Sylvie Crossman & Jean-Pierre Barou
The mandala is one of the most powerful expressions of Buddhism's unified view of the cosmos. It represents the integration of human and divine realms, the microcosm and macrocosm. It is at one and the same time an artistic creation, a transformative creative process, a support for meditation, a pictorial representation of doctrine and a map to initiation. To reach a better understanding of the potent symbolism and spiritual practice the mandala comprises, this work brings together the contributions of a number of leading scholars, each approaching the subject from a different vantage point. Essays explore the development of the mandala within the context of Tibetan Buddhism and Tantra Yoga, the symbolism of the mandala and the process of its construction, and the mandala's significance in the life and work of Carl Jung.
96pp, 12x9.5, illus. ... Hardback
Published price £18.99 --You save £8.00 ... 42%
Tarthang Tulku
Tibetan Buddhism teaches us that the meditative state is the natural condition of our minds and that, once we reconnect with that plane of existence, we are able to experience life with an open and non-judgmental attitude, free from anger, frustration and pain. This book offers practical lessons in Tibetan meditation enabling us to reconnect with our natural state, and in doing so to live a happy healthy and balanced life. Informative and practical, with wise, beautifully lucid text and 20 step-by-step exercises, Tibetan Meditation shows with dazzling effectiveness how the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism can transform all our lives for the better.
160pp, 9.5x6.5, illus. ... Hardback
Published price £14.99 -- You save £8.00 ... 53%
The Dalai Lama
The Transformed Mind is a collection of talks the Dalai Lama gave at a Tibetan Buddhist centre in Delhi during the 1990s. The history of Tibetan Buddhism is covered in a useful Introduction by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche; in the transcribed talks the Dalai Lama explores many of its teachings. "The essence of Buddhist conduct and philosophy is non-violence and the theory of interdependence respectively." Non-violence has two directives: "If you can, help and serve other sentient beings; if you cannot, then at least do not harm others." Spiritual development, he says, comes from having "a good and compassionate heart [which] automatically brings inner strength and allows for less fear and less doubt." A refreshing honesty runs throughout this book, and also a delightful humour. When asked, "What is the best method to stop the population growth?" his response is "More monks and more nuns, of course! I call it non-violent birth control." One of the simplest and most useful pieces of advice in the book is that every morning we should create positive feelings by thinking, "I must have a meaningful day."
272pp, 8x5 ... Paperback
Published price £7.99 -- You save £4.60 ... 58%
The 'Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind' is perhaps the most important text of the Tibetan spiritual writings known as lojong, literally 'transforming the mind'. Written by the eleventh - century meditator Langri Thangpa, this short work is referred to by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as one of his main sources of inspiration. In this lucid, straightforward commentary on these teachings, His Holiness the Dalai Lama shows us how to cultivate wisdom and compassion in our daily lives. In particular, he addresses: enhancing compassion; cultivating balanced attitudes toward oneself and others; developing positive ways of thinking; and transforming adverse situations into conditions favourable for spiritual development.
208pp, 8.5x5.5 ... Hardback
Published price £14.99 -- You save £9.00 ... 60%
Darlene Cohen
Darlene Cohen discovered the secret to finding happiness in the midst of debilitating pain. She shares her knowledge in her popular workshops and now in this book. Cohen, who has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for eighteen years, was hobbling painfully to her local Zen centre one day, when she made a discovery that changed her life: if she focused on the foot that was in the air rather than the one that was hitting the pavement, her stamina increased enormously. It was the beginning of a completely different approach to the crippling pain that had beset her for so long. As she demonstrates here, this approach can be expanded to all types of pain: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Cohen - a certified massage and movement therapist and Zen teacher - proposes a radically liberating alternative to the usual desperate search for pain relief: paradoxically, she says, release from suffering lies in paying closer attention to it. When we keep pain at bay, we keep pleasure at bay, too. The two are interdependent, and our ability to experience each is totally dependent on our understanding of the other. "Enrich your life exponentially," Cohen advises. If your pain is one of the ten things you are aware of, then it constitutes a tenth of your total awareness. Expand your awareness to a hundred things, however, and your pain is only a hundredth of your awareness. With stories, strategies, exercises, and an awareness born of long Zen practice, Cohen shows us how to tap into that enrichment - and how we can lead a satisfying and even joyful life in the very midst of pain.
272pp, 9x6 ... Paperback
Published price £12.99 -- You save £7.00 ... 54%
176pp, 8x5 ... Paperback
Published price £9.99 -- You save £5.00 ... 50%
Nagarjuna, translation and commentary by Stephen Batchelor
The understanding of the nature of reality is the insight upon which the Buddha was able to achieve his own enlightenment. This vision of the sublime is the source of all that is enigmatic and paradoxical about Buddhism. In Verses from the Center, Stephen Batchelor explores the history of this concept and provides readers with translations of the most important poems ever written on the subject, the poems of 2nd century philosopher Nagarjuna. "Each poem is an attempt to disclose emptiness through the play of language. For poetry works not by describing its subject with detached objectivity from without, but by imaginatively entering inside its subject so as to disclose it from within. As a poet, Nagarjuna gives voice to the freedom of emptiness from within. He is not interested in confirming what is safe and familiar but in exploring what is unsettling and strange. For the letting go of fixed opinions about oneself and the world can be frightening and compelling. Although such emptiness may seem an intolerable affront to one's sense of identity and security, it may simultaneously be felt as an irresistible lure into a life that is awesome and mysterious." - Tricycle Buddhist Review. Remainder mark.
182pp, 8.3x5.4 ... Hardback
Published price £15.99 -- You save £9.00 ... 56%
Thinley Norbu
Buddhism teaches that enlightenment is our natural state; the problem is that we do not recognize this state, owing to the mind's confusion about its true nature. Thinley Norbu presents the Buddhist view in a way meant to clear up misconceptions and awaken the reader's innate wisdom. Thinley Norbu is a distinguished teacher of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and the author of The Small Golden Key and Magic Dance.
224pp, 9x6 ... Paperback
Published price £13.99 -- You save £9.00 ... 64%
Victor Chan & the Dalai Lama
'Do you hate the Chinese?' Victor Chan asked the Dalai Lama when they first met in India in 1972.... The Dalai Lama replied immediately 'no,' then stated that he had forgiven the Chinese and did not blame China's people. Drawing on Buddhist principles, this book loosely discusses His Holiness's ideas on forgiveness, though Chan presents them gently through stories, not didactically as a step-by-step how-to manual. Chan traveled with the Dalai Lama off and on for several years, spent time with him at home and conducted numerous interviews. Apart from the expected teachings on forgiveness, what comes through most clearly is the personality of the Dalai Lama himself: his humour, playfulness and joy. We learn that he had something of a temper as a young man and that he can't resist pulling men's beards. Somehow, the book's serious call to forgiveness becomes all the more engaging and possible because of the Dalai Lama's own lighthearted spirit.
266pp, 8.5x6 ... Hardback
Published price £19.99 -- You save £15.00 ... 70%
Timothy Freke
Tibetan Buddhism is far more than veneration of a buddha who lived 2000 years ago. It has been inspired and shaped by a succession of living buddhas. Their wisdom, in this beautifully illustrated small hardback, nurtures the potential within each of us to experience enlightenment.
62pp, 6½x5 ... Hardback
Published price £4.99 -- You save £2.00 ... 40%
Thomas Cleary (trans)
The Prajnaparamita ("perfection of wisdom") sutras are one of the great legacies of Mahayana Buddhism, giving eloquent expression to some of that school's central concerns: the perception of shunyata, the essential emptiness of all phenomena; and the ideal of the bodhisattva, one who postpones his or her own enlightenment in order to work for the salvation of all beings. The Prajnaparamita literature consists of a number of texts composed in Buddhist India between 100 BCE and 100 CE. Originally written in Sanskrit, but surviving today mostly in their Chinese versions, the texts are concerned with the experience of profound insight that cannot be conveyed by concepts or in intellectual terms. The material remains important today in Mahayana Buddhism and Zen. Key selections from the Prajnaparamita literature are presented here, along with Thomas Cleary's illuminating commentary, as a means of demonstrating the intrinsic limitations of discursive thought, and of pointing to the profound wisdom that lies beyond it. Remainder mark.
176pp, 9x6 … Paperback
Published price £10.99 -- You save £5.50 ... 50%
Winston L King
"In this engaging examination of the development of the Samurai and their relationship to Zen, King (Divinity Sch., Vanderbilt Univ.) covers a lot of ground. He discusses the martial arts, Zen history, Japanese cultural history, the art of sword making, and kamikaze pilots, among other topics, in terms of the thread of Japanese spirituality that runs through them all. He examines the influence of Zen on the warrior ethic and handles deftly the difficult issue regarding the alignment of nonviolent Buddhist philosophy with the training of warriors. In addition, King carries the discussion up to the present, drawing illustrations from World War II and current Japanese business practices to strengthen his contention that the way of the Samurai and Zen are inextricably woven into the fabric of Japanese behavior." - Library Journal.
288pp, 8x5.5 ... ISBN 0195092619 ... Paperback
Published price £10.99 -- You save £7.00 ... 64%
Alan Watts, read by Ralph Blum
Zen Buddhism is a way and view of life not easily defined. It has to be suggested by saying what it is not - in the same way that a sculptor reveals an image to us by the act of removing pieces from a block of stone. Zen Practice, Zen Art is a refreshingly clear yet remarkably detailed explanation of this most tantalizing aspect of Asian culture. Includes the history of Zen, its influence on the arts, Za-Zen study, and the role Westerners are playing in the preservation of Zen as a living philosophy. Remainder mark.
Cassette
Published price £8.99 -- You save £5.01 ... 56%
