Kathleen McDonald introduces two powerful methods for awakening the kind heart in us all. The first is the practice of the four immeasurable thoughts - love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. The second method is thought transformation, a beautiful practice based on a short, eight-verse text that is an exemplary guide to living compassionately.

Inspiration and encouragement for cultivating kindness—by embracing the joy, suffering, confusion, and brilliance of our everyday lives—from the author of When Things Fall Apart Do you want to be a more compassionate person, confident and unafraid to love yourself and the world around you unconditionally, but aren’t sure how? We often look far and wide for guidance to become better people, as though the answers were somewhere out there. But Pema Chödrön suggests that the best and most direct teacher for awakening loving-kindness is in fact your very own life. Based on talks given during a one-month meditation retreat at Gampo Abbey, where Pema lives and teaches, her teachings here focus on learning how to see the events of our lives as the perfect material for learning to love ourselves and our world playfully and wholeheartedly—and to live in our skin fearlessly, without aggression, harshness, or shame. This is instruction for embarking on the greatest adventure of all, to come alive to your inherent human kindness. “Perhaps what makes Pema's message resonate so strongly with people, no matter what their religion or spiritual path, is its universality.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, p, e, i, s, t.

The revered Buddhist teacher and author of When Things Fall Apart presents the lojong teachings—pithy slogans for daily contemplation—and the ways in which they can enrich our lives Welcome compassion and fearlessness as your guide, and you’ll live wisely and effectively in good times and bad. But that’s easier said than done. In The Compassion Book, Pema Chödrön introduces a powerful, transformative method to nurture these qualities using a practice called lojong, which has been a primary focus of her teachings and personal practice for many years. For centuries, Tibetan Buddhists have relied on these teachings to awaken the deep goodness that lies within us. The lojong teachings include fifty-nine pithy slogans for daily contemplation, such as “Always maintain only a joyful mind,” “Don’t be swayed by external circumstances,” “Don’t try to be the fastest,” and “Be grateful to everyone.” This book presents each of these slogans and includes Pema’s clear, succinct guidance on how to understand them—and how they can enrich our lives. It also features a forty-five-minute downloadable audio program entitled “Opening the Heart,” in which Pema offers in-depth instruction on tonglen meditation, a powerful practice that anyone can undertake to awaken compassion for oneself and others.

A comprehensive, single-volume collection of the Buddha’s key sutras, translated with contemporary commentary by an internationally known Zen master An essential companion to Thich Nhat Hanh’s bestselling collection of meditation and mindfulness practices, Happiness, this book captures the heart of Buddhist wisdom and Thich Nhat Hanh’s unique talent to make the Buddha’s teachings accessible and applicable to our daily lives and times. This is a wonderful gift for anyone looking to deepen their practice and understanding of the teachings, as well as a unique resource to understand the fundamentals of Buddhism from its source. With a new introduction and updated commentary, Awakening of the Heart contains the following sutras: • Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra • Diamond Sutra • Sutra on Full Awareness of Breathing • Sutra on The Four Establishments of Mindfulness • Sutra on The Better Way to Catch A Snake • Sutra on The Better Way to Live Alone • Sutra on The Eight Realizations of The Great Beings • Discourse on Happiness • Teachings on the Middle Way

Can a meditative practice assist and promote the healing relationship between psychotherapist and patient? The notable contributors to this practical book draw on a wide range of Eastern and Western disciplines—psychoanalysis, Gestalt, Aikido, and various Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist contemplative traditions—to show that it can. What they propose is a meeting between the Western psychotherapeutic approach—grounded in working with the personal problems and the need to carve out a strong awareness of self—and Eastern tradition, which emphasizes a larger kind of awareness and equanimity as a continuously available source of clarity and health for those who know how to find it. They show that joining psychotherapy with meditation can mutually awaken the hearts of both therapist and client, sparking them both to open more fully. Jacob Needleman, Erich Fromm, Robin Skynner, Ram Dass, Karl Sperber, Roger Walsh, Chögyam Trungpa, and Thomas Hora are among the contributors.

Addressing daily concerns, Betty J. Eadie gives readers the keys to an elemental, healing life force. She examines the course of her life source, and reveals the profound power that unites us all.

The renowned Zen master and peace activist introduces a Buddhist approach to practicing authentic love in our everyday lives In this eye-opening guide, Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh offers timeless insight into the nature of real love. With simplicity, warmth, and directness, he explores the four key aspects of love as described in the Buddhist tradition: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and freedom—explaining how to experience them in our day-to-day lives. He also emphasizes that in order to love in a real way, we must first learn how to be fully present in our lives, and he offers simple techniques from the Buddhist tradition that anyone can use to establish the conditions of love. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, is an internationally known author, poet, scholar, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.

Learn how to nurture and cultivate kindness, compassion, and love in ourselves and others in this “very joyous and deeply spiritual” (Betty Williams, Noble Peace Laureate) guidebook from the “dedicated student of the Dalai Lama” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu), Tibetan freedom fighter, and Grammy-nominated musician. In Nawang Khechog’s view, one of the wonders of being human is that we can choose to nurture and cultivate kindness, compassion, and love. These precious values are the foundation of true happiness and are at the core of humanity’s possibility of peaceful coexistence with one another and with our environment. Based on his years as a monk studying Buddhist philosophy and meditation with the Dalai Lama, as well as his own highly regarded kindness workshops, Awakening Kindness details the many ways we can enrich our lives by simply being kind to each other and ourselves. Nawang shares a range of simple meditations, mantras, and practices that are easy to incorporate even into the busiest of lives. Covering the underlying philosophies of many cultures and religions, and touching on everything from human nature as it’s portrayed in film to scientific support of our limitless capacity for love and compassion, Awakening Kindness takes you on a life-changing journey that shows that we all can take part in creating a culture of kindness. “Anyone who picks up this book and is receptive to its message will immediately enjoy the many benefits of living in this simple and sacred way” (Richard J. Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Review exceeded maximum size for TIPS PLUS full text. Please refer to journal issue for this title.--BL 09/01/1995.