General Buddhist Titles
 Click to enlarge |
REASON'S TRACES: Identity and Interpretation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Thought by Matthew Kapstein 496 pp. #RETR - list price $ 34.95 Our Price $27.96 (you save 20%) Matthew Kapstein sheds light on the theoretical foundations of Buddhist thought. These essays examine aspects of Buddhist philosophy in India and Tibet, in particular the questions of personal identity and ultimate reality, and the interpretation of Tantrism. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
THE RI-ME PHILOSOPHY OF JAMGON KONGTRUL THE GREAT: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet by Ringu Tulku, edited by Ann Helm 318 pp. #RIPHPA - list price $ 19.95 Our Price $15.96 (you save 20%) Jamgon Kongtrul the Great (1813-1899) is renowned not only for his scholarly and spiritual achievements, but also for his energetic and evenhanded efforts to unify and strengthen the different lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. This lucid survey of the Rime movement includes the history and philosophy of the movement; a biography of meditation master Jamgon Kongtrul; and summaries of the major lineages' histories, practices, and views. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SECRET TEACHINGS OF PADMASAMBHAVA: Essential Instructions on Mastering the Energies of Life by Padmasambhava, translated by Kennard Lipman, Ph.D. 142 pp., paper. #SETEPA - $ 18.95 These ancient texts, attributed to the great Tibetan meditation master Padmasambhava, offer Vajrayana Buddhist teachings on the nature of the fundamental elements that make up our world. The commentaries by Dr. Lipman describe how to use these life-energies for personal development. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SEX AND THE SPIRITUAL TEACHER: Why It Happens, When It's a Problem, and What We All Can Do by Scott Edelstein, intro. by Mic Hunter, afterword by Anne Katherine 264 pp., paper. #SESPTE - $ 16.95 "In Sex and the Spiritual Teacher, Scott Edelstein courageously turns toward a topic so many individuals and institutions turn away from—sexual transgressions between spiritual teachers and their students. With compassion and wisdom, he explores the understandable, human reasons that these transgressions so often arise, without wavering in the clear message that they must be avoided for the sake of all members of the spiritual community. By emphasizing the humanness of even the wisest teacher and the importance of transparency, Edelstein provides wise, clear counsel for spiritual teachers, students, and those who care for them that will undoubtedly reduce the risk of problematic relationships, as well as help those who find themselves having crossed boundaries act with kindness and care to extricate themselves from these harmful situations. Every student and teacher in any spiritual tradition should read this book immediately, and more than once. Students and teachers in other contexts will also benefit from the wisdom in these pages. Edelstein's willingness to look at what is so often hidden with unwavering clarity and compassion is an immense gift to us all."—Lizabeth Roemer Ph.D, co-author of The Mindful Way Through Anxiety More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SHAMBHALA: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche 208 pp., 9 b&w images. #SHSAPA - $ 14.95 There is a basic human wisdom that can help solve the world's problems. It doesn't belong to any one culture or region or religious tradition—though it can be found in many of them throughout history. It's what Chogyam Trungpa called the sacred path of the warrior. The sacred warrior conquers the world not through violence or aggression, but through gentleness, courage, and self-knowledge. The warrior discovers the basic goodness of human life and radiates that goodness out into the world for the peace and sanity of others. That's what the Shambhala teachings are all about, and this is the book that has been presenting them to a wide and appreciative audience for more than twenty years. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SHANGPA KAGYU TEACHINGS by the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa, Chamgon Dorje Chang 232 pp., paper, 2 line drawings. #SHKATE - $ 30.00 This volume is a rich compendium of instructions given by the twelfth Kenting Tai Situpa on a number of important topics. Situpa's easy and direct writing style shines forth with clarity and good humor. The book covers a wide variety of topics, such as how to receive transmissions or make offerings; how to take empowerments as well as advice on how to conduct the empowerments themselves; explanations of how to conduct one's behavior with yogis, or between parents and children; explanation of the illusory body and other features; historical background on the lives of Niguma, Chakrasamvara and other teachers; and so much more. It is an essential text for Shangpa and Kagyu practitioners. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SHENTONG AND RANGTONG: Two Views of Emptiness by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche 168 pp. #SHRATW - list price $ 14.95 Our Price $11.21 (you save 25%) The Mahayana path of Buddhism requires the development of vast loving-kindness and compassion. The foundation for developing impartial compassion for all sentient beings is based on understanding the emptiness of self and the emptiness of phenomena. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SONGS OF SHABKAR: The Path of a Tibetan Yogi Inspired by Nature by Shabkar Tshogdruk Rangdrol, translations and photographs by Victoria Sujata 366 pp., gloss paper with more than 50 color photos. In both Tibetan and English. #SOSHPA - $ 35.00 These deeply personal songs of realization by Nyingmapa yogi Shabkar Tshogdruk Rangdrol, composed in a simple yet richly poetic style, charm by their beauty and directness, often expressing the delights of nature. Drawn from the vast and mostly untranslated collection The Festival of Melodious Songs, they have been organized thematically to reflect Shabkar's quest for spiritual awareness. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
STAGES OF THE BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS: Three Key Texts by Dolpa, Gampopa, and Sakya Pandita; translated by David P. Jackson, Ulrike Roesler, and Ken Holmes Pre-order Now--Available Summer 2012. 864 pp., cloth. #STBUTE - $ 59.95 The "stages of the teachings," or ten-rim genre of Tibetan spiritual writing, expounds the Mahayana teachings as a graded series of topics, from the practices required at the start of the bodhisattva's career to the final perfect awakening of buddhahood. The three texts in the present volume all exerted seminal influence in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
STAIRWAY TO NIRVANA: A Study of the Twenty Samghas Based on the Works of Tsong kha pa by James B. Apple Cloth. 275 pp. #STNIST - list price $ 75.00 Our Price $45.00 (you save 40%) James B. Apple examines one of the formative subjects in traditional Buddhist studies, the Twenty Varieties of the Samgha. The Samgha (community) is one of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Samgha) universally revered by all Buddhists. While the Samgha is generally understood as the community of Buddhist ordained monks and nuns, along with lay adherents, the Twenty Varieties of the Samgha concerns an exemplary community of the twenty types of Noble Beings (arya-pudgala) who embody the Buddha’s teachings. Focusing on the interpretation of the Samgha given by the fourteenth-century Tibetan scholar Tsong kha pa, Apple provides a comprehensive typology and analysis of the stages through which Noble Beings pass in their progress toward enlightenment through multiple lifetimes in various cosmological realms. He explains the cosmographic formations and complex structures of Buddhist spiritual cultivation, illustrating how Tibetan and Indian Buddhists conceptualize all possible states on the path to enlightenment. | |
 Click to enlarge |
STARS OF WISDOM: Analytical Meditation, Songs of Yogic Joy, and Prayers of Aspiration by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, fore. by the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa 192 pp. #STWIAN - $ 18.95 Here, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher who’s known for his joyous, spontaneous songs of realization presents the teachings for which he is known best, in three areas: traditional analytical inquiry, songs of realization, and altruistic prayers. Part 1 includes a section in verse that explains the progressively subtler and more profound levels of meditation on the nature of reality. Part 2 offers a brief introduction to the history and benefits of singing songs of yogic joy as a Buddhist practice. It includes commentaries on two songs by the famous Tibetan meditation master Milarepa, and offers step-by-step instructions on how to meditate on the true nature of the mind. Part 3 consists of teachings on the importance of making aspirations motivated by altruism. | |
 Click to enlarge |
STILLING THE MIND: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Brian Hodel 224 pp., paper. #STMISH - $ 17.95 In The Attention Revolution, bestselling author Alan Wallace guided readers through stages of shamatha, a meditation for focusing the mind. Here he uses the wisdom of the Dzogchen—the highest of all the Tibetan meditation traditions—to open up this practice into a space of freedom from hope and fear by introducing us to one of the most cherished works of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
SUTRA OF THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH trans. from Mongolian by Stanley Frye 262 pp., paper. #SUWIFO - $ 18.00 Told for adults, the 52 short narratives in this edition of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish are Jatakas, or rebirth stories of the Buddha, tracing the causes of the pitfalls in human lives to events which took place in the characters' former lifetimes. The stories cover a wide range of situations and concepts, but there is a common thread to each of the narratives: exploring tragedy in the human condition, the reason for this tragedy and the possibility of transcending it. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
TAKING THE LEAP: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chodron 128 pp., paper. #TALEPA - $ 14.00 In this book Pema Chödrön shows us how to break free of destructive patterns in our lives and experience a new sense of freedom and happiness. Drawing on the Buddhist concept of shenpa, she helps us to see how certain habits of mind tend to "hook" us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, and addiction. The good news is that once we start to see these patterns, we can begin to change our lives for the better. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
TAKING THE RESULT AS THE PATH: Core Teachings of the Sakya Lamdre Tradition by Cyrus Stearns Cloth edition, 784 pp. #TAREPA - $ 59.95 The tradition known as the Path with the Result or lamdré is the most important tantric system of theory and meditation practice in the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume contains an unprecedented compilation of eleven vital works from different periods in the history of the Path with the Result in India and Tibet, including the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virupa, the basic text of the tradition. The collection also includes six writings by Jamyang Khyentsé Wangchuk and an instruction manual composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama. None of the works in this book have ever been published before in any European language, and most of these writings traditionally have been considered secret. The present translation, volume 4 of the Library of Tibetan Classics, has been made with the personal approval and encouragement of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, head of the Sakya tradition. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
THE TAMING OF THE DEMONS: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism by Jacob P. Dalton 334 pp., 7 b&w illustrations, hardbound. #TADECL - $ 40.00 The Taming of the Demons examines mythic and ritual themes of violence, demon taming, and blood sacrifice in Tibetan Buddhism. Taking as its starting point Tibet's so-called age of fragmentation (842 to 986 C.E.), the book draws on previously unstudied manuscripts discovered in the "library cave" near Dunhuang, on the old Silk Road. These ancient documents, it argues, demonstrate how this purportedly inactive period in Tibetan history was in fact crucial to the Tibetan assimilation of Buddhism, and particularly to the spread of violent themes from tantric Buddhism into Tibet at the local and the popular levels. Having shed light on this" dark age" of Tibetan history, the second half of the book turns to how, from the late tenth century onward, the period came to play a vital symbolic role in Tibet, as a violent historical "other" against which the Tibetan Buddhist tradition defined itself. The Taming of the Demons challenges our tendency to romanticize or demonize the rich and ancient culture of Tibet. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
TEACHINGS ON THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche 96 pp. #TEPRME - $ 19.95 The essence of the teachings of the Buddha is practice. The reason we practice meditation is to attain happiness. This means happiness in both the short-term and the long-term. The short-term benefits of meditation are more than merely peace of mind, because our physical health as well depends to a great extent upon our state of mind. The ultimate or long-term benefit of the practice of meditation is becoming free of all suffering, which means no longer being compelled to experience the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death. More ... | |
 Click to enlarge |
THE TEACUP & THE SKULLCUP: Chogyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra by Chogyam Trungpa 145 pp. #TESKCH - $ 16.95 In The Teacup and the Skull Cup, one the most influential of the Vajrayana teachers openly discusses Zen and Tantra in this unique volume, based on historic seminars. More ... | |