This sutra is the study of what can be called Nirvana Sutra Buddhism or Tathagatagarbha Buddhism. It is a very positive, balanced, faith-promoting and spiritually affirmative manifestation of Buddhism, which recognises the hidden reality of the unconditioned, egoless Buddha-Self in all beings. That Self of the Buddha is a mystery, beyond the reach and grasp of the samsaric intellect: while the Buddha-Self is real, it is certainly not comparable to our worldly, selfish self (ego) and cannot truly be captured within the net of words or concepts. Yet it is the only enduring Truth that can ever be found. This sutra leads us to the Ultimate Truth and indicate the Path to tread for an Awakening into Reality s presence, which is all-pervading and eternal. That eternally present Truth is the sole genuine Reality. You, monks, should not thus cultivate the notion of impermanence, suffering and non-Self, the notion of impurity and so forth, deeming them to be the true meaning of the Dharma, as those people searching in a pool for a radiant gem did, each thinking that bits of brick, stones, grass and gravel were the jewel. You should train yourselves well in efficacious means. In every situation, constantly meditate upon the idea of the Self, the idea of the Eternal, the Bliss, and the Pure ... Those who, desirous of attaining Reality, meditatatively cultivate these ideas, namely, the ideas of the Self, the Eternal, the Bliss, and the Pure, will skilfully bring forth the jewel, just like that wise person who obtained the genuine, priceless gem, rather than worthless detritus misperceived as the real thing.

- The Buddha, Chapter Three, The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra

From the bestselling author of Falling Leaves, a remarkable book of wisdom and spirit.

Somewhere it is written that every Chinese wears a Confucian thinking cap, a Taoist robe, and Buddhist sandals. In Watching the Tree, Adeline Yen Mah brings together the many influences on her life as a child of the East and as a student and adult in the West. Conveying a wealth of insight and experience, Adeline illuminates major aspects of Chinese customs and culture while weaving in stories of personal struggle triumph throughout her life.

Taking a step beyond her previous book, Falling Leaves, a powerful memoir set against the backdrop of political and cultural upheaval in China, Adeline explores the centuries-old Chinese traditions and their legacy in modern-day China and the West. With Adeline’s provocative essays on Buddhism, the I Ching, Tao, Confucius, and their role in shaping Chinese thought, Watching the Tree inspires as it uplifts the soul, giving readers an unusual glimpse inside a culture that remains mysterious and often misunderstood.

In her sharp observations on Chinese food and medicine, yin and yang, Zen, and feng shui, Adeline enlightens readers with the mundane—an approach to healing an illness you might find at a Chinese grocery store—to the larger questions in life surrounding true happiness, health, and spirituality. Bridging the cultural divide between the East and West, these stories reveal the strength and peace of mind that comes from opening one’s heart and mind to the wisdom and experience of our combined histories.

For anyone looking for a clearer understanding of Chinese culture and for inspiring personal stories that embody a life lived in the wake of Chinese tradition, Watching the Tree opens the door into a world of calm reflection, knowledge, and spirituality.

Clear Light of Bliss : The Practice of Mahamudra in Vajrayana Buddhism

by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso 

Within all of us lies a source of infinite bliss and compassion for others. The special methods explained within Tantric Buddhism enable us to discover this bliss for ourselves.
The contemporary Tantric master, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, explains step-by-step how we can generate a deeply peaceful and concentrated mind by harnessing the subtle energy system within our own body. With this blissful awareness we can uncover our true nature, destroy ignorance and suffering at its root, and swiftly become a source of inspiration and benefit for others.

"A source of great happiness and immeasurable benefit to the beings of this world."  —Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist master

About the Author

Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a fully accomplished meditation master and internationally renowned teacher of Buddhism who has pioneered the introduction of modern Buddhism into contemporary society. He is the author of 22 highly acclaimed books that transmit perfectly the ancient wisdom of Buddhism to our modern world. He has also founded over 1200 Kadampa Buddhist Centers and groups throughout the world.

In his teachings, Geshe Kelsang emphasizes the importance of meditation and how to apply it in daily life. He reveals practical methods for developing wisdom, cultivating a good heart and maintaining a peaceful mind through which we can all find true and lasting happiness. Demonstrating these qualities perfectly in his own life, Geshe Kelsang has dedicated his whole life to helping others find inner peace and happiness.

This manual of Tibetan meditation simply and thoroughly presents the profound Dzogchen and Mahamudra systems of practice. Karma Chagmé sets forth the stages of meditation practice, including the cultivation of meditative quiescence and insight, the experiential identification of awareness, and the highest steps of Mahamudra and Atiyoga, leading to perfect enlightenment in one lifetime. Drawing from his enormous textual erudition and mastery of Tibetan oral traditions, he shows how these two meditative systems can be unified into a single integrated approach to realizing the ultimate nature of consciousness.

"An incomparable introduction to the actual practice of higher meditative instructions."—Tibet Journal 

"Get[s] right into fairly advanced instructions on meditation. . . . Most chapters are in classic Tibetan fashion almost entirely comprised of quotations from scripture and earlier masters. Gyatrul Rinpoche's informative commentary is the clear voice that pulls the book together."—Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly 

"Karma Chagmé applies his extensive experience and familiarity with Tibetan oral traditions to reveal how these two meditative systems can be integrated into a single approach."—Midwest Book Review

Now, from the founder of Quantum Psychology, a direct disciple of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and the author of fourteen books, comes the last word in Self-realization:  The Nirvana Sutras and Advaita-Vedanta: Beneath the Illusion of Being. 

Following on Nisargadatta Maharaj's basic premise, "All you can teach is understanding, the rest comes on its own," Dr. Wolinsky through a series of sutras and commentaries, demonstrates using eight contexts ranging from Buddhism to science, from Advaita-Vedanta, neuro-science and linguistics, and tantric yoga, to provide a long neglected understanding which lies at the core of all of these teachings, that all spirituality and psychology are dependent on the existence of a separate independent individual subject-I, and if this subject-I is an illusion, a product of the nervous system, a miss-perception, then a not only does the "I" disappear, but so does the foundation and basic premise of all spirituality, spiritual paths and psychology.

Maitreya’s Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena distinguishes the illusory phenomenal world of saṃsāra produced by the confused dualistic mind from the ultimate reality that is mind’s true nature. The transition from the one to the other is the process of “mining for wisdom within delusion.” Maitreya’s text calls this “the fundamental change,” which refers to the vanishing of delusive appearances through practicing the path, thus revealing the underlying changeless nature of these appearances. In this context, the main part of the text consists of the most detailed explanation of nonconceptual wisdom—the primary driving force of the path as well as its ultimate result—in Buddhist literature. 

The introduction of the book discusses these two topics (fundamental change and nonconceptual wisdom) at length and shows how they are treated in a number of other Buddhist scriptures. The three translated commentaries, by Vasubandhu, the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and Gö Lotsāwa, as well as excerpts from all other available commentaries on Maitreya’s text, put it in the larger context of the Indian Yogācāra School and further clarify its main themes. They also show how this text is not a mere scholarly document, but an essential foundation for practicing both the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna and thus making what it describes a living experience. The book also discusses the remaining four of the five works of Maitreya, their transmission from India to Tibet, and various views about them in the Tibetan tradition.

Review

“Mining for Wisdom within Delusion provides us with a much-needed comprehensive treatment of Maitreya’s text, something that both scholars and meditators will find illuminating. Karl Brunnhölzl’s adept translation, annotations, and introduction add layers of richness that always bring us back to the basic point: wisdom is discovered within delusion.”—Elizabeth Callahan, translator of The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Six, Part Three: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy 

“Once again Tsadra and Karl Brunnhölzl have given us access to a classic of Buddhist Mahayana, so important in recognizing the true nature of reality. This classic will guide the scholar and the practitioner alike in discovering the nonconceptual wisdom within delusion. This is a monumental work.”—Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies, Naropa University

“While scholars will delight in this rich banquet of information, all practitioners who wonder how it works that their meditation bears fruit as the dawning of ‘nonconceptual wisdom,’ what it actually is that undergoes the ‘fundamental change,’ and how that process unfolds will definitely find overwhelming insight in this book.”—Susanne Schefczyk, translator and editor of Everyday Consciousness and Primordial Awareness 

“There is no doubt that everything a scholar or a practitioner needs to know on this subject is here, and that Karl Brunnhölzl is the reigning expert and right person to have written it. If anything at all was left out, we don’t need to know it.”—Sarah Harding, translator of Machik’s Complete Explanation

About the Author

Karl Brunnhölzl, MD, was trained as a physician and also studied Tibetology. He received his systematic training in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators, founded by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Since 1989 he has been a translator and interpreter from Tibetan and English. He is presently involved with the Nitartha Institute as a teacher and translator.

A new translation of the primary Indian Buddhist text on buddha nature, with Tibetan commentaries explaining how this text can be used to contemplate and realize one's own buddha nature.

"Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sūtra sources of the tathāgatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyü tradition. Most important, the translator’s introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahāyānottaratantra as a basis for Mahāmudrā instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyü, and Jonang schools that use the Mahāyānottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize one’s own buddha nature.

About the Author

KARL BRUNNHÖLZL was trained as a physician and presently works as a Tibetan translator and Buddhist teacher. He studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at Hamburg University and Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators in Kathmandu. Currently he works as a translator and interpreter for the Tsadra Foundation, Nalandabodhi, and the Nitartha Institute. In 2009 he was appointed as the first Western khenpo (abbot in the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages) by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

The Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the prajñaparamita sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the prajñaparamita sutras—the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras—emptiness—and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner's stage up through buddhahood. 

Groundless Paths contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries from the perspective of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. This study consists mainly of translations of Maitreya's famous text and two commentaries on it by Patrul Rinpoche. These are supplemented by three short texts on the paths and bhumis by the same author, as well as extensive excerpts from commentaries by six other Nyingma masters, including Mipham Rinpoche. Thus this book helps close a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the prajñaparamita sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism. 

Arya Maitreya's Ornament of Clear Realization, with its Indian and Tibetan commentaries, presents the complex dynamics of the path to liberation as a succession of realizations of the empty nature of all phenomena. This presentation is a powerful antidote to whatever two-dimensional views we might hold about spiritual experience and the journey to enlightenment.

35-Day Practice Outline: Introduction to the Lotus Sutra and beginning practice.

This 35-Day guide presents an organized introduction to the study of the Lotus Sutra, the sutra revered by Nichiren Buddhists all over the world. Using this book along with a translation of the sutra the practitioner will gain an overview of the entire Lotus Sutra as well as a systematic approach to beginning to practice Nichiren Buddhism. This guide is not intended as an in depth study of the Lotus Sutra, but as a way to begin to establish a greater relationship with one of the most highly respected of the Buddha's teachings. It is recommended that this serve as a companion book to your own Lotus Sutra translation book.

The Lotus Sutra is regarded as one of the world's great religious scriptures and most influential texts. It's a seminal work in the development of Buddhism throughout East Asia and, by extension, in the development of Mahayana Buddhism throughout the world. Taking place in a vast and fantastical cosmic setting, the Lotus Sutra places emphasis on skillfully doing whatever is needed to serve and compassionately care for others, on breaking down distinctions between the fully enlightened buddha and the bodhisattva who vows to postpone salvation until all beings may share it, and especially on each and every being's innate capacity to become a buddha.

Gene Reeves's new translation appeals to readers with little or no familiarity with technical Buddhist vocabulary, as well as long-time practitioners and students. In addition, this remarkable volume includes the full "threefold" text of this classic.

Rainbow Body: The Life and Realization of a Tibetan Yogin, Togden Ugyen Tendzin, presents the remarkable life story of Togden Ugyen Tendzin (1888–1962), a Tibetan yogin who in death achieved the “rainbow body,” the release of the physical body in the essence of the five elements and one of the highest spiritual attainments of Dzogchen, recognized as the supreme level of Tibetan Buddhism. His nephew, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, one of the greatest living masters of Dzogchen, composed the book from his own recollections of his uncle as well as direct quotes from talks with the great yogin himself and his disciple Sala Karma Samten. The book traces the yogin’s childhood struggles, the circumstances that led him to his teacher, the eminent Adzom Drugpa, and his difficult path to self-realization. Finally, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu relates the story of Ugyen Tendzin’s death during imprisonment by the Chinese, when witnesses discovered that though his sheepskin robe still sat upright, his body was gone—a testament to its having dissolved into the rainbow body.

Review

"Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is one of the greatest Tibetan meditation masters and scholars teaching in the West."
—Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within and Awakening the Buddhist Heart, and the founder of the Dzogchen Foundation in Massachusetts

About the Author

Born in Eastern Tibet in 1938, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is an internationally known Dzogchen Buddhist teacher and author. The direct descendant of the first Dzogchen Tibetan master of Tibet, Norbu spent his childhood receiving many teachings from masters of various traditions. In the 1960s he was invited to teach in Italy. During his career he wrote many books on Tibetan culture and Dzogchen Buddhism. He is the founder of two nonprofit organizations including the Shang Shung Institute, which is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture.

A perfect companion to the well-known Tibetan Book of the Dead.

In life and in death, in meditation and in sleep, every transitional stage of consciousness, or bardo, provides an opportunity to overcome limitations, frustrations, and fears. The profound teachings in this book provide the under- standing and instruction necessary to turn every phase of life into an opportunity for uncontrived, natural liberation.

Like the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Natural Liberation is a term, a "hidden treasure" attributed to the eighth-century master Padmasambhava. Gyatrul Rinpoche's lucid commentary accompanies the text, illuminating the path of awakening to the point of full enlightenment. Natural Liberation is an essential contribution to the library of both scholars and practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.

One moment of total awareness is one moment of perfect enlightenment.This is the ultimate insight of Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, the pinnacle teaching of Tibetan Buddhism.

With his previous bestselling books, including Awakening the Buddha Within, American-born Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das has taught millions about the innate wakefulness and liberation that can be our natural ways of being. Now, withNatural Radiance, he offers his first complete daily practice program for the personal experience of the "swift and direct path" of Dzogchen.

Dzogchen affirms that we are all buddhas by nature-infinitely open, luminous, compassionate, wise, and free. This profound realization, say the teachings, cannot be understood intellectually or studied mentally, but it can be passed from teacher to student through the spoken word. With Natural Radiance, it is now possible to learn these time-honored practices as they have been shared for centuries-through direct transmission from an accomplished master of the tradition.

Join Lama Surya Das as your trusted guide to help you awaken to the sky-like nature of mind-what is known in Tibetan as rigpa, or total and pure presence. "This is the time of Dzogchen," says Lama Surya Das, "when we most need this immediate teaching of the inherent perfection of being . the natural state of enlightenment." Includes seven guided Dzogchen techniques.

When medieval theologians wrote their Quaestiones Disputatae, the disputed questions concerned relatively peripheral topics, for Christians agreed on all of the most basic matters. But today even the most central issues in Christianity are controversial, and Christian discourse itself is part of the wider dialogue that includes all the great religious and philosophical traditions of the world. In this book a leading philosopher of religion offers fresh insights into some of the disputed religious questions of our time.

John Hick begins by addressing the most fundamental questions: whether religion is a wish-fulfilling projection or a human response to the Transcendent, and whether religious experience constitutes authentic awareness of a divine Reality. He then considers specifically Christian beliefs, such as the deity of Jesus and the problems encountered by attributing to Jesus both all divine and all human properties, and he suggests an alternative image of Jesus as a man extraordinarily open to and inspired by the divine spirit. Hick gives a personal account of how he has come to accept religious pluralism—that the major world faiths are different but equally valid responses to ultimate Reality. He considers how much Christians have to learn from Buddhism, discusses the ongoing dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and outlines a philosophy of religions—a conception of the relationship between world religions and between them and the ultimately Real. Finally he turns to the mystery of death and, using the resources of the world religions and of parapsychology, suggests a possible conception of life after death.

In Becoming Enlightened, His Holiness the Dalai Lama powerfully explores the foundation of Buddhism, laying out an accessible and practical approach to age-old questions: How can we live free from suffering? How can we achieve lasting happiness and peace? 

Drawing from traditional Buddhist meditative practices as well as penetrating examples from today's troubled planet, he presents step-by-step exercises designed to expand the reader's capacity for spiritual growth, along with clear milestones to mark the reader's progress. By following the spiritual practices outlined in Becoming Enlightened, we can learn how to replace troublesome feelings with positive attitudes and embark on a path to achieving an exalted state -- within ourselves and within the larger world. 

Full of personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's experiences as a lifelong student, thinker, political leader, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Becoming Enlightened gives readers all the wisdom, support, guidance, and inspiration they need to become successful and fulfilled in their spiritual lives. 

This is a remarkable and empowering book that can be read and enjoyed by seekers of all faiths. Readers at every stage of their spiritual development will be captivated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama's loving and direct teaching style.

Journey to Certainty : The Quintessence of the Dzogchen View by Anyen Rinpoche
An Exploration of Mipham's Beacon of Certainty Translated and Edited by Allison Choying Zangmo

Approachable yet sophisticated, this book takes the reader on a gently guided tour of one of the most important texts Tibetan Buddhism has to offer. "Certainty" in this context refers to the unshakeable trust that develops as meditators discover for themselves the true root of reality. In this authoritative presentation, master teacher Anyen Rinpoche opens wide the storehouse of this richly philosophical text in a way that lets readers of all backgrounds easily benefit.

"Anyen Rinpoche flawlessly presents the reader with the unique perspective that belongs to a true scholar-yogi: that the most essential insights within the Buddha's teachings--be they of the Middle Way, Prajnaparamita, or Dzogchen--are not only mutually supportive and without any conflict, but describe the same nature of reality. A must-read for philosophers and practitioners."--Erik Pema Kunsang, author of Wellsprings of the Great Perfection and compiler of Blazing Splendor

"This book beautifully demonstrates the profound unity of study and practice at heart of Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. Remarkably accessible, this book is essential reading for anyone attempting to understand or practice Dzogchen today."--John Makransky, author of Awakening Through Love

"In the rich Tibetan tradition of oral commentary, Anyen Rinpoche draws from personal experience and deep understanding to breathe fresh life into Mipham Rinpoche's classic."--Douglas Duckworth, author of Mipam on Buddha-Nature

"This is a wonderful manual for dedicated practitioners to study and contemplate." --Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche

"A book that adds a most important aspect to the discovery of Mipham Rinpoche's original, genial understanding of the dharma, for it expounds quite clearly his approach to and explanation of Dzogchen. It is definitely a must for anyone interested in the topic!" (Elías Capriles, University of The Andes)

About the Author

Allison Choying Zangmo is a student of Anyen Rinpoche and his root master, Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche. She has been studying Tibetan language and Buddhism under Anyen Rinpoche's personal guidance for the past ten years. She is Anyen Rinpoche's personal translator for both Dharma talks and textual translations. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

"Alan Wallace is one of the great Western Buddhist thinkers of our day."—Howard Cutler M.D., coauthor with H.H. the Dalai Lama of The Art of Happiness

"A one-of-a-kind book that helps educate as well as inspire."—Inquiring Mind

"Any person on a spiritual path, Buddhist or not, will find in this book fresh practical insights for cultivating a boundless heart. A thought-provoking, useful, encouraging read."— ForeWord Magazine

The Four Immeasurables—the cultivation of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity—is a rich suite of practices that open the heart, counter the distortions in our relationships to ourselves, and deepen our relationships to others. Alan Wallace presents a unique interweaving of teachings on the Four Immeasurables with instruction on meditative quiescence, or shamatha practice, to empower the mind. This book includes both guided meditations and lively discussions on the implications of these teachings for our life.

"We are in very good hands when Alan Wallace takes us on a journey with the four immeasurables."—Mandala, Editor's Choice

"This book is written in a very simple and direct style. It always cuts out the superficial and directs the reader to the heart of the practice. Interspersed are numerous personal anecdotes and insights that could only be gathered from a lifetime of practice and teaching."—The Middle Way 

"This in-depth treatment is presented clearly and directly without unnecessary trappings and will be a good choice for customers looking to begin serious study of Buddhist tradition and practice. It includes guided meditations intended to help readers open their hearts and empower their minds."—New Age Retailer

"This rich psychological unfolding of these spiritual practices provides a fine capstone to the author's thoughts on meditation."—Spirituality & Practice 

About the Author

B. Alan Wallace has authored, translated, edited, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, science, and culture. With fourteen years as a Buddhist monk, he earned a BA in physics and the philosophy of science and then a PhD in religious studies. After teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he founded the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies to explore the integration of scientific approaches and contemplative methods.

"A comprehensive and rich teaching that combines skillful instruction and scholarly knowledge. Minding Closely draws on wisdom from both Theravada and Vajrayana traditions to offer a systematic and practical approach to liberation through mindfulness."—Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart 

Bringing his experience as a monk, scientist, and contemplative, Alan Wallace offers a rich synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions along with a comprehensive range of meditation practices interwoven throughout the text. The guided meditations are systematically presented, beginning with very basic instructions, which are then gradually built upon as one gains increasing familiarity with the practice.

"Its ingenious structure combines theoretical and philosophical discussions with guided meditations, leading readers simultaneously into deeper understandings and experiences of mindfulness. Wallace's writing is clear and often informal, providing readers with personal insights and reflections from an experienced meditator who is also a scholar. An impressive feature of this volume is that it allows those with little prior exposure to Buddhism to gain a solid introduction to numerous core Buddhist concepts and terms without the process seeming arduous. As a popular introduction to Buddhist traditions of mindfulness, this volume is superb and useful as background reading for any student of Buddhism. The exercises are especially valuable."—Choice  

About the Author

B. Alan Wallace has authored, translated, edited, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, science, and culture. With fourteen years as a Buddhist monk, he earned a BA in physics and the philosophy of science and then a PhD in religious studies. After teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he founded the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies to explore the integration of scientific approaches and contemplative methods.

Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment

""This book will give anyone interested in the spectrum of core meditative practices stemming from the Buddhist tradition but in essence universal the deepest of perspectives on what is possible for us as human beings as well as excellent guidance in the essential, time-tested attitudes and practices for actualizing our innate capacity for wisdom, compassion, and well-being, right here and right now.""
—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses and Full Catastrophe Living

""In Genuine Happiness, Alan Wallace displays his rare talent in boiling down the complex to the clear and in guiding readers through a practical path to contentment. A gift for all moods and seasons.""
—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

""This lucid and rich book offers brillant, wise, and accessible teachings on the essentials of four core meditation techniques that lead one to genuine joy and happiness. Alan Wallace's years of practice and teaching shine through every page, as with ease and great humanity, he brings to the reader the possibility of liberation.""
—Joan Halifax Roshi, abbot of Upaya Zen Center

""Genuine Happiness is a treasure chest of wisdom: clear, inspiring teaching jewels. It is an excellent support for any student of meditation.""
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience

Discover your personal path to bliss
In today's overstimulated world, many are realizing that happiness gained through material wealth and frivolous conquests is short-lived. To achieve long-term happiness, you must access your own bountiful resources—housed in your heart and mind. In Genuine Happiness, longtime Buddhist practitioner Alan Wallace shows you the path to bliss.

Drawing on more than three decades of study under His Holiness the Dalai Lama and sixty other teachers, as well as 2,500 years of Buddhist tradition, Alan Wallace guides you step by step through five simple yet powerful meditations to help you focus your mind and open your heart to true happiness. Featuring a Foreword by the Dalai Lama, this book will help you discover that it is possible to experience genuine happiness every day.

As you incorporate the meditations from Genuine Happiness into your life, you will discover that the joy you've sought has always been only a few meditative minutes away.

From Publishers Weekly

Wallace, founder of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, explores key Buddhist meditation-related concepts that aid the "conquest of our inner obscurations" and "present a path to inner fulfillment and human flourishing." He first examines several particular methods—such as "mindfulness of breathing"—for cultivating shamatha, a state of "meditative quiescence" in which people's capacity for attention is refined and stabilized. They can then use these techniques to make a direct, delusion-free investigation of their own bodies, feelings and thoughts. These insights, in turn, help them nurture hearts of compassion and equanimity and, ultimately, realize more advanced teachings such as cultivating bodhichitta (a "spirit of awakening"), dream yoga and a highly developed meditation technique known as dzogchen. Wallace's discussions are usually clear and helpful (on why meditation works: "sustained, continuous effort can actually reconfigure your brain"), and his questions invite readers to see for themselves if his assertions resonate. Moreover, each chapter contains guided meditations to help readers encounter the teachings more directly. Nevertheless, the text can become dense and self-referential, and if readers miss a particular point early on, the effectiveness of later sections may be lessened. The result is a solid—if advanced—examination of some key Buddhist meditation techniques that will appeal to the serious student more than the casual seeker.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

B. Alan Wallace began his studies of Tibetan Buddhism, language, and culture in 1970 at the University of Göttingen and then continued his studies over the next fourteen years in India, Switzerland, and the United States. After graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he studied physics and the philosophy of science, he went on to earn his Ph.D. in religious studies at Stanford University. He then taught for four years in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and is now the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (sbinstitute.com). He is also Chairman of the Thanypura Mind Centre (piamc.com) in Thailand, where he leads meditation retreats. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and Buddhism, including Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic: A Manifesto for the Mind Sciences and Contemplative Practice, Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity, and Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness.

The Waste Land is a 434 line poem presented in five-parts, written by T. S. Eliot; considered by many to be one of the greatest poets in history. It is one of the most important writings of modernist poetry. The Waste Land loosely follows the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King while including cultural shades from Western canon, Buddhism and Hindu Upanishads. The Waste Land is highly recommended for those who enjoy important poetic works and for those newly discovering the talent of T. S. Eliot.

For Westerners, China still exudes a certain air of mystery: an enigmatic mixture of rich cultures and traditions. This fascinating volume is the only one of its kind to contain all the core myths of Chinese mythologies that have helped shape the Chinese psyche. The popular folk stories of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are included here. They recount the earliest legends and creation myths and reveal a world of heroes, sage hermits, the secrets of immortality, the formation of dynasties, just teachers, dutiful sons and speaking animals. Some have been adapted to fit the politics and culture of the prevailing dynasties, but many remain remarkably untouched and still underlie the traditional religion of China today. All the stories provide profound insight into the development of Chinese culture, and into the differences and points of contact between Eastern and Western traditions.

This book is a collection of passages from lectures by the Dalai Lama. The teacher who speaks here is not the Buddhist philosopher, nor the head of state of the Tibetan people, but the spiritual friend, the one with a sharp, compassionate, and humorous understanding of the human condition. The Dalai Lama answers our concerns about the source of our anxieties, our limitations, the problem of death, and the deepest responsibilities of our lives.

Publisher's Weekly says: "Not a book for beginners in Buddhism, this has considerable, complex depth that transcends the implied simplicity of the subtitle's "Living the Four Noble Truths" by addressing suffering and it cessation. This selection will, however, be of good value to advanced practitioners who can never have too much of a good thing. A notable exception for beginners is the seven pages of "Specific Instructions on Meditation," in which the world's foremost practitioner and proponent of Tibetan Buddhism gives the benefit of his measureless experience in clear, useful terms. For all this cerebral material's weight, the Dalai Lama's charming sense of humor at times pokes through."

Addressing deep spiritual concerns by asking key questions such as How can we end our suffering? How can we become truly compassionate? and Does the potential for happiness lie in our own hands?, this collection of meditative dialogues by the Dalai Lama expands and illuminates the Four Noble Truths in his characteristic voice, known for its sharp yet compassionate charm and good humor. Each passage is a skillful transcription of the Dalai Lama’s eight famous addresses at the Institute Karma Ling in Savoie, France in 1997, and includes the question-and-answer exchanges that followed each speech. Speaking to advanced Buddhist practitioners, each address receives the full benefit of the Dalai Lama’s measureless experience in clear, useful terms.

Most religious movements in India have come about as a reaction to meaningless traditions and stifling rituals that are the inevitable result when a prescribed way of life as set down by a great thinker is left to be carried on by his followers, who have the faith but seldom the brilliance or intellect to take the movement to its logical conclusion.  As they say, a convert is always more fanatic than the prophet himself.  So it was in India too.  When Hinduism go entangled in rituals sand ceremonies that were the purview of only a chosen few, we saw Gautama Buddha propound the much simpler Buddhism and, soon after, Vardhamana Mahavira lay forth the so much easier to understand principles of Jainism.  But after these two great men died, these two religious movements got shrouded in meaningless ritual and decadence. The common man no longer felt at ease with them, which is why he turned with relief to the teachings of Sri Sankaracharya and Ramanuja.  Similarly, when the tyrannies of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, were at their height, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, showed Hindus a way to maintain their self-respect and fight back against the atrocities inflicted upon them.  Religion has always been an integral part of daily life in India.  The Great Reformers and Religious Teachers of India looks at the men who shaped the various religious of India, and helped to give ordinary men and women deep insights into the fathomless mystery that is life.

An essential companion to a timeless spiritual classic

The Lotus Sūtra is among the most venerated scriptures of Buddhism. Composed in India some two millennia ago, it affirms the potential for all beings to attain supreme enlightenment. Donald Lopez and Jacqueline Stone provide an essential reading companion to this inspiring yet enigmatic masterpiece, explaining how it was understood by its compilers in India and, centuries later in medieval Japan, by one of its most influential proponents.

In this illuminating chapter-by-chapter guide, Lopez and Stone show how the sūtra's anonymous authors skillfully reframed the mainstream Buddhist tradition in light of a new vision of the path and the person of the Buddha himself, and examine how the sūtra's metaphors, parables, and other literary devices worked to legitimate that vision. They go on to explore how the Lotus was interpreted by the Japanese Buddhist master Nichiren (1222–1282), whose inspired reading of the book helped to redefine modern Buddhism. In doing so, Lopez and Stone demonstrate how readers of sacred works continually reinterpret them in light of their own unique circumstances.

An invaluable guide to an incomparable spiritual classic, this book unlocks the teachings of the Lotus for modern readers while providing insights into the central importance of commentary as the vehicle by which ancient writings are given contemporary meaning.

The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, has been one of the foremost scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism since the appearance of its superb translation into Chinese by Kumarajiva in 406 CE. Over the ensuing centuries, this centerpiece of the three sutras composing the Threefold Lotus Sutra has thoroughly suffused East Asian civilization. 

With interest in Buddhism increasing in Europe and America, in 1975 Kosei Publishing issued the first complete English translation of these three sutras as The Threefold Lotus Sutra, and because of constant demand, it has remained in print ever since. Now Kosei Publishing, responding to the needs of a truly globalized, twenty-first century Buddhism, has revitalized this acclaimed work with a newly translated publication, The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers.

This is the first English version of this religious classic tailored to the essential Buddhist practice of daily sutra recitation. In addition to providing an accurate translation faithful to the original text and following standard definitions of key Buddhist terminology, this innovative Threefold Lotus Sutra breaks new ground by employing more inclusive language to reflect present-day concepts of equality and human dignity in an increasingly diversified world.

Stories are ancient and wondrous tools with the mysterious power to transform lives. And the stories and parables of the Lotus Sutra-one of the world's great religious scriptures and most influential texts-are among the most fascinating and dramatic.

In this fun, engaging, and plain-English book, Gene Reeves-the translator of Wisdom's critically acclaimed and bestselling edition of the Lotus Sutra-presents the most memorable and remarkable of the Lotus Sutra's many stories and parables, along with a distillation of his decades of reflection on them in an accessible, inspiring, and naturally illuminating way.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra is the perfect companion to Reeve's breathtaking translation of this scriptural masterpiece as well as a thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone volume for those who want to bring the inspiring teachings of the bodhisattva path into their daily lives.

A world-renowned expert in lucid dreaming and Tibetan dream yoga guides us into the tradition’s daytime practices, a complement to the nighttime practices taught in his previous book Dream Yoga.

Most of us are absolutely certain that we’re awake here and now―it’s a given, right? Yet, according to Tibet’s dream yoga tradition, ordinary waking life is no more real than the illusions of our nightly dreams.

In his previous book Dream Yoga, Andrew Holecek guided us into Tibetan Buddhism’s nocturnal path of lucid dreaming and other dimensions of sleeping consciousness. Now, with Dreams of Light, he offers us an in-depth, step-by-step guide to its daytime practices.

Known as the “illusory form” practices, these teachings include insights, meditations, and actions to help us realize the dreamlike nature of our lives. Through an immersive exploration of the tradition, beginners and seasoned practitioners alike will learn everything they need to deeply transform both their sleeping and waking hours.

“If you’ve struggled to awaken in your dreams,” teaches Holecek, “these techniques will often spark spontaneous lucidity during sleep. And if you’re already a successful lucid dreamer, they will open you to new depths of experience throughout your day.”

For those wishing to explore Tibetan Buddhism’s profound path for awakening to the true nature of reality―day or night―Dreams of Light shows us the way.