An experience of the fragility of conventional images of masculinity is something many modern men share. Psychoanalyst Guy Corneau traces this experience to an even deeper feeling men have of their fathers' silence or absence—sometimes literal, but especially emotional and spiritual. Why is...

Madhyamaka, or the Middle Way, is accepted by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism as the most profound expression, in philosophical terms, of emptiness, the true nature of phenomena. Emptiness is the basis on which the whole of Mahayana practice is founded, from the mind-training meditations on bodhichitta...

Madhyamaka, or the middle way, describes a path that cuts through all extreme beliefs about existence and nonexistence, relative and absolute. Shantarakshita’s Madhyamakalankara presents this profound Buddhist teaching in verse to help students who have received instruction commit...

Jim Harrison's popular novels represent only part of his literary output—he has also been widely acclaimed for the "renegade genius" of his powerful, expressive verse, collected in several books such as The Theory and Practice of Rivers and Other Poems (Clark City Press, 1989). After...

Dedication vii
Translator's Note ix
Preface xi
Foreword by David Jones xiii

1. His Story of the Founder 3
2. Kannagara No Michi 19
3. The Beginning of the Universe 35
4. Perspective on Truth 59
5. The Harmony of Nature's Justice 67
6. The Justice of Nature's Harmony...

Although alchemy is popularly regarded as the science that sought to transmute base physical matter, many of the medieval alchemists were more interested in developing a discipline that would lead to the psychological and spiritual transformation of the individual. C. G. Jung discovered in his study...

Here is an introduction to the magical and mystical realm of Taoism through biographical and historical sketches of Taoist adepts over two thousand years. This panoramic view of the many faces of Taoism and its intimate connection with Chinese culture and society includes intriguing accounts of...

This unique biography explores the inner journey of a woman whose outer life was a thrilling story of passion and adventure. Alexandra David-Neel (1868–1969), born in Paris to a socially prominent family, once boasted, "I learned to run before I could walk!" In the course of a lifetime...

The emphasis on the mind in meditation can be somewhat misleading: If we pay attention only to mental processes and overlook the experience of the body, we can remain stuck in our heads and not be able to break free of the involuntary thinking that we find so claustrophobic and toxic. This short,...

Sam Hamill is that rare figure whose life is continually in dialogue with the rich and diverse tradition of poetry, whether that dialogue takes the form of translating the work of a poet long dead, writing a poem in celebration of the work of a contemporary poet, or musing on what it means to be...

This powerfully moving memoir explores the connection between local history, the environment, the body, and the spirit. Triggered by a cancer diagnosis, Barbara Gates takes on a quest to find meaning in her urban Berkeley, California, home. She explores themes of love and family, home and homelessness,...

Listen to an audio sample online in MP3 format—click here. 

For centuries Tibetan Buddhists have relied on a collection of fifty-nine pith teachings (called...

In the last decade of his life, while living as a hermit-monk in dialogue with the world, Thomas Merton created a body of visual art that has remained largely unknown and little studied in the nearly forty years since his death. With this book, Merton's art at last moves out of the shadows to be...

Nonhuman animals have many of the same feelings we do. They get hurt, they suffer, they are happy, and they take care of each other. Marc Bekoff, a renowned biologist specializing in animal minds and emotions, guides readers from high school age up—including older adults who want a basic introduction...

Here is the first major collection of the teachings of Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995), one of the first Japanese Zen masters to bring Zen to the West and founding abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and Zen Mountain Center in Idyllwild, California. These short, inspiring readings illuminate...