Enlightened Paths: Buddhist Inspirational Stories for Spiritual Seekers

Enlightened Paths: Buddhist Inspirational Stories for Spiritual Seekers
Author: Nicholas Creighton
Publisher: nick creighton
Total Pages: 58
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

Embark on a journey of spiritual enlightenment with "Enlightened Paths: Buddhist Inspirational Stories for Spiritual Seekers." This captivating collection of Buddhist stories offers profound wisdom, compassion, and teachings that resonate with spiritual seekers from all walks of life. Through these inspirational tales, you'll discover the timeless lessons of Buddhism that guide individuals towards inner peace, mindfulness, and spiritual growth. Perfect for both seasoned practitioners and those new to Buddhist teachings, this book provides valuable insights and uplifting stories that illuminate the path to enlightenment. Inside this book, you will find: Inspirational Stories: A diverse collection of Buddhist tales that impart wisdom and encourage spiritual reflection. Timeless Teachings: Lessons on compassion, mindfulness, and inner peace woven into each story. Spiritual Insights: Thought-provoking reflections and interpretations to deepen your understanding of Buddhist principles. Practical Applications: Tips on how to integrate the teachings of these stories into your daily life for personal and spiritual growth. "Enlightened Paths" is your gateway to exploring the profound and transformative power of Buddhist teachings. Let these stories inspire you to cultivate a more mindful, compassionate, and enlightened life.

A Death on Diamond Mountain

A Death on Diamond Mountain
Author: Scott Carney
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2015-03-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 069818629X

An investigative reporter explores an infamous case where an obsessive and unorthodox search for enlightenment went terribly wrong. When thirty-eight-year-old Ian Thorson died from dehydration and dysentery on a remote Arizona mountaintop in 2012, The New York Times reported the story under the headline: "Mysterious Buddhist Retreat in the Desert Ends in a Grisly Death." Scott Carney, a journalist and anthropologist who lived in India for six years, was struck by how Thorson’s death echoed other incidents that reflected the little-talked-about connection between intensive meditation and mental instability. Using these tragedies as a springboard, Carney explores how those who go to extremes to achieve divine revelations—and undertake it in illusory ways—can tangle with madness. He also delves into the unorthodox interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism that attracted Thorson and the bizarre teachings of its chief evangelists: Thorson’s wife, Lama Christie McNally, and her previous husband, Geshe Michael Roach, the supreme spiritual leader of Diamond Mountain University, where Thorson died. Carney unravels how the cultlike practices of McNally and Roach and the questionable circumstances surrounding Thorson’s death illuminate a uniquely American tendency to mix and match eastern religious traditions like LEGO pieces in a quest to reach an enlightened, perfected state, no matter the cost. Aided by Thorson’s private papers, along with cutting-edge neurological research that reveals the profound impact of intensive meditation on the brain and stories of miracles and black magic, sexualized rituals, and tantric rites from former Diamond Mountain acolytes, A Death on Diamond Mountain is a gripping work of investigative journalism that reveals how the path to enlightenment can be riddled with danger.

Zen Is Right Now

Zen Is Right Now
Author: Shunryu Suzuki
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834843773

Spirituality & Practice “Best Books of 2021” Award Winner In this new collection of quotes from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and stories from his students, the presence, wisdom, and humor of a great Zen teacher come alive once more. The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now, devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students. Complementary to another collection about Suzuki, Zen Is Right Here, this book offers a joyful bounty of anecdotes and insights, revealing a playful and deeply wise teacher who delighted in paradox and laughed often. Each of the stories and quotes presented here is an example of the versatile and timeless quality evident in Suzuki’s teaching, showing that the potential for attaining enlightenment exists right now, in this very moment.

Still Running

Still Running
Author: Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2020-08-11
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 083484298X

Learn how to bring the power of stillness into your running practice with meditations, guidance, and inspiration from a long-time runner and Zen practitioner. Running is more than just exercise. Running is a practice, a moving meditation, that brings the power of stillness to all the activities in our lives. Vanessa Zuisei Goddard combines her experience leading running retreats with her two-decade practice of Zen to offer insight, humor, and practical guidance for grounding our running, or any physical practice, in meditation. When we see running solely as exercise and focus on improving our times, covering a certain number of miles, or losing weight, we miss the deeper implications of this art. Whether you are a new or experienced runner, you will learn how to be more embodied through thirteen running practices to help improve your focus and running form. Using mantras and visualizations, as well as a range of other exercises, Goddard offers ways to practice running as a moving meditation with an eye toward bringing the power of stillness to all the activities in your life. Ultimately, Still Running is a book about freedom, ease, and the joy of movement; it's about the power of stillness and learning how to use that power to live wholeheartedly.

Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages

Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages
Author: Robert Ullman
Publisher: Conari Press
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2001-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781573245074

Organized chronologically, starting with Buddha and ending with contemporary seekers, this book focuses on the moment of enlightenment in the lives of saints and masters that led to their witnessing divine reality.

Endless Path

Endless Path
Author: Rafe Martin
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2011-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1583943331

***WINNER, 2011 Storytelling World Resource Award – Best Storytelling Collection The jataka tales—stories of the Buddha’s past lives (in both human and animal form)—were first said to have been told by the Buddha himself 2,500 years ago. Five hundred and fifty jataka tales comprise part of the oldest Buddhist text, the Pali Canon. From this wealth of folklore, award-winning author and storyteller Rafe Martin has chosen ten tales that illustrate the ideals of the Buddhist paramitas, or “perfections” of character: giving, morality, forbearance, vitality, focused meditation, wisdom, compassionate skillful means, resolve, strength, and knowledge. Artist and designer Richard Wehrman helps bring the spirit of these stories alive with rich illustrations that open each chapter. Endless Path presents these ancient stories, usually reduced to children’s tales in the West, for adults, reconnecting modern seekers with the more imaginative roots of Buddhism. The jatakas help readers see their own lives, their failures and renewed efforts, in the same light as the challenges the Buddha faced—not as obstacles but as opportunities for developing character and self-understanding. Endless Path demonstrates the relevance of these tales to Buddhist lay practitioners today, as well as to those more broadly interested in Buddhist teaching and the ancient art of storytelling.

Joyful Path of Good Fortune

Joyful Path of Good Fortune
Author: Kelsang Gyatso
Publisher: Tharpa Publications
Total Pages: 656
Release: 1995
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

We all have the potential for self-transformation, and a limitless capacity for the growth of good qualities, but to fulfil this potential we need to know what to do along every stage of our spiritual journey. With this book, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso offers us step-by-step guidance on the meditation practices that will lead us to lasting inner peace and happiness. With extraordinary clarity, he presents all Buddha's teachings in the order in which they are to be practised, enriching his explanation with stories and illuminating analogies. Following these practical instructions, we will come to experience for ourselves the joy that arises from making progress on a clear and structured path that leads to full enlightenment.

Buddha

Buddha
Author: Deepak Chopra
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0061807133

Deepak Chopra brings the Buddha back to life in this gripping New York Times bestselling novel about the young prince who abandoned his inheritance to discover his true calling. This iconic journey changed the world forever, and the truths revealed continue to influence every corner of the globe today. A young man in line for the throne is trapped in his father's kingdom and yearns for the outside world. Betrayed y those closest to him, Siddhartha abandons his palace and princely title. Face-to-face with his demons, he becomes a wandering monk and embarks on a spiritual fast that carries him to the brink of death. Ultimately recognizing his inability to conquer his body and mind by sheer will, Siddhartha transcends his physical pain and achieves enlightenment. Although we recognize Buddha today as an icon of peace and serenity, his life story was a tumultuous and spellbinding affair filled with love and sex, murder and loss, struggle and surrender. From the rocky terrain of the material world to the summit of the spiritual one, Buddha captivates and inspires—ultimately leading us closer to understanding the true nature of life and ourselves.

The Guide to Enlightenment

The Guide to Enlightenment
Author: Allison Choying Zangmo
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2021-10-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834843889

Navigate the transformative potential of the student-teacher relationship with advice and personal stories from two female Buddhist teachers with decades of experience working with spiritual guides. Taking a spiritual path that genuinely transforms our lives is no easy task. It engages the deepest parts of ourselves, and there are many pitfalls and ravines that can carry us away on this sometimes treacherous path. A spiritual guide who is genuine and experienced is vital for navigating such obstacles--someone to give perspective, someone to trust, someone to light the way. The teacher-student relationship has been a core part of Buddhism from the time of the Buddha and his first disciples over 2,500 years ago, and it continues to be central to navigating a spiritual path of meditation and reflection. In this intimate collection of personal stories and advice, Allison Choying Zangmo and Carolyn Kanjuro team up to reflect on their experiences as longtime practitioners of Buddhism, their own unique relationships with their partners who are also their spiritual guides, and to celebrate and uphold the transformative power of the student-teacher relationship. As both students and leaders in their Buddhist communities, Allison and Carolyn share insights into how we can successfully interpret traditional Buddhist understandings of spiritual mentorship for today’s world. From guidance on how to find a teacher to how to face issues of miscommunication and confrontation, Kanjuro and Zangmo help readers consider their own goals and emotional boundaries as a starting point for building a positive new spiritual connection.

Inner Engineering

Inner Engineering
Author: Sadhguru
Publisher: Harmony
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2016-09-20
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0812997794

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Thought leader, visionary, philanthropist, mystic, and yogi Sadhguru presents Western readers with a time-tested path to achieving absolute well-being: the classical science of yoga. “A loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH The practice of hatha yoga, as we commonly know it, is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. In fact, yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy. A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening, from a boy with an unusual affinity for the natural world to a young daredevil who crossed the Indian continent on his motorcycle. He relates the moment of his enlightenment on a mountaintop in southern India, where time stood still and he emerged radically changed. Today, as the founder of Isha, an organization devoted to humanitarian causes, he lights the path for millions. The term guru, he notes, means “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you. . . . As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.” The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new. Inner Engineering presents a revolutionary way of thinking about our agency and our humanity and the opportunity to achieve nothing less than a life of joy.