The scientific study of Buddhist forms of meditation has surged in recent years. Such study has captured the popular imagination, reshaping conceptions of what meditation is and what it can do. Within the lab and now beyond it, people have come to see meditation as a practical matter, a rewiring of the brain or an optimization of consciousness as a means to better health, more fulfilling relationships, and increasing productivity. Often suppressed if not dropped from this pragmatic approach are the beliefs, values, and cosmologies that underpin such practice from the Buddhist point of view. Propelled by the imperatives of empirical practicality, for perhaps the first time in history meditation has shifted from Buddhist monasteries and practice centers to some of the most prominent and powerful modern institutions in the world-hospitals, universities, corporations, and the military-as well as many non-institutional settings. As the contributions to this volume show, as their contexts change, so do the practices, sometimes drastically. New ways of thinking about meditation, ways that profoundly affect millions of lives all over the world, are emerging from its move to these more strictly secular settings. To understand these changes and their effects, the essays in this volume explore the unaddressed complexities in the interrelations between Buddhist history and thought and the scientific study of meditation. The contributors bring philosophical, cultural, historical, and ethnographic perspectives to bear, considering such issues as the philosophical presumptions of practice, the secularization of meditation, the values and goods assumed in clinical approaches, and the sorts of subjects that take shape under the influence of these transformed and transformative practices-all the more powerful for being so often formulated with the authority of scientific discourse.

PRE-ORDER THE ACCOMPANYING JOURNAL LEARN TO LET GO NOW 'Life-changing' - Sara Makin, Founder & CEO of Makin Wellness If you learn to let go, your life will take off. When you let go, you live intuitively. Everything flows, because you are no longer attached to things being a certain way, to being a certain person or always being right. What a relief. The irony is that when you feel stuck in any area of your life - career, relationships, purpose, health or money - letting go can seem very hard. You cling on for dear life just at the moment you need to take the leap. In The Power of Letting Go, John Purkiss explains why we should let go and how we can do it, using proven techniques to make things happen. The stages of letting go: -Be Present and Enjoy Each Moment -Let Go of the Thoughts that Keep You Stuck -Let Go of the Pain that Runs Your Life -Surrender and Tune into Something Far More Intelligent than Your Brain

Every human soul is divine and valuable. An embodied being's ultimate purpose is the enjoyment of Supreme bliss as a free soul (Mukta, salvation, liberation) in the highest heaven. Enjoyment is also the basis of happiness upon earth. It leads to the spiritual enlightenment for happy, healthy, and peaceful life and environment. The knowledge of self is what leads to the knowledge of God and this knowledge is the road to eternal happiness or bliss. Real happiness cannot be found externally, it must be realized within. The soul of a man is in the hidden structure of God. He is inside all of us. All life comes from God. The causes of unhappiness are our ego, our prejudice, our desire, and our impropriety. There must not be any lust and hatred, neither longing for one thing, nor any loathing the opposite. The world is spiraling toward conflict, belligerence, and disharmony and is now going through an unprecedented spiritual crisis, class confrontation, calamity, and nuclear and terrorists' threats. The rise of drug use, the rise of broken families, the rise of the number of single parents, the rise of school and public space mass shootings, the rise of suicides and depression, the rise of sexual scandals among priests and media, rise of overuse of iPad and smartphones by young kids are all threatening our home, society, schools, and the environment with vicious violence, menacing insecurity, wild protests, and rampant immorality.

With Meditate Yourself Happy, learn to choose the thoughts you pay attention to. Because by changing the way you think, you can change the way you feel and subsequently change your life. Meditation is not an unachievable state; this book will teach you how to harness its transformative power to heal your body and mind by reducing stress, controlling anxiety, promoting emotional health, enhancing self-awareness and improving your overall wellbeing. Through easy and accessible exercises that are organised by mood and range from 5-10 minutes, discover how small shifts can lead to big changes. So many people don't think they can meditate. They believe it is all about fighting off thoughts and emptying the mind completely. But certified hypnotherapist Fiona Lamb is here to tell them otherwise.

Many people are discovering in meditation a way to find peace of mind and a more centred focus on their true inner nature. This book is the second of the series of volumes where spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy answers a very wide range of questions about meditation, including the meaning of different meditation experiences, how to make meditation practical and the intrinsic value of meditation.

From one of most prominent figures in the field of meditation comes a guidebook for how to use mindfulness to build our inner strength, find balance, and help create a better world. In today's fractured world, we're constantly flooded with breaking news that causes anger, grief, and pain. People are feeling more stressed out than ever, and in the face of this fear and anxiety they can feel so burnt out and overwhelmed that they end up frozen in their tracks and unable to do anything. In Real Change, Sharon Salzberg, a leading expert in lovingkindness meditation, shares sage advice and indispensable techniques to help free ourselves from these negative feelings and actions. She teaches us that meditation is not a replacement for action, but rather a way to practice generosity with ourselves and summon the courage to break through boundaries, reconnect to a movement that's bigger than ourselves, and have the energy to stay active. Consulting with veteran activists and social-change agents in a variety of fields, Salzberg collects and shares their wisdom and offers the best practical advice to foster transformation in both ourselves and in society. To help tame our inner landscape or chaos, Salzberg offers mindfulness practices that will help readers cultivate a sense of agency and stay engaged in the long-term struggle for social change. Whether you're resolving conflicts with a crotchety neighbor or combating global warming, Real Change will provide the fundamental principles and mindfulness practices to help guide you to the clarity and confidence to lift a foot and take the next step into a better world.

A pocket-sized book of thoughtful quotes curated to help you take a step back, relax your mind, and recharge your psyche. "The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light..." --Mary Sarton In today's high-speed world of overstimulation and overachievement, our personal batteries have never felt more drained. In an age that requires immediacy and productivity in a minute's notice, how can we step away from the constant demands of our lives and allow ourselves to simply rest? Recharge mini book aims to reduce our everyday stress and encourages us to mindfully relax into the present moment with poignant words from writers, thinkers, and seekers that guide us toward making meaningful changes in our lives to optimize our energy, self-care, and mental health. 150 QUOTES: Open to any page for inspiration from writers and thinkers including Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Thich Nh't H?nh, and Sharon Salzberg POCKET SIZE: This compact mini book fits easily in a pocket or purse for easy access to wisdom and inspiration whenever it's needed CREATE COMFORT AND CALM: Each quote is an invitation for self-reflection that can help us move toward clarity, presence, and a mindful being BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED: Lovely hand-drawn illustrations add a layer of beauty and joy to each quote COMPLETE THE SERIES COLLECTION: Deepen your mindfulness practice with Recharge: A Day and Night Reflection Journal

Filled with spells, charms, rituals, and potions by pro witchcraft practitioners, carry this pocket-size spell book with you through every phase of the moon as you harness its mystical energy. Small yet mighty, Moon Spells contains spells for healing, luck, friendship, empowerment, and more, all fueled by the power of the moon. The book guides you through rituals based on the lunar cycle, along with spells timed to the waxing moon, full moon, waning moon, and new moon. Alongside these, you'll find everyday spells that can access the moon's power whenever you need its influence in your life. Moon Spells helps you step into your power and is the perfect guide for lunar rituals that heal, empower, and allow you to grow. The Pocket Spell Books series encompasses all your greatest desires and guides you through the spells, potions, rituals, and charms necessary to achieve your goals. These diminutive but powerful books each contain a carefully selected collection of useful spells for seasoned witches and new practitioners alike. Other books in the series include: Love Spells Protection Spells Candle Magic Pendulum Magic Angel Numbers

A beautiful oracle deck of 44 African goddesses, spirits, queens and ancestors from many powerful peoples - reaching from the continent of Africa and throughout the diaspora. Although African spirituality is vast, most practices share foundational beliefs including ancestral veneration, reverence for elders and community, respecting natural phenomenon and the power to transmute obstacles. This stunning card deck is faithful to sacred truths and secrets passed down through oral tradition and will support you as a tool for divination, healing, awakening and personal development. 'From the moment that I received the sacred assignment to birth this deck, these magical folks would not leave me alone. I come from generations of intuitives and healers, so divine channelling is not new to me. But these oracle keepers were persistent! They "dreamed me," pursued me and guided me through this co-creation.' - Abiola Abrams, from the guidebook

As the foremost researcher in the area of correlating mindset with a variety of organizational learning factors, having performed a survey validation study of the Mindset Works, Inc. What's My School Mindset? Survey and the Project for Educational Research That Scales (PERTS) academic mindset survey, the author has discovered links between the philosophical positions one holds and the theory of mind that describes what makes humans different from animals. This book proposes that the ability to recognize and respond to the differences between what we "see" and others "see" is the key reason for individuals, groups, and organizations to succeed or to fail. How we perceive differences and respond to them changes the way our brain develops and how our systems are designed. This book provides strategies for supporting continuous development and growth in individuals, in group dynamics, and in system/organizational development using the most current understanding and propositions of theories of mind. Our theories of physics are expanding through Newtonian, Classical, on to Quantum. Our technologies are expanding from simple tools, to industrialization, to digital information systems, and on to holographic imagery and virtual realities. Biological understandings have grown from magical beliefs about life, through static views of fixed DNA, to cloning, and the potential to regenerate organs and extend life. Our world is in need of an update on the social transformations occurring in human understanding that apply to addressing key issues of our day. This book revisits the concepts discussed in mindset theory and reframes it with a larger, more inclusive potential for understanding our world that empowers our ability for personal choice to improve our lives.

The Chakra Experience is a complete chakra workshop in one book. Interactive and practical, the step-by-step learning programme will guide you towards greater understanding and wisdom. - Exercises help you to tailor the book to your own specific needs - Journaling sections allow you to write your experiences directly into the book - Includes revision work and more advanced exercises With practical downloadable digital tracks featuring meditations and inspirational music to bring you into a receptive state for deeper work.

"I wrote these articles over a period of 12 months. Part of the motivation for writing them was that I found the act of writing helpful for my own spiritual life. Of course, writing and reading about what you should be doing is the easy part, actually living them and putting them into practise is the real test. Many of the quotes in this book are from my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy.As a student of Sri Chinmoy I have learnt a great deal about meditation and how to live a more peaceful life. Included are also a few stories by Sri Chinmoy on the theme of self-improvement, from his wonderful book, "The Mind-Jungles and The Heart-Gardens of Life." I hope you get some inspiration from this book and it might help you to make some practical changes which help make life less stressful and more peaceful. It certainly is possible."