In this society, with its hurly-burly pace demanding of our time, it is ever so easy to let life slip by. Looking back after ten, twenty, thirty, years--we wonder what we have really accomplished. The process of simply existing is not necessarily meaningful. And yet there is an unlimited potential for meaning and value in this human existence. The Seven-Point Mind Training is one eminently practical way of tapping into that meaning. At the heart of the Seven-Point Mind Training lies the transformation of the circumstances that life brings us, however hard as the raw material from which we create our own spiritual path. The central theme of the Seven-Point Mind Training is to make the liberating passage from the constricting solitude of self-centeredness to the warm kinship with others which occurs with the cultivation of cherishing others. This Mind Training is especially well-suited for an active life. It helps us to reexamine our relationships--to family, friends, enemies, and strangers--and gradually transform our responses to whatever life throws our way.

This book includes seven authentic Tibetan yoga texts that were first published in English in 1935. A companion to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is illustrated with photographs, yoga paintings and manuscripts, and contains some of the principal meditations used by Hindu and Tibetan gurus and philosophers in attaining Right knowledge and enlightenment. Special commentaries precede each translated text and a preface contrasts Buddhism with European concepts of religion, philosophy and science. For this new reissue, Donald S Lopez Jr writes a critical foreword, to update and contextualize the work as historical artifact contributing to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to the West.

This volume contains teachings from gurus of Tibet and India that were unkown to the Western world until its first publication in 1954. The book interprets the quintessence of the Supreme Path, the Mahayana, and reveals the yogic method of attaining Enlightenment. The original text of this yoga belongs to the Bardo Thodol series of treatises concerning various methods of attaining transcendence. The whole series is part of the Tantric school of Mahayana, and this particular work is attributed to the legendary Padmasambhava. An account of the great guru's life and doctrines precedes the text itself. Carl Jung's psychological commentary discusses the differences in Eastern and Western modes of thought. For the new reissue, Donald S. Lopez Jr writes a critical foreword to update and contextualize Evans-Wentz's work as an historical artefact contributing to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

This book is a translation of the first part of Jigme Lingpa's Treasury of Precious Qualities, which in a slender volume of elegant verses sets out briefly but comprehensively the Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. The concision of the root text and its use of elaborate poetic language, rich in metaphor, require extensive explanation, amply supplied here by the commentary of Kangyur Rinpoche.
The present volume lays out the teachings of the sutras in gradual stages according to the traditional three levels, or scopes, of spiritual endeavor. It begins with essential teachings on impermanence, karma, and ethics. Then, from the Hinayana standpoint, it describes the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths and the twelve links of dependent arising. Moving on, finally, to the Mahayana perspective, it expounds fully the teachings on bodhichitta and the path of the six paramitas, and gives an unusually detailed exposition of Buddhist vows.
The paperback edition includes Jigme Lingpa's root text in verse, which was not included in the hardcover edition.

They may shave their heads, don simple robes, and renounce materialism and worldly desires. But the women seeking enlightenment in a Buddhist nunnery high in the folds of Himalayan Kashmir invariably find themselves subject to the tyrannies of subsistence, subordination, and sexuality. Ultimately, Buddhist monasticism reflects the very world it is supposed to renounce. Butter and barley prove to be as critical to monastic life as merit and meditation. Kim Gutschow lived for more than three years among these women, collecting their stories, observing their ways, studying their lives. Her book offers the first ethnography of Tibetan Buddhist society from the perspective of its nuns.

Gutschow depicts a gender hierarchy where nuns serve and monks direct, where monks bless the fields and kitchens while nuns toil in them. Monasteries may retain historical endowments and significant political and social power, yet global flows of capitalism, tourism, and feminism have begun to erode the balance of power between monks and nuns. Despite the obstacles of being considered impure and inferior, nuns engage in everyday forms of resistance to pursue their ascetic and personal goals.

A richly textured picture of the little known culture of a Buddhist nunnery, the book offers moving narratives of nuns struggling with the Buddhist discipline of detachment. Its analysis of the way in which gender and sexuality construct ritual and social power provides valuable insight into the relationship between women and religion in South Asia today.

We all face death, but how many of us are actually ready for it? Whether our own death or that of a loved one comes first, how prepared are we, spiritually or practically? Here, Andrew Holecek presents a wide array of resources to help the reader address this unfinished business.

In "The Crystal and the Way of Light," Chogyal Namkhai Norbu examines the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. He discusses the base path and fruit of Dzogchen practice, and describes his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of direct introduction to Dzogchen. By interweaving his life story with the teachings, he both sets Dzogchen in its traditional context and reveals its powerful contemporary relevance. The book is richly illustrated with photos of Buddhist masters, meditational deities, and Dzogchen symbols.

In this classic scripture of Tibetan Buddhism--traditionally read aloud to the dying to help them attain liberation--death and rebirth are seen as a process that provides an opportunity to recognize the true nature of mind. This translation of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead " emphasizes the practical advice that the book offers to the living. The insightful commentary by Chogyam Trungpa, written in clear, concise language, explains what the text teaches us about human psychology. This book will be of interest to people concerned with death and dying, as well as those who seek greater spiritual understanding in everyday life.

As a companion volume to the author's Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa from 1996, this book contains translations of six classical Indian and Tibetan texts, his disciple Pandita Naropa, Lama Jey Tsongkhapa, Gyalwa Wensapa, the First Panchen Lama, and Jey Sherab Gyatso. The texts describe the roots and approach to the method of achieving enlightenme

Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world, and in their wake have left an uneasy coexistence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical inquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality?
After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientific minds, as well as a lifetime of meditative, spiritual, and philosophic study, the Dalai Lama presents a brilliant analysis of why all avenues of inquiry--scientific as well as spiritual--must be pursued in order to arrive at a complete picture of the truth. Through an examination of Darwinism and karma, quantum mechanics and philosophical insight into the nature of reality, neurobiology and the study of consciousness, the Dalai Lama draws significant parallels between contemplative and scientific examinations of reality.
This breathtakingly personal examination is a tribute to the Dalai Lama's teachers--both of science and spirituality. The legacy of this book is a vision of the world in which our different approaches to understanding ourselves, our universe, and one another can be brought together in the service of humanity.

The "Tibetan Book of the Dead, a best-seller for three decades, is one of the most widely read texts of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the years, it has been studied and cherished by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. "Luminous Emptiness is a detailed guide to this classic work, elucidating its mysterious concepts, terms, and imagery. Fremantle relates the symbolic world of the "Tibetan Book of the Dead to the experiences of everyday life, presenting the text not as a scripture for the dying, but as a guide for the living.
According to the Buddhist view, nothing is permanent or fixed. The entire world of our experience is constantly appearing and disappearing at every moment. Using vivid and dramatic imagery, the "Tibetan Book of the Dead presents the notion that most of us are living in a dream that will continue from lifetime to lifetime until we truly awaken by becoming enlightened. Here, Fremantle, who worked closely with Chogyam Trungpa on the 1975 translation of the "Tibetan Book of the Dead (Shambhala), brings the expertise of a lifetime of study to rendering this intriguing classic more accessible and meaningful to the living.
"Luminous Emptiness features in-depth explanations of:
-The Tibetan Buddhist notions of death and rebirth
-The meaning of the five energies and the five elements in Tibetan Buddhism
-The mental and physical experience of dying, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition

As people increasingly seek alternatives to modern medicine, interest is growing in the ancient system of Tibetan medicine, which has been practised for over 2,500 years. Known as 'gSo-ba-Rig-pa', or 'the science of healing', it is based on Buddhist philosophical principles, astrology and the close relationship between body and mind. This concise introduction presents all the essential information on Tibetan medicine. It covers the basic theoretical principles, practice and history of this traditional system, as well as methods of diagnosis and treatments such as urine analysis, golden needle therapy and cupping. It includes a chapter on case histories and provides information on what to expect from a practising physician based on compassion. With a comprehensive resources section, this book provides everything there is to know about Tibetan medicine at an introductory level. This book will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about Tibetan medicine, as well as anyone looking to find out more about Tibetan thought, Tibetan Buddhism, traditional medicine, comparative religion or Eastern spirituality.