Books published by Wisdom Publications,U.S.

Comfort, understanding, and advice for those who are suffering--and those who care for them.Chronic illness creates many challenges, from career crises and relationship issues to struggles with self-blame, personal identity, and isolation. Beloved author Toni Bernhard addresses these challenges and many more, using practical examples to illustrate how mindfulness, equanimity, and compassion can help readers make peace with a life turned upside down. In her characteristic conversational style, Bernhard shows how to cope and make the most of life despite the challenges of chronic illness. Benefit from: • Mindfulness exercises to mitigate physical and emotional pain • Concrete advice for negotiating the everyday hurdles of medical appointments, household chores, and social obligations • Tools for navigating the strains illness can place on relationships Several chapters are directed toward family and friends of the chronically ill, helping them to understand what their loved one is going through and how they can help. Humorous and empathetic, Bernhard shares her own struggles and setbacks with unflinching honesty, offering invaluable support in the search to find peace and well-being.

Zen, plain and simple, with no BS.  This is not your typical Zen book. Brad Warner, a young punk who grew up to be a Zen master, spares no one. This bold new approach to the "Why?" of Zen Buddhism is as strongly grounded in the tradition of Zen as it is utterly revolutionary. Warner's voice is hilarious, and he calls on the wisdom of everyone from punk and pop culture icons to the Buddha himself to make sure his points come through loud and clear. As it prods readers to question everything, Hardcore Zen is both an approach and a departure, leaving behind the soft and lyrical for the gritty and stark perspective of a new generation. This new edition will feature an afterword from the author.

?What does liberation mean when I have incarnated in a particular body, with a particular shape, color, and sex??In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, using wisdom forged through personal experience and practice to rethink problems of identity and privilege. Manuel brings her own experiences as a lesbian black woman into conversation with Buddhism to square our ultimately empty nature with superficial perspectives of everyday life. Her hard-won insights reveal that dry wisdom alone is not sufficient to heal the wounds of the marginalized; an effective practice must embrace the tenderness found where conventional reality and emptiness intersect. Only warmth and compassion can cure hatred and heal the damage it wreaks within us. This is a book that will teach us all.

One of the most beloved Buddhist books of all time-having inspired popular musicians, artists, a documentary film, and countless readers-is now in an expanded, new edition, loaded with extras. Absolutely absorbing from start to finish, this is a true story you might truly fall in love with. At only 24, Maura O''Halloran left her Irish-American family stateside and traveled to Japan, where she began studying under an inscrutable Zen master. She would herself become recognized as a Zen master-in an uncommonly brief amount of time. Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind is Maura''s beautifully-written account of her journey. These journal entries and letters home reveal astonishing, wise-beyond-her-years humor, compassion, wisdom, and commitment. This expanded edition includes never-before-seen entries and poems, the author''s unfinished novel, and an afterword that discusses the book''s cultural impact. It will be a must-have for Maura''s previous fans--and will surely find her thousands of new ones.

Any practitioner, after meditating for some time, inevitably wonders what meditation method the historical Buddha Shakyamuni himself used while beneath the Bodhi Tree. Many people understand that prior to his realization, Shakyamuni Buddha studied with many of the great yogis of his time, but most do not know what method he ultimately found leads most directly to nirvana. In Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's book, Mindfulness With Breathing, the Thai meditation master provides practitioners with penetrating insights into the Anapanasati Sutta, the canonical text which many believe is the most direct transmission of Shakyamuni Buddha's breath meditation methods. Combined with a concise translation of the sutta itself, Mindfulness with Breathing is one of the best guides to Buddhist meditation practice available in the English language.

The Dalai Lama's teacher's autobiography offers glimpses into the young Dalai Lama's spiritual upbringing and his escape from Tibet.As the mentor to the young Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Trijang Rinpoché became one of his most trusted confidants. Rinpoché's status gave him a front-row seat to many of the momentous historical events that befell Tibet. He observes the workings of Tibetan high society and politics with an unvarnished frankness, including inside details of encounters with Mao Zedong, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Pope Paul VI. Most widely known as a yogi with profound, lifelong religious training, Trijang Rinpoché was also a statesman, a preserver of culture, a poet, writer, and artist. His autobiography is a beautifully written account of Tibetan life in the twentieth century, including intimate details about the upbringing of the Dalai Lama.

"The material in this volume is invaluable for those who sincerely wish to understand the Buddhist path and begin to follow it." -Venerable Sangye Khadro, author of How to MeditateThe third volume in the Dalai Lama's definitive and comprehensive series on the stages of the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion. Knowledge of buddha nature reveals and reconciles the paradox of how the mind can be the basis for both the duhkha of samsara (the unpurified mind) and the bliss and fulfillment of nirvana (the state of true freedom and peace). To illustrate this, Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature first takes readers through Buddhist thought on the self, the four truths, and their sixteen attributes. It then explains afflictions-including how they arise and their antidotes-followed by an examination of karma and cyclic existence, and, finally, a deep and thorough elucidation of buddha nature. Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature shows us how to purify our minds and cultivate awakened qualities. "This book is a veritable tour de force in its explanation of the role of the mind in samsara and the realization of nirvana, which is the mind's own ultimate nature. In its examination of buddha nature-spanning early discussions of the mind's potential in the Pali canon through to the teachings of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection-it casts a bright light to dispel the darkness of materialism, which deludedly reduces the mind to a mere epiphenomenon or emergent property of the brain. Books such as this are urgently needed to trigger a true revolution in the mind sciences."-B. Alan Wallace, founder and president, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

A collection of talks, photos, and calligraphy by Jakusho Kwong-roshi, exploring the profound beauty of Zen history and practice, nature, and the philosophy of the ancient Zen master Eihei Dogen.“In Zen meditation, anything that comes in your mind will eventually leave, because nothing is permanent. A thought is like a cloud moving across the blue sky. Nothing can disturb that all-encompassing vastness. This is the Dharma". In a collection of talks and anecdotes, Jakusho Kwong-roshi, a Dharma successor of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, presents his approach to Buddhist teaching. Containing photos of Kwong-roshi with his teachers, as well as a selection of his vibrant calligraphy, Mind Sky explores the profound beauty of Zen history and practice, nature, and the philosophy of the ancient Zen master Eihei Dogen.  With an elegant simplicity, Jakusho Kwong-roshi shows how Zen is experiential rather than intellectual. And with persistent practice, realization is already yours.  

His Holiness the Dalai Lama explores emptiness, one of the most central teachings in Buddhism, in the newest volume of the bestselling series The Library of Wisdom and Compassion.In Searching for the Self the Dalai Lama leads us to delve deeply into the topic of the ultimate nature of reality, presenting it from a variety of approaches while focusing on identifying our erroneous views and directing us to the actual mode of existence of all persons and phenomena. Placing our study of reality within the auspicious context of a compassionate motivation to benefit all sentient beings, the Dalai Lama explains why realizing emptiness is important and what qualities are needed to do that, and he evaluates various tenet systems' perspectives on this vast topic. He then helps us understand our perceptions and the mental states involved in both our ignorant and accurate cognitions. He examines inherent existence and other fantasized ways of existence that we seek to disprove through reasoned analysis and presents the Middle Way view that abandons all extremes. The closing chapters by Thubten Chodron discuss the three characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self as explained in the Pali tradition and show how meditation on these can lead to the meditative breakthrough to realize nirvana. Engaging in this investigation with His Holiness will challenge our deepest-held beliefs and uproot false ways of viewing ourselves and the world that are so habitual we don't even notice them. Get ready to be challenged and intrigued, for realizing the nature of reality has the power to cut our defilements at the root and free us from cyclic existence forever!

This rare offering by Kyabjé Dodrupchen Rinpoché is a uniquely concise volume of the teachings of the path to liberation that is authentic, authoritative, and complete.In Liberation from Samsara, the Fourth Kyabjé Dodrupchen Rinpoché presents the Longchen Nyingthik preliminary teachings, with a special focus on guru yoga. These teachings, from the innermost secret instruction of Dzogchen, constitute a complete path to enlightenment.  Rinpoché’s precious instruction begins with meditations on the common and uncommon preliminary practices, including the difficulty of obtaining a fortunate human birth; the impermanence of life; the implacability of karmic causes and results; samsaric suffering in the six realms; taking refuge; developing bodhichitta; purification by Vajrasattva recitation; and accumulating merits by mandala offerings. After discussing the ways to turn our mind toward Dharma and the trainings, Rinpoché provides guru yoga instruction as he turns to the main tantric practice: meditations on unifying one’s mind with Guru Rinpoché’s wisdom mind. This rare teaching by Rinpoche, though intentionally succinct to accommodate the needs of contemporary Western practitioners, presents a complete path to enlightenment. It contrasts three different paths to liberation: Shravakayana (the way of the disciple), Pratyekabuddhayana (the way of the self-enlightened buddha), and Mahayana (the way of the bodhisattva), which is our way, our boundless intention to seek refuge in order to free all sentient beings from samsaric suffering.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the respected and beloved cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, offers us a significant book that is both a beautiful tool for experienced practitioners and a how-to for beginners.Revitalize your practice with the potent energy of mantra. In this book, beloved teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides us through the most popular mantras in Tibetan Buddhism: Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more. A mantra—literally “that which protects the mind”—is a series of Sanskrit syllables that evoke the energy of a particular buddha or bodhisattva. It works as a sacred sound that brings blessings to ourself and others, and as a tool to transform our mind into one that is more compassionate and wise. In clear and succinct teachings, Lama Zopa shows us why we need different mantras and how each mantra works. He also explains their importance and power, giving specific instructions for practicing them. The exquisite, full-color illustrations of the deities that accompany the text make this book a beautiful guide, one suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.

A masterful translation of classic scholar Buddhapalita’s breakthrough elucidation of Nagarjuna’s famous Middle Way text, which has profoundly influenced generations of Buddhist philosophers.This “Buddhapalita” commentary on Nagarjuna’s famous first-century text Wisdom: Fundamental Middle Way Verses has been considered for over a thousand years by Indian and Tibetan philosophers to be the special key that best unlocks the deep philosophical freedom from confusion and perplexity that the Middle Way (or Centrist) school seeks to provide for its students. Chandrakirti (seventh century) defended Buddhapalita’s elegant approach as most effective in opening the Middle Way for the inquiring mind to find the liberating experience of reality. Atisha (eleventh century) brought Buddhapalita’s and Chandrakirti’s transformative critical method to spread widely in Tibet, and Tsongkhapa (fifteenth century) provided a clarification of this philosophical work that was so rigorous and crystal clear that it opened the minds of Tibetan philosopher scientists of all schools until today. Ian Coghlan’s masterful translation makes Buddhapalita’s breakthrough elucidation of the Wisdom Verses clearly accessible. The translator’s unique education combines the Indo-Tibetan geshé curriculum with the modern doctoral training that adds comparative text-critical analysis and comparative language research in Sanskrit as well as Tibetan. This intellectual and experiential education enabled him to produce this reliable translation for the philosophical seeker to fully engage with Buddhapalita’s richly transformative, liberating work.

A Buddhist scholar reflects on life, death, and the ways we blind ourselves to the inevitable as he confronts his own mortality.In the winter of 2020 a renowned scholar of Asian religions, lifelong meditator, and novelist accustomed to vigorous health received a terminal diagnosis. By summer his cancer had run its course. In the short time in between, C. W. “Sandy” Huntington faced his own impending death, leading him to reconsider the teachings and practices, as well as philosophy and literature, he had spent a lifetime pursuing. In this, his last book, you’ll join Sandy as he traverses the gap between knowledge and true wisdom.  “Sandy Huntington urges his readers to face up to life’s fragility as well as its many gifts. Written with elegance and verve, What I Don’t Know about Death is a deep meditation on what it means both to wake up to and to let go of life. Drawing on his lifelong engagement with Buddhism, Huntington remains a consummate teacher who demands intellectual honesty, humility, and compassion from his readers no less than from himself. This book is an intellectual and spiritual offering to Huntington’s students, past and future.”—Leora Batnitzky, Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies and professor of religion, Princeton University  “What I Don’t Know about Death is a deeply personal, intellectually rigorous, and philosophically profound exploration of death, and in particular of Sandy’s own death, which he faced with exemplary grace, honesty, and clarity as he wrote this book. This is a gift of remarkable beauty that can open our hearts and minds to this most difficult topic. Read it and weep, with tears of grief, gratitude, and illumination.”—Jay L. Garfield, Smith College and the Harvard Divinity School

The author explores poetry as a spiritual practice with example poems from contemporary and historical poets, particularly as they relate to Buddhism. Includes meditations on poems and writing prompts for readers to experiment with on their own.

Discover how to explore and deepen your connection to nature with a rich array of do-anywhere meditations.Meditations on the Trail offers a rich array of do-anywhere meditations that will help you explore and deepen your connection to nature, and yourself, in new ways, making the most of your time on the trail.   This small book—perfect for throwing in a daypack or a back pocket as you head out for the trail—is filled with practices to take you into the heart of the natural world and uncover your most vibrant self. You’ll return home grateful, more aware of interconnection, and maybe just a little wiser.  “For walkers of all paces and geographies, this lovely book is a helpful guide for savoring moments on the trail, and feeling how deeply related we are to all existence.”—Stephanie Kaza, author of Conversations with Trees: An Intimate Ecology

The sixth volume of the Dalai Lama's definitive Library of Wisdom and Compassion series.Courageous Compassion, the sixth volume of the Library of Wisdom and Compassion series, continues the Dalai Lama's teachings on the path to awakening. The previous volume, In Praise of Great Compassion, focused on opening our hearts with love and compassion for all living beings, and the present volume explains how to embody compassion and wisdom in our daily lives. Here we enter a fascinating exploration of bodhisattvas' activities across multiple Buddhist traditions-Tibetan, Theravada, and Chinese Buddhism. After explaining the ten perfections according to the Pali and Sanskrit traditions, the Dalai Lama presents the sophisticated schema of the four paths and fruits for sravakas and solitary realizers and the five paths for bodhisattvas. Learning about the practices mastered by these exalted practitioners inspires us with knowledge of our minds' potential. His Holiness also describes buddha bodies, what buddhas perceive, and buddhas' awakening activities. Courageous Compassion offers an in-depth look at bodhicitta, arhatship, and buddhahood that you can continuously refer to as you progress on the path to full awakening.