Zen Buddhism

Jesus Christ was a Zen master? In at least one version of early Christian belief, he sure sounded like one. The Jesus narrative that eventually won out was passed on to future generations while the losers had their books burned and adherents imprisoned, tortured, or put to death. Talk about issues with freedom of religion! Luckily, an early Christian group called the “Gnostics”, in seeing their beloved books burned and adherents mistreated, buried their most important works in hopes of future discovery.

Horace Manifold, a mild-mannered professor of English at a college in the Midwest, discovers a strange phenomenon in the course of writing a novel. It seems that whenever he describes an event that occurs in the life of his protagonist, Mortimer Fandangle, that event subsequently happens to him as well. When he publishes an excerpt of the novel in an upscale literary journal, one that demonstrates this Fellini-esque device, he is awarded a "Pre-Pulitzer Prize," and is later hailed as “having forever altered the face of American literature.” He then embarks on a series of exotic ...

Little is known of the life of Zen master Huang-Po (Obaku in Japanese). He was born in Fuzhou, China, and died about 850 AD. His main teacher was Pai Chang (Hyakujo) (720 - 814). The main source for Huang-Po's teaching is the Treatise of the Essentials of the Transmission of the Mind, compiled by his student, Pei Xiu. Huang-Po's teaching is focused on the concept of Mind, the essence of intrinsic Buddahood. According to the master, the search for enlightenment was a useless distraction, as seeking for something inevitably separates the seeker from what is being sought.

Written in simple language, these 108 ‘kung-an’ (koan in Japanese) embodying the experience and wisdom of the Chinese Ch’an masters have found their way into hearts of many Westerners over a century. This is because Ch'an (Zen) is not something that can be explained in words, but is a special practice with words, which is carried out for one's self-development and leads to a state of Enlightenment. If you feel an attraction to Ch'an, this captivating book can serve as a guide to lead you up to the gateway of Ch'an through the Chinese Ch'an masters' questions and answers to enter a ...

From this moment on self-liberation is a priority in your life. You view life from a Zen perspective. You flow with life, never opposing things by resisting them. You yield, realigning the force of your opposition and using it to your advantage.

Among Buddhist traditions, Zen has been remarkably successful in garnering and sustaining interest outside the Buddhist homelands of Asia, and "zen" is now part of the global cultural lexicon. This deeply informed book explores the history of this enduring Japanese tradition - from its beginnings as a form of Buddhist thought and practice imported from China to its reinvention in medieval Japan as a force for religious, political, and cultural change to its role in Japan's embrace of modernity.

Zen can only be understood through practice. Until you put your own body and breath into it, it doesn’t begin to take hold in your life. Wake Up is a deeply useful guide to Zen Buddhism, presenting the core teachings and simple practices that you can incorporate every day to engage your heart and mind. In Buddhism, Zen is an ancient tradition that focuses on discovering truth and being mindful through meditation. Living with greater awareness and reflection will help you remain happier and better-balanced in everything you do - and this book can show you the way.

This new book from Zen teacher, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and critical favorite, Barry Magid, inspires us to outgrow the impossible pursuit of happiness, and instead make peace with the perfection of the way things are. Including ourselves! Using wryly gentle prose, Magid invites readers to consider the notion that our certainty that we are broken may be turning our pursuit of happiness into a source of more suffering.

An ancient and deeply revered practice, Buddhism is even more popular now than it has been in decades. The secret behind its steady rise is due in part to the plethora of benefits Buddhism reaps upon those who practice it and apply its teachings to their lives. Through mindfulness and meditation, Buddhism injects peace and clarity into the minds and lives of those who dedicate themselves to it. Those wonderful benefits can be a part of your life as well through the careful study of its various tenets.

Meditation teacher, filmmaker, writer, and art savant Kevin Townley turns his unique gaze upon 26 artists and magnifies the power and meaning of the five Buddhist wisdom energies through explorations of their work. Rather than trying to "explain" these energies, he reveals them to you in familiar visual language while, of course, pushing the boundaries of what you might have thought you saw at first glance. Townley leads you to, invites you in, and sometimes springs upon you, the perennial wisdom in the worlds of artists from Artemisia to Hilma af Klint to Marilyn Minter.

As we skate on the thin ice of life - feeling the vulnerability and uncertainty that we all share as human beings – how do we overcome the anxiety and confusion of this state of uncertainty? Award winning author Ezra Bayda encourages us, in clear practical language, to learn how to transform our difficult experiences into life-affirming ones – living increasingly from gratitude, kindness and love. What you can learn from this book: Inner Stillness: how to move from an anxious state to feeling calm and at home in our body. Clear seeing: techniques to clarify our hidden beliefs and ...

Quince joyas de la milenaria tradición zen que guían a la conciencia por caminos insólitos hacia la felicidad. Desconcertar, liberar, serenar, centrar y descentrar, demoler los límites del lenguaje y de la lógica: estos son solo algunos de los objetivos de los koans, breves historias o sentencias paradójicas de la milenaria tradición zen concebidas para guiar a la conciencia por caminos insólitos hacia la plenitud. John Tarrant nos regala quince de estas joyas iluminando su belleza y su lirismo, situándolas en su contexto y en el nuestro.

What if the key to a more connected and mindful life lies in ancient wisdom, we've overlooked? This audiobook explores the spiritual traditions of Indigenous Australians, with a focus on the practice of Dadirri—a deep form of listening and contemplation. It also examines parallels between Indigenous spirituality and other global wisdom traditions, such as Zen Buddhism, Vedic traditions, and Christian mysticism.

The world’s shortest (but not easiest) rational guide to everyday nondual awareness. Enlightenment is the ultimate self-help because it helps you realize that the self does not exist. What looks absurd and disturbing at first can grow into inspirational insight. Oneless Oneness is a fresh look at ancient Zen philosophy—not for the dogmatic, ideological, or faint-hearted, but for rational minds willing to question deeply ingrained beliefs. Do you wonder what the Zen masters mean by enlightenment? Would you like to enjoy the benefits of enlightenment too? Did you know that you don’t ...

In this book, bestselling author and life coach Gaur Gopal Das decodes how the mind works. He combines his anecdotal style with analytical research to teach us how to discipline our mind for our greater well-being. Throughout this book, he provides interactive exercises, meditation techniques and worksheets to help us take charge of our mind.

The Buddha spent a lifetime offering the same teaching in a number of different ways, so it is difficult to capture its subtleties from one vantage point. This book offers a variety of perspectives. Although the different approaches each have unique qualities, in their overlapping they reinforce each other and the main elements of the doctrine. The first chapter explains the foundations of the teaching in general terms. The second offers an examination of the same basics from a deeper point of view. In the third chapter, the ideas are freely adapted to an older style similar to the ...

The Ten Commandments give us impeccable rules for how to behave. But they don't say much about the inner awareness from which our outer behavior springs. This leaves the field open for The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Total Freedom. These aren't more carved-in-stone commandments, but practical suggestions for unfolding your experience of inner freedom.

Listening to this short book about Zen Buddhism will be the easiest way to learn about Zen, meditation, and how you can train your mind and ultimately change your life for the better. This book is great for beginners that want to get into Zen, because it's very simple to understand and it guides you every step of the way.

Este libro está aquí para responder a todas tus preguntas sobre el Zen y ayudarte a mejorar tu comprensión de muchos aspectos de la vida y de ti mismo. El zen es prácticamente una forma de vida y ha existido durante miles de años y por una buena razón. Promueve una forma verdaderamente positiva de ver las cosas y fomenta una visión más saludable de la vida. Tiene la capacidad de transformar su vida a través de sus propios esfuerzos para observar profundamente sus procesos de pensamiento internos para que pueda lograr una sensación más profunda de paz y felicidad.

It is a constant practice to not get stuck in the language or forms of Zen training. The precepts, wisdom, higher states of meditation - these are all concepts that need to be let go of. Don’t turn your Zen practice into a nest, a workshop, a medicine cabinet or a make-up kit. True realization is traceless. It has nothing to do with your ideas about it. Even at the top of a hundred-foot pole, there’s nowhere else to go but forward.