Becoming Bodhisattvas

Author: Pema Chödrön
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611806321
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 409

Book Description
Best-selling American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön presents a friendly and encouraging guide to spiritual practice for all those who want to take up the path of the bodhisattva--one who aspires to live life with courage, generosity, patience, fearlessness, and compassion. The Way of the Bodhisattva has long been treasured as an indispensable guide to enlightened living, offering a window into the greatest potential within us all. Written in the eighth century by the scholar and saint Shantideva, it presents a comprehensive view of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition’s highest ideal—to commit oneself to the life of a bodhisattva warrior, a person who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the freedom and common good of all beings. And it has inspired many of the tradition’s greatest teachers, providing a remarkable source of insight on the means by which we may heal ourselves and our troubled world. These essential teachings present the core of the Buddhist path, from cultivating deep-seated confidence to infusing one’s life with selflessness, joyfulness, kindness, and compassion. Pema Chödrön here invites you to journey more deeply into this liberating way of life, presenting Shantideva’s text verse-by-verse and offering both illuminating stories and practical exercises to enrich the text and bring its timeless teachings to life in our world today. Previously published under the title No Time to Lose.

No Time to Lose

Author: Pema Chodron
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834821109
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Book Description
The beloved Buddhist nun and bestselling author of When Things Fall Apart examines Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva, sharing “her ever-approachable and pithy instructions for daily life” for readers of all backgrounds (Parabola) Over the years, Pema Chödrön's books have offered readers an exciting new way of living: developing fearlessness, generosity, and compassion in all aspects of their lives. In this new book, she invites readers to venture further along the path of the “bodhisattva warrior,” explaining in depth how we can awaken the softness of our hearts and develop true confidence amid the challenges of daily living. In No Time to Lose Chödrön reveals the traditional Buddhist teachings that guide her own life: those of The Way of the Bodhisattva ( Bodhicharyavatara), a text written by the eighth-century sage Shantideva. This treasured Buddhist work is remarkably relevant for our times, describing the steps we can take to cultivate courage, caring, and joy—the key to healing ourselves and our troubled world. Chödrön offers us a highly practical and engaging commentary on this essential text, explaining how its profound teachings can be applied to our daily lives. Full of illuminating stories and practical exercises, this fresh and accessible guide shows us that the path of the bodhisattva is open to each and every one of us. Pema Chödrön urges us to embark on this transformative path today, writing, “There is no time to lose—but not to worry, we can do it.”

Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life

Author: Śāntideva
Publisher: Tharpa Publications US
ISBN: 0948006889
Category : Bodhisattvas
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Book Description
Reading the verses slowly, while contemplating their meaning, has a profoundly liberating effect on the mind. The poem invokes special positive states of mind, moving us from suffering and conflict to happiness and peace, and gradually introduces us to the entire path to attaining the supreme inner peace of enlightenment, the real meaning of our human life.

A Guide to the Bodhisattava's Way of Life

Author: Shantideva
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
ISBN: 8185102597
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) holds a unique place in Mahayana Buddhism akin to that of the Dhammapada in Hinayana Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita in Hinduism. In combining those rare qualities of scholastic precision, spiritual depth and poetical beauty, its appeal extends to a wide audience of Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. Composed in India during the 8th century of the Christian era, it has since been an inspiration to millions of people throughout the world. This present translation by Stephen Batchelor is based upon a 12th century Tibetan commentary as orally explained by Ven. Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. The ninth chapter on wisdom has been expanded for this edition with relevant commentarial passages.

The Bodhisattva's Brain

Author: Owen Flanagan
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026229723X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
This fascinating introduction to the intersection between religion, neuroscience, and moral philosophy asks: Can there be a Buddhism without karma, nirvana, and reincarnation that is compatible with the rest of knowledge? If we are material beings living in a material world—and all the scientific evidence suggests that we are—then we must find existential meaning, if there is such a thing, in this physical world. We must cast our lot with the natural rather than the supernatural. Many Westerners with spiritual (but not religious) inclinations are attracted to Buddhism—almost as a kind of moral-mental hygiene. But, as Owen Flanagan points out in The Bodhisattva's Brain, Buddhism is hardly naturalistic. In The Bodhisattva's Brain, Flanagan argues that it is possible to discover in Buddhism a rich, empirically responsible philosophy that could point us to one path of human flourishing. Some claim that neuroscience is in the process of validating Buddhism empirically, but Flanagan'’ naturalized Buddhism does not reduce itself to a brain scan showing happiness patterns. “Buddhism naturalized,” as Flanagan constructs it, offers instead a fully naturalistic and comprehensive philosophy, compatible with the rest of knowledge—a way of conceiving of the human predicament, of thinking about meaning for finite material beings living in a material world.

Bodhisattva of Compassion

Author: John Blofeld
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1590307356
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
She is the embodiment of selfless love, the supreme symbol of radical compassion, and, for more than a millennium throughout Asia, she has been revered as “The One Who Hearkens to the Cries of the World.” Kuan Yin is both a Buddhist symbol and a beloved deity of Chinese folk religion. John Blofeld’s classic study traces the history of this most famous of all the bodhisattvas from her origins in India (as the male figure Avalokiteshvara) to Tibet, China, and beyond, along the way highlighting her close connection to other figures such as Tara and Amitabha. The account is full of charming stories of Blofeld’s encounters with Kuan Yin’s devotees during his journeys in China. The book also contains meditation and visualization techniques associated with the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and translations of poems and yogic texts devoted to her.

Record of the Transmission of Illumination

Author: T. Griffith Foulk
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824891767
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 613

Book Description
The first book of this two-volume set consists largely of an annotated translation of the Record of the Transmission of Illumination (Denkōroku 傳光録) by Zen Master Keizan Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾 (1264–1325), presented together with the original Japanese text on which the English translation is based. That text is the recension of the Denkōroku published in Shūten Hensan Iinkai 宗典編纂委員会, ed., Taiso Keizan Zenji senjutsu Denkōroku 太祖瑩山禅師撰述伝光録 (Tokyo: Sōtōshū Shūmuchō 曹洞宗宗務庁, 2005). The Shūmuchō edition of the Denkōroku includes some items of Front Matter from earlier published editions, which are included in the English translations. Volume 1 also contains an Introduction that addresses such matters as the life of Keizan, the contents of the Denkōroku, the provenance of that work, and the textual history of its various recensions. In addition, Volume 1 includes a Bibliography that lists many works of modern Japanese- and English-language scholarship that are relevant to the academic study of the Denkōroku. The second volume contains a Glossary in two parts. Part One explains all of the Buddhist technical terms and Zen sayings that appear in the annotated translation of the Shūmuchō edition of the Denkōroku, found in Volume 1. Part Two treats all of the people, places, and texts that are named in that annotated translation. The Glossary also contains a wealth of material pertaining to the study of Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen, and East Asian Buddhist traditions at large, providing a broader historical context for understanding Keizan’s Denkōroku. Published in association with Sōtōshū Shūmuchō, Tokyo.

The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpassed Enlightenment

Author: Asanga
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834840200
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 801

Book Description
Ārya Asanga’s Bodhisattvabhūmi, or The Stage of a Bodhisattva, is the Mahāyāna tradition’s most comprehensive manual on the practice and training of bodhisattvas—by the author’s own account, a compilation of the full range of instructions contained in the entire collection of Mahāyāna sutras. A classic work of the Yogācāra school, it has been cherished in Tibet by all the historical Buddhist lineages as a primary source of instruction on bodhisattva ethics, vows, and practices, as well as for its summary of the ultimate goal of the bodhisattva path—supreme enlightenment. Despite the text’s seminal importance in the Tibetan traditions, it has remained unavailable in English except in fragments. Engle’s translation, made from the Sanskrit original with reference to the Tibetan translation and commentaries, will enable English readers to understand more fully and clearly what it means to be a bodhisattva and practitioner of the Mahāyāna tradition.

Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva

Author: Shantideva
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611808626
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
This modern translation of an essential Mahayana Buddhist text captures the meaning and musicality of Shantideva's original verse and provides readers with an accessible guide to its profound depths. This is a fresh translation of, and commentary on, Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva, perhaps the most renowned and thorough articulation of the bodhisattva path. Written by the eighth-century Indian monk Shantideva, Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva is a guide to becoming a bodhisattva, someone who is dedicated to achieving enlightenment in order to benefit all beings. Accomplished translator Khenpo David Karma Choephel communicates the power of Shantideva's insights through careful attention to both the meaning and the rhythmic pulse of each stanza, all the while providing necessary context and practical advice for modern readers. After presenting the full translation, Khenpo David Karma Choephel then introduces readers to the text, explaining the key points of each chapter with clarity and wisdom. Combining a uniquely poetic translation with detailed analysis, this book is a comprehensive guide to developing oneself in service of others. Teachings that have been at the heart of Mahayana practice for centuries are given new life, and the supporting commentary makes the text accessible and applicable to practitioners. Readers interested in the bodhisattva path will find this a comprehensive resource filled with captivating verse and incisive interpretations.

Jizo Bodhisattva

Author: Jan Chozen Bays
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462918050
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Book Description
In Jizo Bodhisattva, Zen teacher and practicing pediatrician Jan Chozen Bays explores the development of traditional Buddhist practices related to Jizo, as well as the growing interest in Jizo practice in modern American Zen Buddhism. She also shows how you can incorporate this rich tradition into your own life, through meditations, mantras and chanting. In traditional Buddhist belief, a bodhisattva is an enlightened being who has forsaken entry into nirvana until all beings are saved. Jizo, one of the four great bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism, is know as "the Bodhisattva of the Greatest Vows." He is regarded as the protector of travelers—whether their journeys in the physical world, or in the spiritual reams. Jizo also has special significance for pregnant women and parents whose children have died.