by Pema Chödrön (2004)
"In this book Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron offers short, stand-alone readings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than a collection of thoughts for the day, Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study. Inspired by the Buddhist tradition of the 108-day retreat, the book leads the reader through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path."--BOOK JACKET.
Arinna Weisman and Jean Smith
An introduction to Vipassana Buddhism shares the fundamentals of meditation practice, the basic teachings of the Buddha, descriptions and excerpts from Buddhist text, and answers to frequently asked questions about the religion.
Katsuki Sekida
First published in 1975, Zen Training has become a classic of Zen literature. It was one of the first books to demystify religion without debunking it, to explain hitherto esoteric practices in lucid, everyday terms. It offers concrete guidelines for practicing zazen, seated meditation. Posture, breathing, the function of the abdominal muscles, muscle tone, and the mechanisms of wakefulness and attention are clearly and scientifically explained, so that one learns what actually happens in doing zazen, why it leads to certain psychological experiences, and what their significance is. There is also a chapter on koans that goes far to clarify what for many has seemed one of the most frustrating and baffling aspects of Zen. Again, the reader is told how actually to deal with koans and how they operate as catalysts of enlightenment. The author also draws many significant parallels between Zen and Western philosophy and psychology, comparing traditional Zen concepts with the theories of being and cognition of such thinkers as Heidegger and Husserl. Zen Training marked a turning point in Zen literature in its critical reevaluation of the enlightenment experience called kensho, which the author believes has often been emphasized at the expense of other important aspects of Zen training. The aim of zazen is seen not as the achievement of such experiences as satori or kensho but as the attainment of absolute samadhi, that condition of utters stillness in which thought is cut off, the mind is empty, yet one is in a state of extreme wakefulness and awareness. Absolute samadhi is considered the precondition of any kensho experience of lasting value, and indeed as "the foundation of all Zen activities." This book also goes beyond the earlier stages of Zen training to describe the more advanced stages: what happens after kensho, and above all, how one lives as well as trains in Zen.
Harold Klemp
This book by Sri Harold Klemp, the Spiritual Leader of Eckankar, gives over 100 creative techniques to contact the Light and Sound of God. The Light and Sound is also known as the Holy Spirit, the Eck or the Word. A Spiritual Exercise can be as simple as singing the word Hu (pronounced 'hue') in a long drawn out way. Christians can use Jesus, Halleluyah and other words. Hindus use Aum (Om), Ram and Hu Muslims and Sufis use Aleef Lahm Meem, Haa Meem and Hu Practising the Spiritual Exercices of Eck brings a feeling of warmth, love and protection, and opens one to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Tara Bennett-Goleman
Blends traditional Buddhist teachings with psychology and cognitive neurology into a practical program designed to help conquer self-defeating impulses and negative emotional patterns.