Abiding in Emptiness

Abiding in Emptiness PDF Author: Bhikkhu Analayo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 161429917X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
"Abiding in Emptiness presents a practice-related exploration of emptiness in daily life and formal meditation, based on instructions found in the Buddha's Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness. This presentation provides translations of the relevant textual portions followed by explanations, a summary of the main points covered in each chapter, and practice instructions. The presentation in what follows is firmly grounded in early Buddhist thought, contextualized within the doctrinal framework provided by the early discourses, in clear awareness that this differs in some respects from perspectives underlying the Chan and the Mahāmudrā / Dzogchen traditions. Versions of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness exist in Pāli, Chinese, and Tibetan. Nevertheless, meditation on emptiness in its various forms has not garnered as much attention from Theravādins as it has from practitioners of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. In an attempt to build a bridge between these different traditions and to facilitate an adoption of emptiness practices by contemporary practitioners operating within the framework of Theravāda thought, the translations are based entirely on Pāli discourse passages. The author's annotations provide a comparative perspective on such quotations. The main part of each chapter in this book consists in practice-related explorations of quotations from the Pāli version of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness (the Mahāsuññatasutta and the Cūḷa- suññatasutta). Toward the end of each exploration, the author presents a verse, translated from some other Pāli text, which in one way or another captures in a poetical manner some of the main points to be kept in mind, and a summary of the main points covered in the exploration. The first part of the verse taken up in the first chapter, entirely dedicated to daily-life dimensions of emptiness practice as the indispensable foundation for going deep in formal sitting, can also serve to convey the main theme underlying this whole book"--

Abiding in Emptiness

Abiding in Emptiness PDF Author: Bhikkhu Analayo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 161429917X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Abiding in Emptiness presents a practice-related exploration of emptiness in daily life and formal meditation, based on instructions found in the Buddha's Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness. This presentation provides translations of the relevant textual portions followed by explanations, a summary of the main points covered in each chapter, and practice instructions. The presentation in what follows is firmly grounded in early Buddhist thought, contextualized within the doctrinal framework provided by the early discourses, in clear awareness that this differs in some respects from perspectives underlying the Chan and the Mahāmudrā / Dzogchen traditions. Versions of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness exist in Pāli, Chinese, and Tibetan. Nevertheless, meditation on emptiness in its various forms has not garnered as much attention from Theravādins as it has from practitioners of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. In an attempt to build a bridge between these different traditions and to facilitate an adoption of emptiness practices by contemporary practitioners operating within the framework of Theravāda thought, the translations are based entirely on Pāli discourse passages. The author's annotations provide a comparative perspective on such quotations. The main part of each chapter in this book consists in practice-related explorations of quotations from the Pāli version of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness (the Mahāsuññatasutta and the Cūḷa- suññatasutta). Toward the end of each exploration, the author presents a verse, translated from some other Pāli text, which in one way or another captures in a poetical manner some of the main points to be kept in mind, and a summary of the main points covered in the exploration. The first part of the verse taken up in the first chapter, entirely dedicated to daily-life dimensions of emptiness practice as the indispensable foundation for going deep in formal sitting, can also serve to convey the main theme underlying this whole book"--

Emptiness

Emptiness PDF Author: Guy Armstrong
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614293635
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
If everything is empty, then what ceases in Nirvana and is born in rebirth? How can you live in the world without feeling trapped by it? Guy Armstrong tackles these questions and more in this richly informed, practical guide to emptiness for the meditator. It may seem odd for emptiness to serve as the central philosophy of a major religion. In fact, emptiness points to something quite different than “nothingness” or “vacancy.” And by developing a richer understanding of this complex topic, we can experience freedom as we live consciously in the world. Guy Armstrong has been a leading figure and beloved teacher of insight meditation for decades. In this book, he makes difficult Buddhist topics easy to understand, weaving together Theravada and Mahayana teachings on emptiness to show how we can liberate our minds and manifest compassion in our lives.

Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation

Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation PDF Author: Analayo
Publisher: Windhorse Publications
ISBN: 1909314625
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
Analayo investigates the meditative practices of compassion and emptiness by examining and interpreting material from the early Buddhist discourses. Similar to his previous study of satipaa'-a'-hana, he brings a new dimension to our understanding by comparing Pali texts with versions that have survived in Chinese, Sanskrit and Tibetan. The result is a wide-ranging exploration of what these practices meant in early Buddhism.

The Emptiness of Emptiness

The Emptiness of Emptiness PDF Author: C. W. Huntington
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824817121
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The Emptiness of Emptiness presents the first English translation of the complete text of the Madhyamakāvatāra (Entry into the Middle Way) a sixth century Sanskrit Buddhist composition that was widely studied in Tibet and, presumably, in its native India as well. In his lengthy introduction to the translation, Huntington offers a judiciously crafted, highly original discussion of the central philosophy of Mahāyāna Buddhism. He lays out the principal ideas of emptiness and dependent origination not as abstract philosophical concepts, but rather as powerful tools for restructuring the nature of human experience at the most fundamental level. Drawing on a variety of Indian and Western sources, both ancient and modern, Huntington gradually leads the reader toward an understanding of how it is that sophisticated philosophical thinking can serve as a means for breaking down attachment to any idea, opinion or belief. All of this on the Buddhist premise that habitual, unreflective identification with ideas, opinions, or beliefs compromises our appreciation of the ungraspable miracle that lies at the heart of everyday, conventional reality. The author shows how the spiritual path of the bodhisattva works to transform the individual personality from a knot of clinging into a vehicle for the expression of profound wisdom (prajñā) and unconditional love (karuṇā).

No Ajahn Chah

No Ajahn Chah PDF Author: Dhamma Garden
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789578896062
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
The quotations in this collection have been taken from Bodhinyana, A taste of freedom, A still forest pool, Samadhibhavana, Seeing the way, Living dhamma, Food for the heart, and Venerable father, a life with Ahjahn Chah. Some quotations come from a personal collection hitherto unpublished.

Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions

Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions PDF Author: Bhikkhu Analayo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614297339
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Renowned scholar-monk writes accessibly on some of the most contentious topics in Buddhism—guaranteed to ruffle some feathers. Armed with his rigorous examination of the canonical records, respected scholar-monk Bhikkhu Analayo explores—and sharply criticizes—four examples of what he terms “superiority conceit” in Buddhism: the androcentric tendency to prevent women from occupying leadership roles, be these as fully ordained monastics or as advanced bodhisattvas the Mahayana notion that those who don’t aspire to become bodhisattvas are inferior practitioners the Theravada belief that theirs is the most original expression of the Buddha’s teaching the Secular Buddhist claim to understand the teachings of the Buddha more accurately than traditionally practicing Buddhists Ven. Analayo challenges the scriptural basis for these conceits and points out that adhering to such notions of superiority is not, after all, conducive to practice. “It is by diminishing ego, letting go of arrogance, and abandoning conceit that one becomes a better Buddhist,” he reminds us, “no matter what tradition one may follow.” Thoroughly researched, Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions provides an accessible approach to these conceits as academic subjects. Readers will find it not only challenges their own intellectual understandings but also improves their personal practice.

Deepening Insight

Deepening Insight PDF Author: Bhikkhu Anālayo
Publisher: Pariyatti
ISBN: 1681724057
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
Deepening Insight presents a selection of passages from the early Buddhist discourses that provide perspectives on the cultivation of liberating insight into vedanā, “sensation,” “feeling,” or “feeling tone.” For meditators, such passages can be of considerable help as a reference point for deepening insight. A metaphor that can offer considerable help when facing vedanās describes bubbles arising on the surface of a pond during rain...they arise and soon enough burst and disappear. Contemplation of the changing nature of vedanā provides a firm foundation for the growth of insight into not self. Such insight proceeds through successive layers of the mind’s ingrained habit of self-referentiality. Based on relinquishing the explicit view of affirming the existence of a permanent self, increasingly subtler traces of conceit and possessiveness need to be successively overcome until with full awakening all selfing in any form will be removed for good. Deepening Insight is based on textual sources that reflect “early Buddhism,” which stands for the development of thought and practices during roughly the first two centuries in the history of Buddhism, from about the fifth to the third century BCE. These sources are the Pāli discourses and their parallels, mostly extant in Chinese translation, which go back to instructions and teachings given orally by the Buddha and his disciples. In those times in India, writing was not employed for such purposes, and for centuries these teachings were transmitted orally. The final results of such oral transmission are available to us nowadays in the form of written texts. Bhikkhu Anālayo's presentation is meant to provide direct access, through the medium of translation, to the Chinese Āgama parallels to relevant Pāli discourses. In commenting on such passages, his chief concern throughout is to bring out practical aspects that are relevant to actual insight meditation. Endorsements In spring 1990 S.N. Goenka initiated an international seminar named The Importance of Vedanā and Sampajañña. It had the purpose to disseminate the prominence of sensations (vedanā) as a core object of meditation to recognize the intrinsic nature of change and impermanence. Venerable Bhikkhu Anālayo now provides a thorough, comprehensive and well selected collection on vedanā as maintained in the original early Pāli Canon. Along with the comparison to the Chinese Āgama, otherwise hardly available, this collection if adapted and applied to practice may indeed serve as an inspiring source for deepening insight. —Klaus Nothnagel, Pāli teacher and Center Teacher for Dhamma Pallava in Poland

An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

An Introduction to Zen Buddhism PDF Author: D.T. Suzuki
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802198740
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
The highly influential book that helped bring Eastern spiritual principles to the Western world. One of the world’s leading authorities on Zen Buddhism, and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, D. T. Suzuki was the author of more than a hundred works on the subject in both Japanese and English, and was most instrumental in bringing the teachings of Zen Buddhism to the attention of the Western world. Written in a lively, accessible, and straightforward manner, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism is illuminating for the serious student and layperson alike. Suzuki provides a complete vision of Zen, which emphasizes self-understanding and enlightenment through many systems of philosophy, psychology, and ethics. With a foreword by the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung, this volume has been acknowledged a classic introduction to the subject. It provides, along with Suzuki’s Essays in Zen Buddhism and Manual of Zen Buddhism, a framework for living a balanced and fulfilled existence through Zen.

Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research PDF Author: Bhikkhu Analayo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614294623
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates. German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions.

The Joy of Living

The Joy of Living PDF Author: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 030738151X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
A New York Times Bestseller! For millennia, Buddhists have enjoyed the limitless benefits of meditation. But how does it work? And why? The principles behind this ancient practice have long eluded some of the best minds in modern science. Until now. In this groundbreaking work, world-renowned Buddhist teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche invites us to join him in unlocking the secrets behind the practice of meditation. Working with neuroscientists at the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, Yongey Mingyur provides clear insights into modern research indicating that systematic training in meditation can enhance activity in areas of the brain associated with happiness and compassion. He has also worked with physicists across the country to develop a fresh, scientifically based interpretation of the Buddhist understanding of the nature of reality. With an infectious joy and insatiable curiosity, Yongey Mingyur weaves together the principles of Tibetan Buddhism, neuroscience, and quantum physics in a way that will forever change the way we understand the human experience. Using the basic meditation practices he provides, we can discover paths through everyday problems, transforming obstacles into opportunities to recognize the unlimited potential of our own minds. With a foreword by bestselling author Daniel Goleman, The Joy of Living is a stunning breakthrough, an illuminating vision of the science of Buddhism and a handbook for transforming our minds, bodies, and lives.