Big Sky Mind

Essays, poems, photographs, and letters explore the link between Buddhism and the Beats--with previously unpublished material from several beat writers, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, and Diane diPrima.

The Buddha said that "everything we need to know about life can be found inside this fathom-long body." Then why is most people's spirituality--whether Buddhist, Christian, or Jewish--completely cut off from their body? In this provocative and groundbreaking book, you'll discover that enlightenment comes not from "out there," but from a deep understanding of our own personal biology. Using the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a traditional Buddhist meditation, Nisker shows how cutting-edge science is proving the tenets first offered by the Buddha. And he provides a practical program, complete with meditations and exercises, that enables readers to become mindful of the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. One of the great synthesizers of East and West, Nisker shows how to incorporate the traditional understanding of the Buddha with the latest scientific discoveries while on our spiritual journey. He shows that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. The way to enlightenment lies within our very biology. Most important, Nisker offers a practical program--complete with meditations and exercises--so readers can take their own evolutionary journey into their bodies to find the origins of emotions, desires, and thoughts. Nisker provides a liberating way for each of us to incorporate into our lives the understanding, proven by the latest scientific evidence and foretold in the great traditional teachings of the Buddha, that we are not separate from nature and the evolving universe. Our biology is not our destiny, but our way to enlightenment. -->

“Tenzin Palmo is one of the most genuine and accomplished of western practitioners. Her voice is simple and pure, wise and true.” —Jack Kornfield, author of Path with a Heart This sparkling collection of Dharma teachings by Tenzin Palmo addresses issues of common concern to Buddhist practitioners from all traditions. Personable, witty, and insightful, Tenzin Palmo presents an inspiring and no-nonsense view of Buddhist practice.

You know when you're having a really bad day and nothing seems to go right? You feel scared, sad and mad all at the same time, and you don't know what to do. This little book about mindfulness can help you. It will teach you how to mediate and grow your heart. It will help you create space around your feelings, accept yourself as you are and discover your inner wisdom. With nine simple mindfulness exercises, you can learn how to soften your emotions, grow your heart, feel protected and discover your inner wisdom. Mindfulness is the practice of being aware of and present in each moment. Through it, you can relax your mind, improve your health, and develop kindness to yourself and others. Mindfulness training is for anyone, no matter what age or background. It is not tied to any specific religion or cultural tradition, and requires no special equipment. The method is simple, but the mind is tricky. With practice, and attention, you can find your Big Sky Mind in every day life.

Stress, anxiety, and depression are running rampant in the twenty-first century. We’re imploding, our internal systems are crashing. We need rescuing, self-caring, self-nurturing, self-healing, and self-transcendence. We need to discover mindsets and methods that will allow us to continue on with poise and purpose. Wisdom from the past and human sciences from the present combine in these pages to pass along teachings for wiser living. Affirmations, visualizations, words of wisdom, growth-mindset prompts, natural breath awareness reminders, and breathwork techniques are all aimed at taking us beyond the limited confines of our busy worrying minds and into the realm of purer Awareness. This volume contains more than a thousand brief stand-alone entries, well-suited to the needs of today’s reader. Just open the book somewhere and dive in for one, two, or three minutes. You will come away enriched. Sometimes we’re meant to spend awhile with a particular book. That’s how it will be for this volume and its readers. There’s wisdom here of which we all need to be reminded.

Coping with anger and pain is more challenging than ever in these times—and more necessary. Two acclaimed Buddhist teachers offer strategies and wisdom in a book that’s been called “possibly the most inspiring and liberating meditation on love ever written.” When people and circumstances upset us, how do we deal with them? Often, we feel victimized. We become hurt, angry, and defensive. We end up seeing others as enemies, and when things don’t go our way, we become enemies to ourselves. But what if we could move past this pain, anger, and defensiveness? Inspired by Buddhist philosophy, this book introduces us to the four kinds of enemies we encounter in life: the outer enemy, people, institutions, and situations that mean to harm us; the inner enemy, anger, hatred, fear, and other destructive emotions; the secret enemy, self-obsession that isolates us from others; and the super-secret enemy, deep-seated self-loathing that prevents us from finding inner freedom and true happiness. In this practical guide, we learn not only how to identify our enemies, but more important, how to transform our relationship to them. Love Your Enemies teaches us how to . . . · break free from the mode of “us” versus “them” thinking · develop compassion, patience, and love · accept what is beyond our control · embrace lovingkindness, right speech, and other core concepts First published in 2013, Love Your Enemies is, more than ever, required reading for navigating our world. Throughout, authors Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman draw from ancient spiritual wisdom and modern psychology to help you find peace within yourself and with the world. * Includes new prefaces from both authors *

This is the first book to treat the impact of religious, philosophical and psychological traditions of the East on Western intellectuals, artists, travellers and spiritual seekers in the twentieth century. Addressed to both general readers and scholars of religion, it is especially valuable for its penetrating and inter-religious analysis of two of the most compelling themes now facing the world: the emergence of cross-cultural religious understanding of the natural order and ecological crisis and the metaphysical basis for both the formal diversity and essential unity of religious traditions of both East and West. The West has long romanticized the "mysterious" East, but it has, also, judged its traditions as "uncivilized." Our notions about Eastern spirituality have been formed by a succession of travellers, scientists, artists, intellectuals, poets, philosophers and missionaries, as well as by Eastern travellers who have spent time in the West. This book helps us to recognize the influence of Eastern ideas upon modern Western thought by tracing the history of engagements between East and West up until the present day. It concludes with a section that helps us to perceive the timeless value of the many Eastern contributions to the West's current intellectual and spiritual state.