Introductions to 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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Cuong Lu, author of Wait, discusses his new book, how we can bring happiness and love into every moment of our lives, and shares some words of encouragement for when times get tough. 1. Why was it important to you to write Wait? I was alarmed seeing so many shootings in the US on the news—homicides, [...]
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Culturally Competent Dharma Teaching: Realizing an Ethical Imperative
Commentary on Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom By Pamela Ayo Yetunde November 2, 2020 Cheryl and I, like you, live in interlocking and interdependent cultural worlds. We are cis-gender women of African descent living in the U.S. We are Buddhist practitioners and we are also in [...]
To Listen, Contemplate, and Meditate Is the Practice of a Bodhisattva Excerpt from A Guide to the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva Now we have this great vessel of freedoms and resources, so difficult to obtain. So that we may liberate ourselves and others from the ocean of samsara, Day and [...]
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A Journey of Discovery Excerpt from The Experience of Insight We have all begun a journey. A journey into our minds. A journey of discovery and exploration of who and what we are. Taking the first step is difficult, and in the first days of practice there is often restlessness or sleepiness, some boredom, laziness, [...]
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Shambhala Publications · Mindfulness Breathing Exercise with Dr. Sarah Shaw Find a moment of stillness with Dr. Sarah Shaw, author of Mindfulness: Where It Comes From and What It Means. In this audio recording, she guides listeners through a shamatha breathing mindfulness exercise. May it be of benefit. Mindfulness$17.95 - PaperbackBy: Sarah Shaw Add [...]
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How Not to Be a Hot Mess A Survival Guide for Modern Life ENTER YOUR EMAIL TO RECEIVE THREE GUIDED VIDEO MEDITATIONS TO YOUR INBOX. Authors of How Not to Be a Hot Mess, Craig and Devon Hase, offer a series of meditations that are short, introductory practices you can do anytime and anywhere to [...]
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Craig and Devon Hase talk about how they entered into the world of meditation, why they chose to write this book, and their journey writing it together. How did you find your meditation practice? Craig: Devon and I both came to meditation very young and we have our own unique stories that we tell more [...]
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Pema Chödrön refers to many of her teachers and friends in her latest book Welcoming the Unwelcome. For fans of Ani Pema who might be less familiar with some of these figures but want to hear more from her main inspirations, teachers, and role models, this is for you! For those who listened to the [...]
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Offering of Practice An Excerpt from Refining Gold The Third Dalai Lama At this point the question may arise: “If one should try to rely upon a spiritual master who points out the path to enlightenment and should try to please the master by making the offering of practicing his or her teachings, what exactly [...]
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Kshanti Paramita An excerpt from Deep Hope If this present moment is lived whole-heartedly and meticulously, the future will take care of itself. —Alan Arkin, An Improvised Life We’ve all heard it before, these directives that suggest we could get off, or at least pause from, whatever trajectory our habits have set us on. But [...]
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Sign Up for 5 Free Videos and a Meditation Practice from Pema Chödrön! ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO RECEIVE A SERIES OF 5 VIDEOS AND A MEDITATION PRACTICE. In her first new book of spiritual teachings in over seven years, Pema Chödrön offers fresh wisdom, heartfelt reflections, and the signature humor and insight that have [...]
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Insightful Reflections Excerpts from Awaken Every Day 65 Keeping Our Hearts Open Let’s strive to cultivate love and compassion for other living beings regardless of whether they’re receptive to our help and advice. When we see someone going down the wrong path and there isn’t much we can do because they don’t want our advice, [...]
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Free Downloads from The Core Teachings of the Dalai Lama Series
Sign up for a week of essential teachings from His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama ENTER YOUR EMAIL TO RECEIVE A WEEK OF DAILY READINGS FROM THE CORE TEACHINGS OF THE DALAI LAMA SERIES. From proper posture in sitting meditation to discussion of past lives to the importance of the Three Jewels, these readings cover [...]
Announcing the Second Khyentse Foundation Children’s Book Prize
Theme: Stories that Teach Foundational Buddhist Topics After a successful competition in 2017, Khyentse Foundation and Bala Kids are once again teaming up to offer the Khyentse Foundation Children’s Book Prize for best Buddhist children’s manuscript. Khyentse Foundation and Bala Kids have the shared vision to inspire and educate future generations about Buddhism and to [...]
The Root of Loving-Kindness An excerpt from Stages of Meditation The Way to Meditate on Compassion Compassion is one of the major causes for realizing the state of omniscience. It is important at the beginning of the practice, during the practice, and even after realizing the results of our spiritual endeavor. Now the question is: [...]
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The following is an excerpt from The Monkey Is the Messenger by Ralph De La Rosa The Breath as a Resource "There is no need to struggle to be free; the absence of struggle is in itself freedom." —Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche The breath is a most precious resource that we routinely ignore. Simply put: no [...]
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First Session of Day One | An Excerpt from Perfecting Patience
On the Path of Self-Betterment Generally speaking, all the major religions of the world emphasize the importance of the practice of love, compassion, and tolerance. This is particularly the case in all the traditions of Buddhism, including the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantrayana (the esoteric tradition of Buddhism). They all state that compassion and love are [...]
Q&A with Ralph De La Rosa | Author of The Monkey Is the Messenger
Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You Ralph De La Rosa Answers the Top 5 Questions About The Monkey Is the Messenger Could you give us a brief summary of The Monkey is the Messenger? It’s a book that, at the onset, is about the nature of repetitive thoughts and rumination—why we have [...]
The Future Is Open Good Karma, Bad Karma, and Beyond Karma “Karma is like a game of chess. Wherever you are on the board at this moment is the result of your past actions. But whatever you are going to do in the next moment depends on the present situation.” —Chögyam Trungpa ENTER YOUR EMAIL [...]
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Free Download | A 15-Minute Guided Audio Meditation from The Monkey is the Messenger
The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You “You don’t have to have it together for this practice at all. You just have to breathe.” —Ralph De La Rosa ENTER YOUR EMAIL TO RECEIVE a 15-minute guided audio meditation with Ralph De la Rosa, author of The [...]
Dharma The Teachings of the Buddha Traditionally, there are two ways of describing the teachings of the Buddha: the dharma that is taught and the dharma that is experienced. The dharma that is taught has been presented continuously in books and lectures in a pure and fresh way since the time of the Buddha. Even [...]
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Remembering the Good within You | An Excerpt from Lovingkindness
Two Exercises for Your Practice Remembering the Good within You Sit comfortably, in a relaxed way, and close your eyes. As much as possible, let go of analysis and expectation. For ten to fifteen minutes, call to mind something you have done or said that you feel was a kind or good action—a time you [...]
The Practice of Loving-Kindness | An Excerpt from Comfortable with Uncertainty
The following excerpt is from Comfortable with Uncertainty By Pema Chodron Paperback | eBook Seven-Step Practice To move from aggression to unconditional loving-kindness can seem like a daunting task. But we start with what’s familiar. The instruction for cultivating limitless maitri is to first find the tenderness that we already have. We touch in with our [...]
Each month, the Shambhala employees gather to discuss a new book as part of our Shambhala Publications Book Club. After each meeting, we will be sharing the notes from our discussion with you to spark your own thoughts and conversations. Our October pick was Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice by [...]
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One of the commonalities of the many traditions within Buddhism is the centrality of the messages in the Buddha’s very first teaching in Sarnath, shortly after attaining enlightenment in Bodhgaya. He held back from actually teaching the first people he met including the Burmese traders (who tradition tells us brought back some of his hair, [...]
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Lojong: Training the Mind Learn More Lojong, or mind training, is a core practice in all the lineages of the Tibetan tradition. Lojong, or mind training, is a core practice in all the lineages of the Tibetan tradition. They can perhaps best be characterized as a method for transforming our mind by turning away from [...]
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The Complete Nyingma Tradition Learn More In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Explore The Complete Nyingma Tradition Home Page of The Complete Nyingma Tradition The Books of The Complete Nyingma [...]
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Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and Meditation in Action
Reviewed by Charles Prebish In the spring of 2002, following a short bout with cardiac problems, I decided to move most of my books from my university office to my home study to allow me to work in a more relaxing environment. By some odd chance-probably karmically inspired-the very first books I grabbed down off [...]