The Science of Enlightenment

The Science of Enlightenment
Author: Shinzen Young
Publisher: Sounds True
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2018-08-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781683642121

Enlightenment—is it a myth or is it real? Across time and culture, inner explorers have discovered that the liberated state is a natural experience, as real as the sensations you are having right now. Few teachers achieve clarity with the application of scientific inquiry to these states of consciousness like Shinzen Young. Now in paperback, The Science of Enlightenment makes Young’s essential insights available to readers everywhere. The Science of Enlightenment merges scientific precision, Young’s grasp of the source-language teachings of many spiritual traditions, and his rare gift for sparking insight upon insight through original analogies and illustrations. The result: an uncommonly lucid "Aha, now I get it!" guide to mindfulness meditation—how it works and how to use it to enhance our cognitive capacities, compassion, and experience of happiness independent of conditions. For meditators of all levels and lineages, this multifaceted wisdom gem will be sure to surprise, provoke, illuminate, and inspire.

Resurrecting Jesus

Resurrecting Jesus
Author: Adyashanti
Publisher: Sounds True
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1622031628

For almost two millennia, the story of Jesus has shaped the lives of countless people. Yet today, even though the majority of us grew up in a culture suffused by the mythos of Jesus, many of us feel disconnected from the essence of his teachings. With Resurrecting Jesus, Adyashanti invites us to rediscover the life and words of Jesus as a direct path to the most radical of transformations: spiritual awakening. Jesus crossed all of the boundaries that separated the people of his time because he viewed the world from the perspective of what unites us, not what divides us. In Resurrecting Jesus, Adya embarks on a fascinating reconsideration of the man known as Jesus, examining his life from birth to Resurrection to reveal a timeless model of awakening and enlightened engagement with the world. Through close consideration of the archetypal figures and events of the Gospels, Adya issues a call to “live the Christ” in a way that is unique to each of us. “When the eternal and the human meet,” writes Adya, “that’s where love is born—not through escaping our humanity or trying to disappear into transcendence, but through finding that place where they come into union.” Resurrecting Jesus is a book for realizing this union in your own life, with heart and mind wide open to the mystery inside us all. With an all-new foreword by Episcopalian priest and scholar Cynthia Bourgeault.

Living Zen, Loving God

Living Zen, Loving God
Author: Ruben L. F. Habito
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2013-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0861718968

The release of Ruben Habito's new book, Living Zen, Loving God has coincided with a rave review from Publishers Weekly magazine: "Habito may not seem himself as a revolutionary, but his humble life calling - to illuminate the commonalities between Zen Buddhism and Christianity - seems a profound gift. Habito excels in illuminating the connective spiritual tissue between the two religions, while explaining the principles of Buddhism. This is an excellent book for readers who want to deepen their understanding of Christianity, as well as Buddhism." - Publishers Weekly Exactly right. This wonderful book, in its friendly, informative tone, carefully explains Buddhist ideas - from key concepts like Emptiness and The Truth of Suffering to an in-depth and enlightening examination of the Heart Sutra - all in terms that will help modern Christian practitioners to deepen their faith, and Buddhists, to revitalize and broaden their perception and understanding. This is a book with immense value to anyone interested in interreligious dialogue and studies, and as such, has already won accolades from Habito's contemporaries. (See below.) Habito, a practicing Catholic and former Jesuit priest - as well as an acknowledged Zen master and professor in the School of Theology at Southern Methodist University - makes a clear case that Zen practice can deepen a Christian's connection to God, further clarify the Gospel teachings of Jesus, and enable one to live a more joyous, compassionate, and socially engaged life. Habito demonstrates that the practice of Zen meditation and even some elements of the Buddhist worldview can enable one to love God more constantly and commit to the service of the Realm of Heaven and the human community more wholeheartedly. Ruben L.F. Habito is the author of numerous publications, in both Japanese and English, on Zen and Christianity and is a prominent figure in the Buddhist-Christian Dialogue. A native of the philipines, Habito served as a Jesuit priest in Japan under the guidance of the great spiritual pioneer Father Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle and studied Zen with renowned teacher Koun Yamada. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Christian - Zen Dialogue

Christian - Zen Dialogue
Author: Jijimon Alakkalam Joseph SVD
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1506470785

This book is an attempt to contribute to interfaith-dialogue initiatives spearheaded by the Catholic Church with Zen, one of the major and fast-growing spiritual traditions in East Asia. In recent years, the Catholic Church has emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue in its missionary activities and has encouraged all to take part actively. The number of conferences organized, discussions held, and articles written on interfaith dialogue has escalated. However, interfaith dialogue remains mostly in the realm of specialists. The majority of ordinary believers/laity have not yet become part of interfaith-dialogue activities. Many are unaware of such activities because often they don't take place where ordinary people spend their daily lives. Others shy away because interfaith-dialogue activities are too specialized. But Joseph's experience growing up in a multireligious context in India taught him that the participation of ordinary believers is necessary if interfaith dialogue is to achieve its intended results. Christian - Zen Dialogue focuses on narratives of faith in Christianity and Zen. Can these sacred stories--gospel stories of Jesus and Chan/Zen stories (K_ans)--be a starting point for dialogue between the two faiths? The book focuses on two aspects: First, what model of interfaith dialogue can help Catholics and Zen followers of all walks of life engage in faith dialogue while remaining in their own life situations? Second, how can they make use of the common elements found in their narratives of faith as the most appropriate starting point for dialogue between them? To achieve the intended results, Joseph applies the hermeneutic phenomenological approach of Paul Ricoeur.

Christian Zen

Christian Zen
Author: William Johnston
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
Total Pages: 152
Release: 1997
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780823218011

When Christian Zen was first published in the early 1970's, it was reviewed enthusiastically in many parts of the world. A subsequent edition added new material from the author's experience. This latest edition, from Fordham University Press, includes a new Preface by the author and a letter to the author from the Christian mystic Thomas Merton, written shortly before Merton's untimely death. William Johnston presents a study of Zen meditation in the light of Christian mysticism.

Be Still and Know

Be Still and Know
Author: Habito, Ruben
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2017-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608336808

Zen and the Brain

Zen and the Brain
Author: James H. Austin
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 876
Release: 1999-06-04
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780262260350

A neuroscientist and Zen practitioner interweaves the latest research on the brain with his personal narrative of Zen. Aldous Huxley called humankind's basic trend toward spiritual growth the "perennial philosophy." In the view of James Austin, the trend implies a "perennial psychophysiology"—because awakening, or enlightenment, occurs only when the human brain undergoes substantial changes. What are the peak experiences of enlightenment? How could these states profoundly enhance, and yet simplify, the workings of the brain? Zen and the Brain presents the latest evidence. In this book Zen Buddhism becomes the opening wedge for an extraordinarily wide-ranging exploration of consciousness. In order to understand which brain mechanisms produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain. Austin, both a neurologist and a Zen practitioner, interweaves the most recent brain research with the personal narrative of his Zen experiences. The science is both inclusive and rigorous; the Zen sections are clear and evocative. Along the way, Austin examines such topics as similar states in other disciplines and religions, sleep and dreams, mental illness, consciousness-altering drugs, and the social consequences of the advanced stage of ongoing enlightenment.

There Is No God and He Is Always with You

There Is No God and He Is Always with You
Author: Brad Warner
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2013-05-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 160868184X

Can you be an atheist and still believe in God? Can you be a true believer and still doubt? Can Zen give us a way past our constant fighting about God? Brad Warner was initially interested in Buddhism because he wanted to find God, but Buddhism is usually thought of as godless. In the three decades since Warner began studying Zen, he has grappled with paradoxical questions about God and managed to come up with some answers. In this fascinating search for a way beyond the usual arguments between fundamentalists and skeptics, Warner offers a profoundly engaging and idiosyncratic take on the ineffable power of the “ground of all being.”

Zen Contemplation for Christians

Zen Contemplation for Christians
Author: Elaine MacInnes
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2003
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781580511339

This is the fascinating story of how and why a Catholic nun became an accomplished Zen Master.

One God Clapping

One God Clapping
Author: Alan Lew
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1580231152

From Zen Buddhist practitioner to rabbi, East meets West in this firsthand account of a spiritual journey. Rabbi Alan Lew is known as the Zen Rabbi, a leader in the Jewish meditation movement who works to bring two ancient religious traditions into our everyday lives. One God Clapping is the story of his roundabout yet continuously provoking spiritual odyssey. It is also the story of the meeting between East and West in America, and the ways in which the encounter has transformed how all of us understand God and ourselves. Winner of the PEN / Joseph E. Miles Award Like a Zen parable or a Jewish folk tale, One God Clapping unfolds as a series of stories, each containing a moment of revelation or instruction that, while often unexpected, is never simple or contrived. One God Clapping, like the life of the remarkable Alan Lew himself, is a bold experiment in the integration of Eastern and Western ways of looking at and living in the world.