Enlightenment at its core.
925905
This is a fantastic book about the sayings and life of Jesus, well studied and accurate - very enlightening. I really enjoyed it.
1250915
_An End To Suffering: The Buddha in the World_ by Pankaj Mishra is more than an introduction to Buddha's life and philosophy. I recommend this for its clear writing style (even though the narration was bit unorganized few times) and personal anecdotes on how he discovered and learned about Buddha. It was also interesting to read quotes from Nietzsche, Hume along with Marx, Vivekananda, Tagore, Gandhi in a book about the Shakyamuni.

The books is part autobiography, part travelogue. The main focus is how Mishra discovered Buddha and how Buddhism fits into the modern world. This is how he ends the book:

"I now saw him in my own world, amid its great violence and confusion, holding out the possibility of knowledge as well as

redemption -- the awareness, suddenly liberating, with which I finally began to write about the Buddha."

It was pretty clear from the beginning that he hadn't fully came to a conclusion about his feelings on Buddha. As a student he was heavily influenced by Western thinkers such as Nietzsche, Hume and Marx (I was unaware that Nietzsche was a admirer of Buddha) and his first discovery of Buddha was through Western writers (this was the case for me as well). He has an unresolved tension between his relationship between east and west. I can relate to his frustration: modern educated mind (doesn't matter where you are from) is constantly involved with defining the self. On the other hand:

"But the Buddha seems to have rejected more than the Upanishadic idea of an eternal self or soul. He rejected too the self residing in the mind that Descartes assumed when he declared that he was a 'a thing that thinks' -- a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is unwilling, and imagines and has sensory perceptions. According to Cartesian view, the self is a single unified substance with the capacity to experience, desire, think, imagine, decide and act. It does not change through time, and is ontologically distinct from other selves.

The Buddha seemed to reject this notion of the individual self as a distinct substance with identity. He said that it didn't

correspond to any reality observable within the mind and the body, and, furthermore, its awareness of itself as separate from the world and other selves was false and the source of craving, pride, selfishness, and delusion. (page 255) .....

Unlike Descarte, he presented the self as a process rather than as a substance, by claiming that what we call a 'being' or an 'individual' is only a physiopsychological machine in which mental and physical energies constantly combine and change".(page 256)

It was also insightful to read about how Buddha's thought differ from the Vedic philosophy. However, Mishra is mostly preoccupied with how Buddha fits within the Western philosophy:

"In a world increasingly defined by the conflict of individuals and societies aggressively seeking their separate interests, he revealed both individuals and societies as necessarily interdependent. He challenged the very basis of conventional human self-perceptions -- a stable, essential identity -- by demonstrating a plural, unstable human self -- one that suffered but also had the potential to end its suffering. An acute psychologist, he taught a radical suspicion of desire as well as of its sublimations -- the seductive concepts of ideology and history. He offered a moral and spiritual regimen that led to nothing less than a whole new way of looking at and experiencing the world." (page 404)
1423061
In its enigmatic 25 lines, the Heart Sutra is one of the most difficult of Buddhist Scriptures but also one of the most rewarding.  It is a basic text of Mahayana Buddhism and recited daily in monasteries and by practicing Buddhists throughout the world.

There are many commentaries, ancient and modern, on this text, but I found this recent book by the Dalai Lama, "Essence of the Heart Sutra" an outstanding place for the beginner to start.  The Dalai Lama's book also will reward study by those having great prior familarity with the text.  The book is based on a series of lectures that the Dalai Lama gave at the Land of Medicine Buddhist center in California and at the Three Rivers Dharma in Pittsburg.

This work is much more than a commentary on the Heart Sutra.  It is equally valuable as an introduction to Buddhism and as a compendium of the teachings of the Dalai Lama.  It is instructive to see how the Dalai Lama weaves his broad material together into a coherent whole. Thus, in the first part of the book, the Dalai Lama offers broad-based comments on the spiritual dimension of life, of the relationship between Buddhism and other religions, and of the fundamentals of Buddhist teachings.  It is inspiring to hear words of ecumenicism, tolerance, and willingness to learn from others.  It is also important to read the Dalai Lama's exposition of the basic Buddhist teaching of Dependent Origination, which is, in later sections of the book, tied masterfully to the interpretation of the Heart Sutra.

The second part of the book offers a translation and commentary on the Heart Sutra.  Consistent with his opening chapters, the Dalai Lama stresses the continuity between this Mahayana text and its earlier predecessors in Theravada Buddhism. (Many other commentaries emphasize how the Heart Sutra departs from and differs from its predecessors.)  In addition, in a few brief pages the Dalai Lama offers great insight into the fundamental teaching of emptiness --- that reality is "empty of intrinsic existence."  He points out clearly that the Sutra does not teach that nothing exists -- a nihilistic doctrine.  Instead, the Dalai Lama relates the teaching of the Sutra to the doctrine of Dependent Origination -- stressing the lack of independent existence, substantiality, and ego.  He discusses different ways in which various Buddhist schools interpret the doctrine of emptiness -- including the "mind-only" school and two variants of the "middle-way" school.  This material is difficult but important and not stressed in various other commentaries that I have read.

The final part of the Dalai' Lama's study discusses the Bodhisattva path of Mahayana Buddhism -- the decision to dedicate oneself to the welfare of others -- and relates it to the text of the Heart Sutra.  There are teachings and practices here on learning to practice lovingkindness, also set forth in other writings of the Dalai Lama, but informed here by the discussion of emptiness and nonclinging in the Heart Sutra.  This discussion, and the short epilogue, tie together the ecumenical material in the book with the elucidation and analysis of the Heart Sutra.

This book presents difficult, profound teachings in an accessible readable way.  It is ideal for the beginning student or for those who want to explore the Heart Sutra to see what it might offer.  It also presents an exposition of this text by the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.  For those who want to read further and compare and contrast other approaches to this inexhaustible text, I recommend Red Pine's study "The Heart Sutra" and Donald Lopez' "Elaborations of Emptiness", a detailed and difficult analysis of the Heart Sutra in light of its earliest Indian and Tibetan commentaries.

Robin Friedman
370463
If you want a vision of enlightenment, but more importantly, how enlightenment can be practically lived in daily life, you will enjoy the knowledge of growing enlightenment in this book from many different perspectives--the musician's, artist's, religious scholar's, the scientist's, and even the perspective from inside a prison. This book sings a pure symphony of silence, which is your own true Self!
3213513
Being less structured than the Dhammapada or the Bagavahad-Gita makes the Upanishads something you can delve into a bit like the Tao Te Ching. There a pearls scattered here that are both affecting as you read them, but further on reflection and meditation. And Easwaran's notes are simple and profound. Splendid
2608837
This is a philosophy book in which Hilgendorf, who previously authored Life & Death:  A Buddhist Perspective, weaves in own Eastern views with Western thought. He calls upon many well-known names, including Jesus, Tolstoy, Goethe, Gandhi, Eisenhower, Thoreau, Daisaku Ikeda, Walt Whitman, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Karl Jaspers, to name just a few, to support his views.

  Hilgendorf begins by discussing the unseen currents affecting us. While most people sense the chaos, he sees new roots, new sprouts, new leaves, an emerging spirit blossoming forth.  He tells us of his own personal struggles and how he found new meaning and new beginnings in life.  "During those early days of practice of Buddhism, it was, above all else, a sense of connecting my life to a life greater than my own that kept me practicing," he explains. "I was moving to a new rhythm - the rhythm of the vast universe itself.  I was awakening to the greater self within."

  The basic problem, as the author sees it, is one of identity. We do not know who we truly are.  We thus identify with religion and nationality, thereby creating an identity that divides us and results in hatred and war. We hunger for a sense of purpose.  We strive to gather more material goods, but there is never enough.

  "What is needed," Hilgendorf says, "is a human revolution, a raising in consciousness and state of life, and this can only come about in the spiritual realm. Mankind needs to open its eyes and heart.  This is the true function of religion; and it will be the function of the new religion ushering in the coming new civilization."

  He sees Nichiren Buddhism as the emerging global religion, one that offers solutions to the most difficult problems of our times. "It is a religion offering solutions to the age-old sufferings of birth, sickness, old age, and even death," Hilgendorf stresses.  It's a practice accessible to everyone and can begin with simple chanting.  By chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, he tells us, our mind and life gradually expand from the small, self-centered ego to the larger ego, embracing all of life.

  As with his earlier book, Hilgendorf offers much food for thought.  The crux of the book, as I see it, is that Eastern practices and Western ideals can be reconciled and result in a better world.
305173
The Shambhala Principle teaches that the world is basically good.  For anyone who wants to improve society, for anyone who wants to know the nature of ourselves, the world, and society, one of the basic things we ought to understand is that everything is basically good.  Enlightenment and enlightened society starts with this.  Sakyong Mipham is a master teacher.  His words and ideas are eloquent and profound.  Read this if you want to discover what humanity really is.
68350
I very much enjoyed this. Life really is simple. Enlightenment is simple, too. "Before enlightenment, sweep floor, carry water, chop wood. After enlightenment, sweep floor, carry water, chop wood." -Zen quote. Carry on...
1548997
I liked everything about this book. The message feels complete by the end of the story. Although it communicates this part of the philosophy well, it is just a part of it, explained in a very understandable way if you are somewhat familiar with Buddhism.
2738734
When I opened Living Fully I was expecting another Buddhism for the masses sort of thing. I've known of Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche for some time, but had read only a couple of excerpts from his writings. Having become accustomed to the seemingly compulsive efforts of a variety of commentators to, in the words of Mark Twain, "Shed darkness upon this subject," I expected another instance of what I've sometimes referred to as Buddhism lite.

Let me hasten to add that I find nothing wrong with popular writing about Buddhism and dharma. We all had to start someplace on the path, and these steppingstones are only slippery when the reader decides she knows enough to go out and practice without finding a teacher. While it is true that anyone can find enlightenment in an instant, it is also true that the more one practices mindfully, the more likely it is that the instant will come to pass. Unhappily, I have read the work of many teachers who fail to emphasize the essential nature of a teacher-student relationship, and I don't think those worthies are imparting all that a seeker needs to know.

In any case, Living Fully is not that kind of book. I was slightly put off by the imperative style, until I realized that this is essentially a book of short dharma talks. If I were fortunate enough to embark on a prolonged retreat, I would certainly take this collection with me. The individual chapters, comprising a couple of pages each, would make perfect reading before meditation sessions.

Nor is it a book for beginners. Rinpoche's writings, while not at all inaccessible, lend themselves more to contemplation by those with some understanding of basics, such as the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Precepts, than to folks just approaching the subject. Had I run across this book fifteen years ago, I would have thought it pretty impenetrable. As it is, I look forward to again mining it for such gems as these:

  "When we finally achieve the things we desire, we fear losing them, and this triggers constant anxiety. There is a feeling of sadness and frustration born of out inability to make the world conform to our hopes and expectations."

That is as clear an explanation of a major aspect of dukkha as I ever expect to read, and worth of twenty minutes contemplation all by itself. And again...

  "It is senseless to continue chasing after the things that have failed us in the past...."

and

  "The best approach is to focus on your own faults. When you condemn others for their shortcomings, think, 'This must be my fault. I am causing suffering for myself by being judgmental. I am rejecting what I don't like, and accepting what I like. I will become bound in an endless cycle of accepting and rejecting.'"

I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a basic understanding of Buddhist thought. For beginners, however, the writings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Venerable Thich Nhat Hahn, or some of the popular teachers such as Joko Beck and Chuck Hagen might be a better place to start. Finally, however, I have to say that Living Fully is a must for those serious about expanding their practice.

Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, Living Fully - Finding Joy In Every Breath, New World Library, Novato, California, 2012.
4456591
I cant say that Ive ever considered myself a progressive Christian, in fact I cant even say that I had heard of the term. But perhaps that doesnt matter. In fact perhaps labels themselves don't help and don't matter after all.
Could it even be that faith, at its best and fullest, is more a case of believing that God is up to something in this world (Living the Questions, page 59) and less about people believing in extraordinary things than it is about living in renewed restorative relationships not only with the divine, but with those others (especially those distinctly other) we share, and sometimes discover, our lifes journey and personal destiny.
The biggest obstacle to this kind of faith is certainty  the certainty based more on presumption than knowledge, on arrogance more than humility, and, perhaps above, adherence to creed over compassion and experience. Certainty is where faith stops and persecution and barren legalism begin.
Living faith is, by definition, unfinished. Living faith is restorative, welcoming and ever-growing.
But what of the most elemental theistic belief of all  Gods omnipotence?
If God is all-powerful, should He be held responsible for all natural (and personal) catastrophes? Are divine intentions behind disasters?
Few people of faith really believe this, but too many of us have absorbed the certainty of belief without the wisdom and depth that any real faith is based on.
But real faith is the opposite of certainty, it is a journey into the unknowable, the mystery of our origins and our eternal destinies. Real faith is inherently, immediately, and personally transformative.
But most of us fear few things more than transformation, in fact we are inclined to mistake homogeneity for holiness, (page 160) and conformity for Christianity.
But mystery is all we have, and know, for sure. And our encounters with truth and reality beyond our reach or definition are what makes our faith both real and an honest reflection of our Creator.
Creation stands as the literal expression of the ultimate Creator. And when we see this fully, we also know that there is only an arbitrary, human distinction between the sacred and the spiritual, the spiritual and the material.
This book closes with a quote from Albert Einstein. And if this is progressive Christianity, sign me up.
The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical.  It is the sower of all true science.  He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.
2924352
If you ever wanted a guide to enlightenment, this is it!  Adyashanti does it all!  I recommend reading all of it, including the editor's interview of Adyashanti at the back.
4239363
Just as the river's message to Siddhartha, the depth of insights within the pages of this Indian tale can not be articulated. If one considers this book a "quick read", I might suggest a second reading (and a third). The pages are layered with themes, symbols, and lessons. The tale is a quest for enlightenment. The protaganist's experiences involve love, desire, polarity, time, status, rebirth, freedom, limitations, knowledge, wisdom, values, truth's, and  place (just to name a few). The TOTALITY of all experiences is essentially what aides Siddhartha in finding the path towards UNITY. The river holds many lessons, but these lessons could not have been known without previous life experiences and resulting emotions (sometimes extreme). It is only when Siddhartha understands the river's nature of co-existence and polarity does Siddartha reach Om...

Ultimately, this book is not about one thing VERSUS another. It is about the co-existence of polarity for Unity.
506417
A direct road to realization of one's mind is to understand, deeply, the nature of impermanence and time.

This is a remarkable teaching. Get comfortable, RELAX and bring all of yourself into reading each chapter sequentially, carefully and over a period of time. Then come back to the book at the beginning and read it again the same way. It is just possible you may begin to understand the feeling of profound truth and sense of freedom it brings.

A reviewer in this section states that the book will always be by his side; mine too.
4459236
"The Power Of Now - A guide to spiritual enlightenment" is one of the most enlightening books, to hit the bookstores.

What is enlightenment? According to Buddha, "the end of suffering". This, I believe, is what we have been trying to achieve in our lives. This book provides the answers that the goal of "no more suffering" and hence achieve a better life, is possible through the practice of enlightenment through meditation.

Eckhart Tolle's book shows us the way. The book is written in a simple question/answer format that is easily understood. For Example,  in chapter 1 "Enlightenment? What is that?" To answer that Eckhart Tolle relates the story of a begger. I quote," Elightenment? What is that?:

"A begger had been sitting by the side of the road for over thirty years. One day, a stranger walked by. 'Spare some change? mumbled the begger, mechanically holding out his old base-ball cap. 'I have nothing to give you, ' said the stranger. Then he asked,'What's that you're sitting on?' Nothing, replied the begger. 'Just an old box'. I have been sitting on it as long as I can remember. 'Ever looked inside?, asked the stranger. 'What's the point?. There's nothing in there'. 'Have a look inside,' insisted the stranger. The begger managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself".

Be empowered, read "The Power Of Now" NOW, the #1 New York Times Bestseller.

Colin Choo (http://choostore.weebly.com)
3488050
I suppose I should start by noting that the author was my teacher during my brief career as a samanera (novice monk) in Sri Lanka, and on account of this fact I think I'm well placed to remark on his credentials.  They are, in brief, impeccable.  The Venerable Author is not only an amazingly erudite man (the consensus among his students was he probably spoke Pali in his sleep) but, I would wager, enlightened to some degree as well.  (Monks, of course, don't generally talk much about what they've attained except with their teachers, though this thought, too, was general consensus among his students.  What he knew seemed to go well beyond the stuff of books.)

This little tome, which stands as a good introduction to the author's thinking, may be short on pages but is long-and weighty-as regards content.  While the work is ostensibly an exposition of an obscure and dense little sutta, that sutta is used as a lens with which to peer into the heart of the Buddha's teaching.  And the author's razor-sharp eyes see far indeed.

Ven. nananda starts off with a wonderful and illustrative story of a magic show, wherein two friends see the same show but come away feeling very differently about it.  For one has been taken in and tricked by the magician's sleight-of-hand while the other has not-he watched the show from backstage, and saw exactly how the"magic" worked.  The response of the first is naive infatuation and excitement, while that of the second disinterest and detachment.  These two responses correspond quite nicely with the response of the worlding (putthujjana) and the noble disciple (arya) who has escaped the world's fetters.  The remainder of the book elaborates this basic dichotomy between ignorance and knowledge as it applies to the Buddha's teaching.

In the course of the work many of the author's favorite topics are touched on: the meaning of dependent arising, the "vortical interplay" of consciousness and its object (name-and-form), the self as a "point-of-view," the beguiling nature of concepts and the ideologies we construct from them, and, finally, an exploration of the consciousness of the liberated person, the arhant.  For those of you who have read, or will read, the author's earlier and more substantive work, Concept and Reality, this topical list should appear familiar, for he returns to many of the same themes there.  Clearly, these are critical concepts in the Buddha's teaching, and Ven. nananda discusses them with a degree of insight you rarely encounter in popular dharma books.  It is not often either that today's popular pundits have anything near the wealth of scriptural knowledge this author brings to bear; he knows the illustrative passages and discusses them in a way that illuminates and places them in context.  The Buddha's teaching, it seems, is far more than the typical lists you see repeated verbatim now here, now there: three marks, four noble truths, five khandhas, six sense bases, seven factors of enlightenment, eightfold path, etc.  In this little book you get a taste of the meaty substance of the Dhamma, and a glimpse the genius of the Buddha.
1163668
When one is raised in the western world it is common to have a built-in skepticism toward any form of ancient wisdom that finds itself at odds with the scientific or academic status quo. Even those who have embraced spiritual concepts are likely to harbor a deep-rooted resistance to mystical teachings that were erroneously dismissed and ridiculed by misguided figures of authority long ago based upon scientific assumptions which are continuously in play.

As we travel along the very interesting path of awakening experienced by Rizwan Virk in Zen Entrepreneurship, we witness the gradual breaking down of his resistance to the laws of the universe and are warmly invited to re-examine the understandable yet potentially disastrous prejudices imposed upon us by our societal conditioning. These laws, which are only perceived and understood as we expand our consciousness into the realm of hidden worlds are found at the heart of all major religions yet are most accurately preserved by isolated indigenous traditions.

One of the things that makes this book so powerful is that instead of demonizing our desire to master the material world, it helps us to understand the importance of balancing that desire with a much higher aim, that of the "career warrior." It teaches us that to truly embrace the path of the career warrior we must learn to fuse together our best intentions and highest selves with our worldly ambitions. In this respect Rizwan is humbly inviting us to cast aside doubt in order to reconcile our social conditioning with life's deeper truths. Truths that can only be discovered by becoming highly self-aware. Only by observing ourselves and others with a combination of brutal honestly and loving acceptance, the book seems to contend, can we ever hope to access the deepest kind of success, the kind that money cannot buy.

The book gently and masterfully introduces us to nothing less than the underlying nature of existence and implores us to place our desire for material freedom at the service of our elevated impulse to contribute to the welfare of all. Zen Entrepreneurship ambitiously calls for an end to the long epoch of animosity and compartmentalization between our materialistic and religious impulses so that we might start to reach our highest potential, as entrepreneurs and as a species.