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This month brings three new books-on-CD from Shambhala Audio—and a new book-on-paper that’s a guide to a practice that’s been called “a better path to the power of now.”
Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening Ken Wilber’s books are known for giving readers “aha” moments: the universe, when viewed through the lens of Ken’s Integral Approach, just starts to make profound sense. Integral Life Practice (ILP) is Ken’s system for making that knowledge experiential and for waking up in every aspect of our lives. It combines meditation along with exercises for working with body, mind, and “shadow” (those parts of ourselves that we tend to deny). The techniques are drawn from a variety of the great wisdom traditions, and one of the best things about ILP is how adaptable it is to the conditions of anyone’s life and schedule. You can choose the practices that suit you best, and adapt them within whatever belief system or religion you may be following—or not following: it’s also perfect if you want spiritual practice without the organized religion thing. This guide contains everything you need to design your own system and to get started.
The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness Pema’s first book is finally available on audio CD! It’s about maitri—loving-kindness—among other dharmic things. If we can learn to direct maitri toward ourselves and others, she says, wisdom will arise along with compassion. We’ll understand that spiritual practice isn’t about self-improvement. That we’re fine just as we are, and there’s no self to “improve” anyway. “Maitri means that we can be still crazy after all these years,” she says. “The point is not to try to change ourselves. Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.” The book is based on talks Pema gave in 1989 during a month-long practice period at Gampo Abbey on the wild coast of Nova Scotia.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead Even if you don't happen to be dying at this particular moment, you’re still very likely in the middle of some kind of change to which the wisdom found in the Tibetan Book of the Dead applies. And since listening is the traditional way of encountering this Buddhist classic (it’s read aloud to the dying to help them through the transition), this audio version is a particularly beneficial way to approach it. This is the entire text, unabridged, and it’s read for you by someone with a deep personal appreciation for the wisdom it contains, the actor Richard Gere.
The Way of the Bodhisattva This guide to radical compassion has been awakening the mind of enlightenment in its readers—and listeners—for 1,300 years. Shantideva’s verses on the path of a bodhisattva—one who puts the interests of others before their own—show how to develop bodhichitta through the practice of the Buddhist six perfections: generosity, virtue, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. The secret lies in learning to exchange yourself for others. If you see a person lying by the side of the road, robbed and beaten by thieves, in the famous example, you minister to that person as though you were the one receiving help and he were the one who was giving it. The independent sense of self disappears, and love remains. The Dalai Lama says of the Way of the Bodhisattva: “If I have any understanding of compassion and the practice of the bodhisattva path, it is entirely on the basis of this text that I possess it.” That’s it for news this month. Look for these books in your favorite bookstore, or order them from us online. And drop us a line—we love to hear from you. Until next month, |
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