See the potential that is within each of us—the realization and embodiment of our true nature With Demystifying Awakening, senior meditation teacher Stephen Snyder skillfully marks the subtle path of the Awakening process. With loving care, personal examples, and gentle suggestions, Stephen plants the seeds of practice and meditation by: - explaining Awakening in an accessible way that draws on Zen and Theravada Buddhist traditions; - guiding readers through more than thirty foundational and advanced meditations and practices that support each step on the path of realization; - offering advice for identifying and working with resistances to Awakening; and - encouraging the embodiment and lived expression of realization through an exploration of the pāramīs, the Buddhist perfections of behavior. Demystifying Awakening transmits a practice path for Awakening in this lifetime.
An inspiring and healing guide to immersive meditation in the ancient Buddhist heart practices—the brahmavihāras. With Buddha’s Heart, senior meditation teacher Stephen Snyder reveals an original and clear path to the powerful brahmavihāras. These practices offer rich, soothing support for the soul and a portal to spiritual awakening and deepening self-realization. Informed by Snyder’s experiential understanding, and suitable for those at any level of meditation practice, Buddha’s Heart leads us step-by-step through - traditional teachings on wholesomeness and concentration meditations to establish a supportive bedrock for our personal discovery; - guided, heart-opening meditations on loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity; further guided practices for deepening awareness, including gratitude, forgiveness, and opening to the Oneness of Reality; - exploratory exercises for each meditation practice, illuminating the psychological blocks to accessing our deeper nature’s heart qualities; and - embracing mindfulness and warm attunement in everyday life—opening our hearts to the profound depths of reality and the Absolute. Buddha’s Heart teaches what seems counterintuitive but is undeniably true: the more we open our hearts, the more resilient and flexible we are. And the more authentically vulnerable we are, the safer and more protected we become.
Two experienced American meditators explain the stages and techniques of concentration meditation, as taught by the Buddhist master Pa Auk Sayadaw This is a clear and in-depth presentation of the traditional Theravadin concentration meditation known as jhāna practice, from two authors who have practiced the jhānas in retreat under the guidance of one of the great living meditation masters, Pa Auk Sayadaw. The authors describe the techniques and their results, based on their own experience.
Purpose Awakening, the breakout book of international speaker Touré Roberts, is about that transformational moment when you are awakened to the purpose of your life. Your life began with a brilliant thought in God's mind. Your purpose, therefore, is the awakening to that thought. In this groundbreaking book, Touré introduces a new way to perceive the meaning of purpose. As he says: "You don't find purpose; purpose finds you." In fact, purpose conceived you; it was the catalyst for your birth. This thought-provoking book opens with the revolutionary concept that "Every life began as an epic idea." This new way of finding your purpose will empower you and change your life forever. You haven't even begun to live until you find out why you are here. Touré uses personal stories, humor, and eye-opening analogies to take you on a transformational journey. You will learn how to discover your unique purpose, know God's voice, identify and choose purpose mates, end wrong relationships, put an end to fear, grow your faith, and so much more. Purpose Awakening will also give you a relatable and practical guide that will instill confidence, peace, and fulfillment by demystifying the journey to purpose, and enabling you to discover your own unique awakening. Being more than just a "feel good book," Purpose Awakening provides true direction and gives parameters that guide the purpose-seeker. It will set you on a life-changing course to discovering the good idea concerning your life and the joys of seeing it fulfilled.
In his Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path, Takamaro Shigaraki examines Shin Buddhism anew as a practical path of spiritual growth and self-transformation, challenging assessments of the tradition as a passive religion of mere faith. Shigaraki presents the core themes of the Shin Buddhist path in fresh, engaging, down-to-earth language, considering each frankly from both secular and religious perspectives. Shigaraki discloses a nondual Pure Land that finds philosophical kinship with Zen but has been little discussed in the West. With its unassuming language and insights drawn from a life of practice, Heart of the Shin Buddhist Path dispels the fog of misconception that has shrouded Western appreciation of Shin traditions to reveal the limitless light of Amida Buddha that reaches all.
Master the skills of leaving the body using logic and reason. Improve self-understanding and achieve personal growth with over a dozen exit techniques. With well-ordered, rational explanations, Demystifying the Out-of-Body Experience describes how and why OBEs work. This is a groundbreaking guide for using OBEs to understand your place in the worlds that exist beyond our daily lives. Meet spiritual guides, loved ones who have crossed over, and even other out-of-body travelers who want to help you understand who you are and why you are here. Learn communication techniques and memory aids to get the most out of each experience, in addition to tips for creating a program of OBE mastery. Contrary to popular belief, many people have come back from "the other side" and shared their experiences. And now, you can be part of this life-changing exploration. Perfect for beginners and experienced seekers who want to learn about the non-physical planes in a non-mystical context and want to evolve the condition of their soul. This practical workbook for spiritual transformation is based on the research of the International Academy of Consciousness.
A memoir of a spiritual awakening journey from an African perspective. Paving your own spiritual path is not easy, it requires courage. It is not religion or even our traditional African shamanic journeying where you are often told what to believe. Creating your own path means you become the teacher and the student at the same time. The journey leads to self discovery, healing and transformation.
Embark on an extraordinary adventure with "Awakening Wholeness," designed for trailblazers aged 15-35, and the young at heart. More than a book, "Awakening Wholeness" is a living invitation to join others in reclaiming a world brimming with compassion and love. Within its transformative pages lies a roadmap that illuminates how listening to your inner guidance, caring for yourself, others, and Mother Earth are potent tools for transformative change that serves all beings. As you navigate through the anxieties and challenges of everyday life, this book is your silent guide and compass to recognize your role as a Wholesome Leader. One who has the potential to co-create a sustainable future, explore new ways of caring, and is in sync with what LIFE (Love in Full Expression) is calling you to do. Through resources, real life stories, journaling exercises and more in the book, you're not just a reader, but an active participant in reclaiming a world already resonating with peace, joy, and boundless abundance. A world that is calling you to Awaken to Wholeness.
One woman’s mystical path through grief into renewal, expanded awareness, and discovery of her own healing capabilities • Offers a lens into a wide variety of wisdomkeeping traditions and alternative healing paradigms throughout the Americas and Europe • Shows how the mystical path enables us to find renewal in times of profound loss • Details the author’s awakening to the energies of the cosmos, which can guide us toward our destiny, balanced between our soul’s dark and light energies How do you find renewal after loss, especially the loss of a child? How do you find purpose and courage when loss is your constant teacher? After weeks of profound grief following the loss of her young daughter, Sandra Corcoran found herself inexplicably at a life-changing workshop on indigenous teachings and energy healing. With the first glimpse of the light that called her to the workshop, Corcoran found herself beginning a 30-year metaphysical journey within, initially to heal her grief but eventually leading her from the darkness into the light of her own soul’s evolution. Working with Native elders and indigenous wisdomkeepers throughout North, Central, and South America, Corcoran opened her heart to the immensity of the living energies of the cosmos and discovered her shamanistic gifts as an intuitive counselor, dreamtime decoder, and facilitator for others’ self-healing. As she learned to discern these living energies and work with them, she also discovered the middle path between the soul’s dark and luminous energies, striking the balance that allows us to fulfill our destiny. Sharing the core teachings of her many indigenous and esoteric mentors, including lessons in synchronicity, metaphysics, the extraordinary power of the heart, multi-dimensional realms, and energy healing, Corcoran leads readers on an adventure across continents through birth, death, ceremony, and ritual to renewal and the frontiers of expanded consciousness. She shows that no matter how far outside of the familiar we are led, we are guided back to ourselves and offered another opportunity to embrace our world and, ultimately, find our place in it.
"If you've ever wondered how a messed up kid like you or me might master the wisdom of Zen, One Blade of Grass is the adventure for you. It's great company—and after reading it, you might recognize that you're further along than you imagined." —David Hinton, editor and translator of The Four Chinese Classics and author of The Wilds of Poetry One Blade of Grass tells the story of how meditation practice helped Henry Shukman to recover from the depression, anxiety, and chronic eczema he had had since childhood and to integrate a sudden spiritual awakening into his life. By turns humorous and moving, this beautifully written memoir demystifies Zen training, casting its profound insights in simple, lucid language, and takes the reader on a journey of their own, into the hidden treasures of life that contemplative practice can reveal to any of us. "This heartfelt and beautifully written memoir provides one of the most insightful, informative, and honest accounts of Zen practice yet to appear in English." —Stephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism
