Theravada Buddhism Guides
Buddhist Mindfulness: A Guide for Readers Buddha Statue at Mahabodhi (Bodh Gaya, India) Today the term "mindfulness" has become a buzzword heard everywhere from elementary schools to corporate offices to the military. Generally speaking, when we use the term in secular life, we're referring to the ability to purposefully place our attention on our present [...]
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Books from the Theravada, Pali, and Insight Traditions from 2022
The Pali / Theravada Tradition in 2022 Read More We published many books of interest for practitioners of traditional Theravada Buddhism as well as its contemporary Insight and Vipassana practitioners. See our other Year in Review Guides: Theravada/Pali/Insight | Zen and Chan | Tibetan Buddhism Yoga | Personal Development | Kids Books Receive a 30% [...]
Leigh Brasington on Ayya Khema, Metta Practice, and The Path to Peace
Listen to author and editor Leigh Brasington in conversation with Shambhala Publications staff about The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Guide to Cultivating Loving-Kindness and his teacher, Ayya Khema. After talking about Ayya Khema as a teacher, Leigh discusses metta practice and how it relates to samatha, vipassana, and the jhanas. He then leads us [...]
The Pali Tradition in 2021: The Essential Books on Theravada & Insight Meditation
Theravada and Insight Books in 2021 Read More We published many books of interest from the Pali tradition in 2021. Here is a recap. See our other 2021 Year in Review Guides: Theravada/Pali/Insight | Chan, Zen, Mahayana | Tibetan Buddhism Jump to: Books | Books for Kids | Forthcoming Books | Audiobooks Receive a 30% [...]
Theravada: A Reader's Guide Learn More Traditional Theravada Buddhism is the set of traditions and practices that form the basis of most of the Buddhism in Southeast Asia. We have many books that uncover the richness of this tradition, and are full of surprises. View of Drikung Lamayuru Monastery (Wikipedia) Related to Theravada Buddhism: Insight [...]
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Elephants and Thai Monks | An Excerpt from In the Cool Shade of Compassion
The Art of Elephant Training An excerpt from In the Cool Shade of Compassion: The Enchanted World of the Buddha in the Jungle about the wandering monks and adepts of the village temples, hills, and forests of Thailand. An In the 1920s, when [George] Orwell and Campbell were working in Muang Ngao forest, there were still [...]
Meditation and the Hindrances | An Excerpt from The Five Hurdles to Happiness
How the Hindrances Have Us over the Barrel of Our Monkey Minds OPENING INQUIRY Are you willing to step onto the path of meditation and its hindrance-laden twists and turns and do so with the right intentions and with the necessary knowledge to guide your steps? Act now! Limited time offer! Can your health and well-being [...]
Strengthening Mindfulness | An Exercise from The Path of Insight Meditation
Three Mindfulness Exercises 1. Daily sitting log. Here is a way to strengthen daily practice and to see its cycles more clearly. For one month or two, keep a small notebook at the place where you sit. Each day note down how long you sit. Then note down in one sentence the general qualities of [...]
Temple Boy and Spitting Cobra | An Excerpt from In the Cool Shade of Compassion
A Lesson on Revenge Ajan Ngoen was born in 1890 in the Village of Grandma Hom’s Knoll in Nakhon Pathom, a province about sixty kilometers west of Bangkok. Ngoen’s father was a farmer and herbal doctor who taught him mantras and medicine from palm-leaf texts. In 1910 Ngoen (which means “silver”) was ordained as a [...]
Sacred Are the Trees: A Retelling of Ancient Stories from Biographies of the Buddha by Wendy Garling, author of Stars at Dawn Why Trees? Those familiar with the Buddha’s biography know that all major events in his life took place under trees. He was born under a shala tree (shorea robusta), for example, as his [...]
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The Nyingma Summer Seminar: Reflections on a Buddhist Retreat
By Sanje Phillips This July, I attended the Nyingma Summer Seminar at the Mangala Shri Bhuti retreat land in Ward, Colorado, with Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel (wife), and Dungse Jampal Norbu (son). Over one hundred attendees with varied demographics sat daily meditation sessions, participated in the teachings, endured periods of silence and the usual [...]
We join our palms and say goodbye to a teacher who had an immense impact on the world. S.N. Goenka was a pioneer in making Vipassana meditation widely available to a secular audience. Over 170 meditation centers have been established around the globe under his auspices. His legacy will resound indefinitely. 29 January 1924 [...]
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