Karma And Chaos

These eight essays explore the interface between psychiatry, science, and the timeless teachings of the Buddha. Drawn from the personal experiences of a therapist and practitioner of Vipassana meditation, this work explores meditation’s similarities and differences with psychotherapeutic and scientific endeavors. In the title essay, parallels are drawn between the atomic synthesis of free choice and lawful consequence in Chaos Theory and karma, offering contemporary insights into one of Buddhism’s core concepts. The empirical roots of meditation, its relevance to daily life, and the challenges and benefits of daily practice of Vipassana meditation are also addressed. Practical examples for continued observation outside of formal meditation retreats guide readers in incorporating Buddhist practice into daily life.

Nous n'avons jamais eu autant besoin des bénéfices thérapeutiques à retirer d'une meilleure conscience de soi que dans le monde d'aujourd'hui, dans toute sa complexité. Tout au long de sept essais poétiques et passionnants, le Dr Fleischman explore les connections existant entre la psychiatrie, la science et la méditation. Il s'agit d'une nouvelle traduction de ce livre achevée en 2021.

Hidden Buddhas may well be Liza Dalby's best work yet; with its fascinating story of characters caught up in a world they themselves don't understand. Besides taking us on a journey through little-known corners of Japan, it offers us an engaging and believable portrait of people driven to do things they may not have imagined.'' - Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha According to Buddhist theology, the world is suffering through a final corrupt era called mapp. As mapp continues, chaos will increase until the center can no longer hold. Then the world will end. In Japan, many believe that Miroku, Buddha of the Future, will appear and bring about a new age of enlightenment. From this ancient notion of doom and rebirth comes a startling new novel by the acclaimed author of Geisha and The Tale of Murasaki. Hundreds of temples in Japan are known to keep mysterious ''hidden buddhas'' secreted away except on rare designated viewing days. These statues are not hidden because they are powerful - their power lies in their being hidden. Are they being protected, or are they protecting the world? In this novel, one Buddhist priest struggles with the dictates of his inherited orthodoxy, while another rebels. An American graduate student begins to suspect the mysterious purpose of the hidden buddhas, just as he falls in love with a beautiful Japanese artist who is haunted by an aborted child. The weaving of karma that brings these two together results in a tech-savvy half-Western, half-Japanese child who text-messages her way through the profane world to enlightenment. Tracing the lives of its characters through the late twentieth century to the present, from Paris to Kyoto to California, Hidden Buddhas turns a cosmopolitan eye on discipline and decadence in religion, fashion, politics, and modern life. Liza Dalby is an anthropologist and writer specializing in Japan. She lives in Berkeley, California.

We have come here as a group to help you because it is a pivotal time in your planet’s evolution. You are seeing monumental changes in your society now. To achieve the shifts that these transfigurations will bring about, you must understand your minds, histories, and human nature as you experience it on the ground, in your hearts, and in your consciousnesses. You are going to be shown another version of the story about one of the great horrors of your twentieth century — the Holocaust. This kind of devastation has happened many times in your society. There have been massacres, mass extinctions, and social atrocities throughout your history, but this one continues to live in your hearts and minds. We must address it so that you can move into the new world — your new elevating and increasing frequency of consciousness — without old baggage. Your baggage, judgments, and fears must be released for you to enter this new world, this new time on your planet, with clear and uncontaminated minds. It is our purpose to bring you through this journey so that you will understand, forgive, and walk unencumbered into your new future. — Ananda

How to get out from under fate's unpredictable grasp and make your life positive, productive, and happy. "Everyone else has it together; why is life such a struggle for me?" For anyone who has ever felt powerless, here is a proven way to break free from those feelings of cosmic misfortune and achieve unlimited potential. The authors offer aunique approach to taking command of the negative forces that seem beyond our control--fate, bad luck, and karma--and creating a life that brims with positive momentum and growth. Take Control of Your Life presents a transformation process that enables readers to make a friend of chaos increase good luck, get into "the flow", and usedecisions to direct their lives toward their goals. Further, it will enable them to put karma on their side and reap its rewards, wield their will and leave a mark on the world, and achieve a state of ease and grace.

In the tradition of Holy Cow and Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, a fascinating travel memoir of finding yourself in the India of rickshaws and rainy seasons. Jenny was miserable, and it was all India's fault...until she realized it wasn't. When Jenny's husband gets transferred to India for work, she looks forward to a new life filled with glamorous expat friends and exciting adventures. What she doesn't expect is endless bouts of food poisoning, buffalo in the streets, and crippling loneliness in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Ten thousand miles away from home, Jenny struggles to fight off depression and anger as her sense of self and her marriage begin to unravel. But after months of bitterness and takeout pizza, Jenny realizes what the universe has been trying to tell her all along: India doesn't need to change. She does. Equal parts frustration, absurdity, and revelation, this is the true story of a Starbucks-loving city girl finding beauty in the chaos and making her way in the land of karma.

This collection of prose poems is based upon the teaching of the Buddha. The selections have been chosen for inspiration, rather than representing the full span of the teaching. We have previously presented them as slides, or read them aloud to friends, on various occasions, such as after workshops, following assistant teacher meetings, around fireplaces in national parks, or after evening metta. They have consistently been received with appreciation, and have evoked multiple requests for their publication. All of these compositions combine the Buddha’s thoughts with contemporary phrasing. They cannot be considered direct quotes from the Pali Canon, because we have worked only with English language translations, and because we have combined similar passages, or modified the language for readability. But at the same time, we can’t claim that these words are original to us, because they are in the spirit of the Buddha. They are brief, poetic, re-speaking of some of the Buddha’s most important ideas. They are sparks from the campfire that continue to glow in the dark. Our intention is that these slides, or pages, will inspire meditators and nonmeditators alike. They are written from the authentic experience of the troubling human condition, and they speak from the standpoint of suffering and the Path out of suffering. They are insights that have crossed the bridge of time from ancient India to today. We hope you will find wisdom flowing through time on the river of words that originates in the ancient spring of the Pali Canon. —Paul R. and Susan K. Fleischman