Zen in the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel

Zen in the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel
So many books have been written about the meditation side of Zen and the everyday, chop wood/carry water side of Zen. But few books have approached Zen the way that most Japanese actually do--through ritualized arts of discipline and beauty--and perhaps that is why Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery is still popular so long after it first publication in 1953. Herrigel, a philosophy professor, spent six years studying archery and flower-arranging in Japan, practicing every day, and struggling with foreign notions such as "eyes that hear and ears that see." In a short, pithy narrative, he brings the heart of Zen to perfect clarity--intuition, imitation, practice, practice, practice, then, boom, wondrous spontaneity fusing self and art, mind, body, and spirit. Herrigel writes with an attention to subtle profundity and relates it with a simple artistry that itself carries the signature of Zen.
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The Razor's Edge (1946)

Sometimes on a lazy Sunday you just need a good old film to sit down with.

"The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard." —Katha-Upanishad

The Razor's Edge (1946)
Well-to-do Chicagoan, Larry Darrell, breaks off his engagement to Isabel and travels the world seeking enlightenment, eventually finding his guru India. Isabel marries Gray, and following the crash of 1929, is invited to live in Paris with her rich, social climbing, Uncle Elliot. During a sojurn there, Larry, having attained his goal, is reunited with Isabel. While slumming one night Larry, Isabel and company are shocked to discover Sophie, a friend from Chicago. Having lost her husband and child in a tragic accident, Sophie is living the low-life with the help of drugs an abusive brute. Larry tries to rehabilitate her, but his efforts are sabotaged by Isabel who has tried in vain to reignite Larry's interest in her.

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Eight Lamas From Drepung Tibetan Sacred Temple Music

My thanks to Kalojan for pointing this out.

Eight Lamas From Drepung Tibetan Sacred Temple Music
Tibetan chordal/microtonal singing is an incredibly cosmic event one has to experience because it goes beyond mere description and ratings. The musical tones generated from deep within these maestros is mystical and quite healing on a cellular level, which is just one of the reasons creative and healing persons have been utilizing tibetan sounds for some time now. the sounds on this disc go directly to one's energy centers and penetrate the molecular core of one's etheric vehicle. there have been reports of astral travel using these sound meditations and the "vocals" intoned here are as powerful and transcendent as any i've heard in my large collection of tibetan music. highly recommended for healing, transcendence, acceptance and a deep experience of inner joy and peace.

http://rapidshare.com/files/120767005/Drepung.rar

A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry

A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry
This anthology gathers over 1500 years if Chinese Zen (Ch'an) poetry, from the earliest writing -- including the Hsin Hsin Ming written by the Third Patriarch -- to the poetry of monks living in this century. Drawn together by the Zen thread, this ragged line of poet-hermits forms a profound lineage for many contemporary poets.
http://www.mininova.org/tor/470000

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/31/2008

Once in awhile it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.

~Alan Keightley

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Between Two Worlds: A Japanese Pilgrimage

Between Two Worlds: A Japanese Pilgrimage
For centuries, pilgrims have come to the Japanese island of Shikoku to trace the 1,000-mile route known as the "Pilgrimage to the 88 Sacred Places of Shikoku," a journey believed to have been first undertaken by Kobo Daishi, founder of Buddhism's Shingon sect in the ninth century.

This illuminating documentary is a visual meditation on the phenomenon of pilgrimage and, to a lesser extent, on the processes of ethnographic filmmaking. It combines images of traditional and modern Japan, excerpts from the writings of Kobo Daishi, and commentary by pilgrims, everyday Japanese, and the filmmakers themselves to explore the meaning and persistence of "pilgrimage" in contemporary industrial Japan.

By examining the effects that rapid change has had on this ritual journey, the film asks: Why do people still undertake pilgrimages to "sacred" places? This thought-provoking documentary will generate discussion in courses in Asian studies, Japanese studies, cultural anthropology, Buddhism, and comparative religion. It was produced by Joanne Hershfield and Susan Caperna Lloyd.

Youtube

I'm Back...

... and taking this weekend to get reoriented. The Laguna cottage is just barely livable. We came down here yesterday, after a night in Los Angeles, to find it--who'd have guessed?--less far along than we had hoped. We created a small space for ourselves in the living room...


... surrounded by stacked furniture and boxes.


Of course, we can't remember exactly what we put in which boxes, and the scrawled notes on the side--"Kitchen," say--don't help us to locate the box where we keep the tea bags. It's trial and error--and mostly the latter. The kitchen is nowhere near completion, as you can see...




... but we have a tiny fridge in what was once the dining room...



... and have hooked up the microwave. No stove, no tea kettle. In a few minutes, I'll be trying to make a decent cup of tea in the microwave--a new adventure.

Meantime, more serious and much more distressing, Ellie's injured ribs have started to cause her terrible pain. Her work yesterday at the cottage to make it slightly habitable--lifting and moving things--may have contributed, but the pain last night was such that I had to help her into bed. This morning, then, when she wakes, it's a trip to Kaiser for x-rays and examination. We did manage to sleep some during the night, having cleared a space for ourselves on the bed--it was piled high with clothes and linens, and covered with a plastic sheet to protect it from the dust--and rigged up a temporary bedside electrical supply with the aid of industrial sized extension cords left by the contractor.

In a word, all is not yet right on the home front in Laguna. Today, Saturday, after that Kaiser visit, we will likely return to Los Angeles and leave the cottage to the contractor for the next couple of weeks. The Buddhist teaching, of course, is the practice of equanimity--and for Ellie, the difficult art of non-attachment to the physical sensation. Much harder for her than for me, when the pain is so intense. It's annoyingly easy for me to exhort her to breathe and focus the attention elsewhere. And next to impossible for her.

I'll probably be slow in getting back to The Buddha Diaries, given all this distraction. A big thank you to those who joined me on Travels With George. I hope you enjoyed the trip. I'm planning to tidy up that site and beef it up a bit with more recollections and reflections, with a thought to publishing it in book form, if I can ferret out a more coherent "story" and its meaning. Apologies for not having responded to comments, and for not having visited other sites this past month. As I've said before, I do very much appreciate this community of bloggers, and look forward to getting back in touch. I personally have some thoughts about politics...

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/30/2008

Even when all the experts agree, they may well be mistaken.

~Bertrand Russell

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Natural Perfection - Lama Surya Das

Natural Perfection: Teachings, Meditations and Chants in the Dzogchen Tradition of Tibet - Lama Surya Das
Lama Surya Das introduces listeners to Tibet's most closely guarded enlightenment tradition - dzogchen, "The Natural Great Perfection." The Buddhist masters of Tibet believed that dzogchen was destined to become the single most powerful spiritual vehicle in the West. Why? "Because dzogchen takes the struggle out of meditation," he explains.
Surya Das guides you through each step of dzogchen practice, where you learn rigpa "natural awareness" practice; sky-gazing meditations; prayers and chants to open your heart and mind; and more.

http://www.fulldls.com/torrent-ebooks-342915.html

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/29/2008

Let me listen to me and not to them.

~Gertrude Stein

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Tony Scott - Music For Yoga Meditation and Other Joys Vol 1 and 2

Tony Scott - Music For Yoga Meditation and Other Joys Vol 1 and 2

You would expect 1968's Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys to have come out on an obscure San Francisco label run out of the back room of a natural foods store and feature amateurish players no one had ever heard of before or since. Yet, this duet album between clarinetist Tony Scott - a former hard bop player in the '50s who had become drawn into world music and a style that can only be called proto - ambient - and sitar player Collin Walcott is actually not just a lifestyle curio, but a musically interesting lifestyle curio. Strip away the Age of Aquarius trappings and Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys is not dissimilar to what Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders would get up to over the next decade:long, flowing melodies and one-chord drones colored by elements of Indian classical music and other world music influences. The nine tracks explore a surprising variety of moods and tonalities given the self-limiting instrument lineup, and though this is too twee and hippie-ish to be called jazz, ambient and space rock fans will be fascinated by it.

Volume 1:Yoga Meditation Rapidshare

Volume 2: Zen Meditation Rapidshare

Tibet Traditions Rituelles Des Bonpos

Tibet Traditions Rituelles Des Bonpos
Recorded at Menri Monastary in 1981 and 1983. Includes: Chant dedicated to the protective divinity, Propitiation ceremony for Nag-chig, Tea offering, and Drum-beating in praise of Shenrab.

Yungdrung Bön, meaning ‘Eternal Light’ or ‘Enlightened Teaching’, is the original and authentic spiritual tradition of Tibet. It is based on the principle of practising unconditional love and compassion towards all and is Thegpa Chenpo or Mahayana in its approach. Many of the teachings are similar to those found in the four principal schools of Buddhism, especially the Nyingma-pa school, and are aimed at enabling all to access Enlightenment and freedom from the shackles of Samsara. The most obvious points of differentiation between the schools would appear to be in their points of origination, the number of refuge objects and in the nomenclature employed in relation to the deities and Jang-chub Sempas (Bodhisattvas).

Whereas general Buddhism relates back to the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, (who lived approximately two and a half thousand years ago), Yungdrung Bön traces its lineage directly back to its founder, Bhuddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, who came and taught in Wolmo Loong Ring (otherwise known as Shambala) over 18,000 years ago. From there his teachings spread around the world in different guises, being introduced into Tibet from the neighbouring country of Zhang-Zhung - which includes western Tibet and Gangchen Tisi (Mount Kailash).

Rapidshare Link

Tibetan Master Chants - Lama Tashi

Tibetan Master Chants - Lama Tashi

2005 Grammy nominee for Best World Music Album! Includes 12 well-known Tibetan mantras, including "Om Ah Hum" and "Om Mani Padme Hum" featuring the sacred deep voice chanting of one of the world’s foremost Tibetan chant masters. Produced by healing sounds pioneer Jonathan Goldman, this CD was created as a three-fold tool: for pure listening pleasure, to create sacred space, and to teach listeners sacred Tibetan mantras. There is a specific order and function for each of the chants on this recording, which work together in order to assist personal and planetary consciousness. Lama Tashi’s voice is amazingly powerful and deeply resonant, creating extraordinary harmonics. A remarkable recording that will benefit anyone’s sacred music collection!

Tibetan Master Chants 1
Tibetan Master Chants 2
Tibetan Master Chants 3
Tibetan Master Chants 4

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/28/2008

The willingness to create a new vision is a statement of your belief in your potential.

~David McNally

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TIBET: THE SURVIVAL OF THE SPIRIT

TIBET: THE SURVIVAL OF THE SPIRIT
1991, English, directed by Clemens Kuby
Shot in 1988 by filmakers who eluded their official Chinese guide,
this film is a rare, uncensored look at what has become of this Himalayan nation.
It shows a wrenching confrontation between two ideologies: the all-pervasive,
compassionate Buddhism of traditional Tibet and the materialistic, militaristic political dogma imposed by the invading Chinese.
The systematic eradication of Tibetan culture is exposed, and footage "liberated"
from a Chinese cameraman reveals the police storming the Johkang temple and brutalizing monks.
Yet through it all, the tibetans still visit revered sites, preserve the sacred dances, and quietly rebuild their ruined monasteries.

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1756326

The Boy with Divine Powers - Buddha Boy

The Boy with Divine Powers - Buddha Boy
Ram Bahadur Bomjon "Buddha Boy" is a 15-year old Nepalese boy who was hailed by many to be Buddha incarnate - 11 months without any food, without any drop of water - just silently meditating in a tree-hole (like the Gautama Buddha). Mysteriously he vanished one day - as of March 2007 he is known, however, to be safely meditating in a pit in Ratanpuri village.

Discovery Channel last year had a feature on him in their show "The Boy With Divine Powers". Conclusion? It might not really be such a great hoax as everyone might have thought.

Youtube

Destructive Emotions - Dalai Lama and Daniel Goleman

Destructive Emotions - Dalai Lama and Daniel Goleman
A common challenge for humanity lies at the heart of this book, which documents a collaboration between the Dalai Lama and a group of scientists focusing on human behaviour and understanding and countering destructive emotions. Daniel Goleman, bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence, narrates this dialogue which uncovers the debilitating effects of negativity, and offers effective methods to overcome them.

The participants at this Mind and Life Conference included Geshe Thubten Jinpa, Ajahn Maha Somchai Kusalacitto, Matthieu Ricard, Alan Wallace, and professors Richard Davidson, Mark Greenberg, Owen Flanagan, Paul Ekman, Jeanne Tsai, and the late Francesco Varela.

The topics discussed include What Are Desctructive Emotions?, Buddhist Psychology, the Anatomy of Mental Afflictions, the Neuroscience of Emotion, Our Potential for Change, the Universality of Emotion, Cultivating Emotional Balance, the Influence of Culture, Schooling for the Good Heart, Encouraging Compassion, the Protean Brain, the Scientific Study of Consciousness, and how practices that reduce negativity have also been shown to bolster the immune system, and how meditation can strengthen emotional stability and greatly enhance our positive moods.

fulldls

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The Tao of Physics - Fritjof Capra

The Tao of Physics - Fritjof Capra
First published in 1975, The Tao of Physics rode the wave of fascination in exotic East Asian philosophies. Decades later, it still stands up to scrutiny, explicating not only Eastern philosophies but also how modern physics forces us into conceptions that have remarkable parallels. Covering over 3,000 years of widely divergent traditions across Asia, Capra can't help but blur lines in his generalizations. But the big picture is enough to see the value in them of experiential knowledge, the limits of objectivity, the absence of foundational matter, the interrelation of all things and events, and the fact that process is primary, not things. Capra finds the same notions in modern physics. Those approaching Eastern thought from a background of Western science will find reliable introductions here to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism and learn how commonalities among these systems of thought can offer a sort of philosophical underpinning for modern science. And those approaching modern physics from a background in Eastern mysticism will find precise yet comprehensible descriptions of a Western science that may reinvigorate a hope in the positive potential of scientific knowledge. Whatever your background, The Tao of Physics is a brilliant essay on the meeting of East and West, and on the invaluable possibilities that such a union promises.

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/589039/36945279/

http://www.mediafire.com/?215vsvvxoiw

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/27/2008

One of the marks of a gift is to have the courage to fulfill it.

~Katherine Anne Porter

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/26/2008

You are an unrepeatable miracle.

~Diane Roger

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/25/2008

We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released.

~Jean Houston

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/24/2008

There is more inside you than you dare think.

~David Brower

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Buddhism and Homosexuality.

According to the ancient Indian understanding, homosexuals were thought of simply as being 'the third nature' (tritiya prakti), rather than as perverted, deviant or sick. With its emphasis on psychology and cause and effect, Buddhism judges acts, including sexual acts, primarily by the intention (cetana) behind them and the effect they have.

We will now briefly examine the various objections to homosexuality and give Buddhist rebuttals to them. The most common Christian and Muslim objection to homosexuality is that it is unnatural and "goes against the order of nature". There seems to be little evidence for this. Miriam Rothschild, the eminent biologist who played a crucial role in the fight to decriminalize homosexuality in Britain, pointed out at the time that homosexual behaviour has been observed in almost every known species of animal. Secondly, it could be argued that while the biological function of sex is reproduction, most sexual activity today is not for reproduction, but for recreation and emotional fulfillment, and that this too is a legitimate function of sex.

Theravada Buddhist countries like Sri Lanka and Burma had no legal statutes against homosexuality between consenting adults until the colonial era when they were introduced by the British. Thailand, which had no colonial experience, still has no such laws. This had led some Western homosexuals to believe that homosexuality is quite accepted in Buddhist countries of South and South-east Asia. This is certainly not true. In such countries, when homosexuals are thought of at all, it is more likely to be in a good-humored way or with a degree of pity. Certainly the loathing, fear and hatred that the Western homosexual has so often had to endure is absent and this is due, to a very large degree, Buddhism's humane and tolerant influence. This has not always been the case though as the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism has had a different view on homosexuality.

At a press conference in 1997 the Dalai Lama said; 'From a Buddhist point of view (lesbian and gay sex)...is generally considered sexual misconduct.' As soon as he realized what he had done he immediately back-peddled. He called a meeting with gay and lesbian representatives, during which he expressed the 'willingness to consider the possibility that some of the teachings may be specific to a particular cultural and historic context'.

The truth is that while the Dalai Lama is one of the kindest people imaginable, he is also a very traditional Tibetan in many ways – and traditional Tibetan culture, like most cultures, has very skewed and confused ideas about homosexuality. Tibetan Buddhism does not derive its ideas about homosexuality from the earliest teachings of the Buddha but from Mahayana sutras and sastras, the earliest of which dates from approximately 500 year after the Buddha. By this time Indian Buddhists were being influenced by various popular Indian notions and incorporating them into their understanding of the Dhamma; sometimes with not very happy results. One such notion was the idea that sexual acts could be judged right or wrong depending on 'place, person and orifice.'

Exactly how does the law of kamma distinguish one orifice from another? Other problems arise when we realize that many male homosexuals practice intercural sex and mutual masturbation rather than penetrative sex. And exactly which sexual organ do lesbians use to penetrate the vagina of their partner? The Dalai Lama is also reported to have said that he had difficulty imagining the mechanics of homosexual sex, saying that nature had arranged male and female organs 'in such a manner that is very suitable...same-sex organs cannot manage well.'

With all due respect to the Dalai Lama, and I do have the highest respect for him, this statement shows both his ignorance and naivety concerning sex, and I might add, of some aspects of the Dhamma as well. What on earth have Buddhist ethical judgments got to do with two body-parts fitting together 'properly' or not? I often clean my ear with my finger despite it not fitting into my ear canal very well. Does this mean I make negative kamma every time I clean my ear?

James: And we must remember that monks have their own sexual code that has more restrictions than for the laity.

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/23/2008

Reach for your dreams and they will reach for you.

~Hana Rose Zadra

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/22/208

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.

~Marsha Norman

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/21/2008

Dreaming is a way of traveling hopefully.

~Elizabeth David

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Book Review, "Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk."

Publicist Adrienne Biggs was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of the book, "Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk." That monk being Ch'an Master Sheng Yen. The first thing that I was struck with in reading this book was how thoughtful and sensitive Master Sheng Yen is. He comes across in this book as a very kind person whom you'd enjoy listening to for hours and he has led a very eventful life being born to a poor farming family, joining the military, living in Taiwan and finally his monastic life. With a wonderful part on visiting Japan.

It was very fascinating for me to read his journey as a monk because I have always been curious about that life. I must say though that I was disturbed by some of the training techniques. His Master would make him do, undo and the redo things over and over, day after day. He made him stack, re-stack and then unstack a pile of bricks for days on end. He also berated him with (what seems to my unenlightened mind) unproductive criticism such as calling him stupid and other insults that I would not expect from a Buddhist master.

Sheng Yen said that it taught him patience and that he needed to go through that to purify his karma but what of the karma of the Master? Is not that kind of violent speech accumulating negative karma for himself? I think there are better ways to teach patience but I'm not a monastic, nor a Master monk and I come from a western mind frame so perhaps I'm missing something. Perhaps Sheng Yen needed to go through that to pay off a karmic debt to his master from a past life? I don't know.

And yet he says in the book, "Religious experience is not enlightenment" so he does understand that no matter what the religious training we must ultimately realize enlightenment on our own.

Just one of the profound parts of the book occurs while Sheng Yen is in the military in Taiwan. He writes to one of his teachers, Master Nanting complaining that he has little freedom in the military and the Master relpies, "Who has freedom in this world? As long as there is the body, there is no freedom."

All in all though this book was a great read. It was neat to see the inner details of the monastic life in the Ch'an tradition. Sheng Yen writes with such beauty in his vivid descriptions and his attention to detail is amazing. He writes in a way that makes you feel as though you are reliving every bit of his life with him. The last few words of the book were perhaps the most profound for me, "Now it is time to let go."

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/20/2008

Your heart often knows things before your mind does.

~Polly Adler

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A Treasury of Dharma - Sogyal Rinpoche

A Treasury of Dharma - Sogyal Rinpoche
Essential study material for the Rigpa Sangha from the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche, 2000-2004

In this unique compilation, the most important topics taught by Sogyal Rinpoche over the past five years have been brought together in a form specifically designed for home study.

'A Treasury of Dharma' contains over 30 hours of teaching on two MP3 audio CDs.

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1568509/36945279/

Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light - Namkhai Norbu

Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light - Namkhai Norbu
Namkhai Norbu is a tibetan master of the Dzogchen tradition. He is a professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples, Italy. He has authored many books including "The Crystal and the Way of Light", "The Cycle of Day and Night", and "Yantra Yoga".

In "Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light", Norbu Rinpoche gives instructions for developing clarity within the sleep and dream states.

He goes beyond the practices of lucid dreaming that have been popularized in the West, by presenting methods for guiding dream states that are part of a broader system for enhancing self-awareness called Dzogchen. In this tradition, the development of lucidity in the dream state is understood in the context of generating greater awareness for the ultimate purpose of attaining liberation.

Also included in this book is a text written by Mipham, the nineteenth-century master of Dzogchen, which offers additional insights into this extraordinary form of meditation and awareness.

http://btjunkie.org/torrent/Dream-Yoga-and-the-Practice-of-Natural-Light/37827761fe468ce08431106df9716d2d0fc180522837

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - Read by Stephen Mitchell

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - Read by Stephen Mitchell
In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.

Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.

Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching looks at the basic predicament of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love; to child rearing, business, and ecology.

About the Author
Stephen Mitchell attended Amherst, the University of Paris, and Yale. His many books include The Book of Job, Tao Te Ching, Parables and Portraits, The Gospel According to Jesus, A Book of Psalms, Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke, and Genesis.

RapidShare Link

The Roots of Buddhist Psychology -Jack Kornfield

The Roots of Buddhist Psychology -Jack Kornfield
The Buddha said many times that just as the great oceans have but one taste, so do all the true teachings of the dharma: the taste of freedom. Jack Kornfield’s The Roots of Buddhist Psychology is an invitation to drink deeply of these teachings – to taste the wisdom that flows from the heart of Buddhism’s most useful ideas on the interior life and what brings awakening, freedom, and happiness. Jack Kornfield opens this eternal view of the mind for all listeners on this six-cassette collection. From Suffering to Enlightenment Among the world’s great religions, Buddhism has developed a rich psychology based not on metaphysics, but on the human predicament. Through its strategies, you can discover for yourself how to find true freedom from worldly suffering. Buddhism views the mind as a maze of feelings, perceptions, and emotional states. Unhappiness is rooted in unskillful responses to our world: grasping when things are pleasant, aversion when they are unpleasant, and delusion/confusion when they are neutral. Through awareness training, Kornfield teaches, you can transform these responses into real skills that are the path to awakening and freedom.

Like no other teaching course, The Roots of Buddhist Psychology gives you these immediate strategies for living in the present: 12 profound lectures – each one a gem of intelligent wisdom – on Buddhism’s central teachings about the psyche and sacred attention. Here are nine hours of specific instruction, taught in the classic tradition and enlivened with many parables, worldly stories, and thoughts from artists, philosophers, and writers who have helped us see how to live true, useful lives. Join Jack Kornfield on The Roots of Buddhist Psychology and discover for yourself that what you seek is already here.

http://btjunkie.org/torrent/The-Roots-of-Buddhist-Psychology-Jack-Kornfield/3773a845ecd7557eb35aff432e1de6cf2aaa7c1ffa43

Stillness Speaks - Eckhart Tolle

Stillness Speaks - Eckhart Tolle
Expanding on his mantra—Get out of your head and into the moment—Eckhart Tolle offers this new book on living in the now. Here Tolle emphasizes the art of "inner stillness"--the place where thoughts, ego and attachments fall always and we are left only with what the moment has to offer: "When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world." Don't expect this to be a quick skim or even a straight-through read. Like his previous bestselling book The Power of Now, Tolle uses brief entries and numerous white spaces to give readers easy in-and-out access into enticing spiritual insights that expound on inner stillness, such as learning the difference between surrender and resignation, overcoming the fear death, and how to end suffering. In fact, this is designed to be an ongoing conversation. Pick it up any time or any place, but be sure to allow for plenty of breaks for serious contemplation. Even as you occasionally abandon the book, don't abandon the teachings, pleads Tolle. Embracing and practicing inner stillness is no longer a luxury, he writes, "but a necessity if humankind is not to destroy itself. At the present time the dysfunction of the old consciousness and the arising of the new are both accelerating. Paradoxically things are getting worse and bett! er at the same time, although 'the worse' is more apparent because it makes so much noise." Devotees who have read all of Tolle's books and audio tapes probably won't find new ideas or information here. But they may appreciate the refresher course --revisiting familiar concepts in a slightly different package

http://btjunkie.org/torrent/Eckhart-Tolle-Power-of-Now-amp-Stillness-Speaks/37798daa63d7884b0d1e2e238610325328c4d378470a

Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School of Ch'an

Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School of Ch'an
A translation of the primary materials on the life and teachings of Ma-Tsu (709-788), the successor to the great sixth patriarch and the greatest Ch'an master in history, Hui-Neng (638-713). The book should be invaluable to all who wish to study the development of the Zen thought and philosophy over the course of history.

Rapidshare Link

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/19/2008

Because of our routines we forget that life is an ongoing adventure.

~Maya Angelou

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/18/2008

The future is sending back good wishes and waiting with open arms.

~Kobi Yamada

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Letter from the Mountain (2002)

This is an extremely meditative and beautifully shot film that shows the simplest things in life bring the greatest rewards.

Letter from the Mountain(Amidado Dayori ) (2002)
Akira Kurosawa's assistant director Takashi Koizumi directs the low-key drama Letter From the Mountain, based on the novel by Keishi Nagi. Highly specialized doctor Michiko (Kanako Higuchi) finds herself seized with panic attacks. She and her partner, Takao (Akira Terao), decide to leave behind their stressful lives in Tokyo for a simpler life in the small farming village of Shinshu. After meeting several sick people in the community, Michiko sets up a medical center and gradually heals herself in the process. However, many of the townspeople refuse medical treatment, preferring to let nature take its course. The conclusion involves an annual celebration suggesting the couple's acceptance in the community.

http://bt.avistaz.com/details.php?id=af1491083b53381530b4e830263eb38d1e5437d5

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4342505/Letter.From.The.Mountain.2002.DVDRip.XviD-LAJ

The Wisdom of Ajahn Buddhadasa.

For Ajahn Buddhadasa the way to end suffering could only be found through suffering. He described Nibbana as “the coolest point in the furnace.”

-Turning Wheel: The Journal of Socially Engaged Buddhism (Spring 2006 by Santikaro).

"Those who have penetrated to the highest understanding will feel that the thing called "religion" doesn't exist after all. There is no Buddhism; there is no Christianity; there is no Islam. How can they be the same or in conflict when they don't even exist?"

-Ajahn Buddhadasa.

~Peace to all beings~

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/17/2008

The dream is not up there in the sky or the stars. It's right here in your heart.

~Dan Zadra

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/16/2008

What you already know is merely a good departure point.

~Keorapetse Kgositsile

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 8/15/2008

Put your ear down next to your soul and listen hard.

~Anne Sexton

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Buddhist Ethics Ebooks

Somebody a while back emailed and said I lacked Ethics for having a blog like this, Perhaps.
But not anymore!!!! Cause I just download some! ;)

Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. Numerous introductory books have appeared in recent years to cater for this growing interest, but almost none devotes attention to the specifically ethical dimension of the tradition. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West, and publications on the subject are few and far between. Here, Damien Keown, author of Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction , illustrates how Buddhism might approach a range of fascinating moral issues ranging from abortion and suicide to cloning.

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1403916/24630186/

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An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics - Foundations, Values and Issues
This systematic introduction to Buddhist ethics is aimed at anyone interested in Buddhism, including students, scholars and general readers. Peter Harvey is the author of the acclaimed Introduction to Buddhism (Cambridge, 1990), and his new book is written in a clear style, assuming no prior knowledge. At the same time it develops a careful, probing analysis of the nature and practical dynamics of Buddhist ethics in both its unifying themes and in the particularities of different Buddhist traditions. The book applies Buddhist ethics to a range of issues of contemporary concern: humanity’s relationship with the rest of nature; economics; war and peace; euthanasia; abortion; the status of women; and homosexuality. Professor Harvey draws on texts of the main Buddhist traditions, and on historical and contemporary accounts of the behaviour of Buddhists, to describe existing Buddhist ethics, to assess different views within it, and to extend its application into new areas.

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Cancer Killer Found in the Ocean.

November 1, 2007 — Biomedicine scientists identified and sequenced the genes of a bacteria calledI Salinispora tropica. (James: If you go to the link you'll find a video about this story). It produces anti-cancer compounds and can be found in ocean sediments off the Bahamas. A product called salinosporamide A has shown promise treating a bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma, as well as solid tumors. It's estimated that over 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and for more than 500,000 it will be fatal. But now, scientists have found a new weapon against it. The ocean!

You run in it ... play in it ... splash in it ... but what’s found at the bottom of it can kill cancer! The bacterium was discovered in 1991, but just recently researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography unlocked the genomic sequence, revealing this bacteria's cancer fighting potential. "That’s how new drugs are discovered. We really have to go out there and grow bacteria, look at the genomes," Dr. Moore said. First discovered in 1991 in shallow ocean sediment off the Bahamas, it took several years to successfully sequence Salinispora’s genome, revealing that this mud-dwelling bacteria produces natural antibiotics and anti-cancer products.

James: We already know that trees and plants are the world's lungs and the oceans produce the rain that grows our foods and acts as a global thermostat but that is just the beginning of nature's bounty (By the way, An estimated 80% of all life on earth is found under the ocean surface and the oceans contain 99% of the living space on the planet. Less than 10% of that space has been explored by humans). There are so many medicines that stem from nature and yet we keep destroying the environment. Who knows how many cures for diseases or very effective drugs might have been found in the vast tracts of rain forest chopped down all over the world. There might be a cure for AIDS right now lying deep in the Amazon but we still have the outdated, neanderthal thinking that we must conquer nature and exploit it rather than live in harmony with it.

We need to listen to the shamans and explore their pharmacies (nature) with them and learn from them instead of ignoring them and deriding their time tested expertise. Some of the healthiest people I have met were villagers living in Africa using mostly natural medicines. I'm not advocating, however, that people abandon pharmaceuticals altogether, especially when dealing with a severe mental illness or other crippling diseases. I do think though that we should take natural remedies more seriously and explore our forests instead of clear cut them.

~Peace to all beings~