiritual practitioner, translated in a way that is relevant, fresh, and inspiring.

A stunning celebration of birds and why we love them. Gorgeous, close-up photographs highlight the magic in every feather, with enchanting essays about how birds touch our lives.Our lives intertwine with birds like no other wild creature. Every day birds warm our hearts, inspire our curiosity, and appeal to our sense of wonder. Close to Birds brings us even nearer to our feathered friends. The stunning and intimate photographs capture the beauty and detail of each bird's form, as well as their unique character and personality. The accompanying short essays share charming and often-hidden details from birds' lives. Discover why robins sing so early in the morning and learn the science behind the almost magical iridescence of mallard feathers. Close to Birds shares the irresistible joy and marvel of birds.