The predecessor to Buddhism at Work, this book concretely describes how a village movement in Sri Lanka draws on indigenous cultural and religious values to redefine the nature and purpose of development. It mobilizes and encourages popular participation, and mounts distinctive organizing strategies. It illustrates the relevance of religious traditions for any alternative development efforts in the developing and industrialized worlds.
This title explores the remarkable religious renaissance that has reformed, revitalized and renewed the practices of Buddhism and Daoism in Taiwan. Madsen connects these developments to Taiwan's transition to democracy and the burgeoning needs of its new middle classes.
Interest in the psychotherapeutic capacity of Buddhist teachings and practices is widely evident in the popular imagination. News media routinely report on the neuropsychological study of Buddhist meditation and applications of mindfulness practices in settings including corporate offices, the U.S. military, and university health centers. However, as Ira Helderman shows, curious investigators have studied the psychological dimensions of Buddhist doctrine for well over a century, stretching back to William James and Carl Jung. These activities have shaped both the mental health field and Buddhist practice throughout the United States. This is the first comprehensive study of the surprisingly diverse ways that psychotherapists have related to Buddhist traditions. Through extensive fieldwork and in-depth interviews with clinicians, many of whom have been formative to the therapeutic use of Buddhist practices, Helderman gives voice to the psychotherapists themselves. He focuses on how they understand key categories such as religion and science. Some are invested in maintaining a hard border between religion and psychotherapy as a biomedical discipline. Others speak of a religious-secular binary that they mean to disrupt. Helderman finds that psychotherapists' approaches to Buddhist traditions are molded by how they define what is and is not religious, demonstrating how central these concepts are in contemporary American culture.
America now is home to approximately five million Hindus and Jains. Their contribution to the economic and intellectual growth of the country is unquestionable. Dharma in America aims to explore the role of Hindu and Jain Americans in diverse fields such as: education and civic engagements medicine and healthcare music. Providing a concise history of Hindus and Jains in the Americas over the last two centuries, Dharma in America also gives some insights into the ongoing issues and challenges these important ethnic and religious groups face in America today.
Two renowned neuroscientists and pioneers in documenting the benefits of Transcendental Meditation give parents a guided tour of their children's brains through contemporary science and ancient Ayurvedic typology (parents can "type" their kids and themselves) for a wealth of methods and insights to maximize your child's learning and behavioral style. Dharma Parenting offers a uniquely individual approach to raising a happy and successful child. The word "dharma" means a way of living that upholds the path of evolution, maintains balance, and supports both prosperity and spiritual freedom. For the first time, we can understand why one child learns quickly and forgets quickly while another learns slowly and forgets slowly; why one child is hyperactive and another slow moving; or why one falls asleep quickly but wakes in the night while another takes hours to fall asleep. Leading brain researchers Robert Keith Wallace and Frederick Travis combine knowledge from modern science, ancient Ayurveda, and their personal experience to show how to unfold the full potential of a child's brain, as well as how to nurture his or her inherent brilliance and goodness. The first tool of Dharma Parenting is to determine your child's--and your own--brain/body type through a simple quiz. The Eastern system of natural medicine called Ayurveda has used three distinct mind/body types (and combinations of these types) for thousands of years. Scientific studies suggest that there is a specific set of genetic, biochemical, and physiological characteristics that underlie each of the three main Ayurveda mind/body types. Coupling old and new wisdom, Dharma Parenting offers unique insight into why a child is the way he or she is and reveals how to bring each child into a state of balance. Its language is readily comprehensible by parents of any cultural background, with real-life stories to illustrate areas of universal parental concern--such as emotions, behavior, language, learning styles, habits, diet, health issues, and, most importantly, the parent-child relationship.
Since its initial publication, Dharma Paths has quietly gained a reputation as one of the most useful introductory texts on Tibetan Buddhism. Assuming no prior background or knowledge of Buddhist terminology, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche presents Buddhist ways of working with anxiety and frustration, the nature and development of love and compassion, and the profound methods of the vajrayana. The Four Noble Truths, taking refuge, and the Stages of the Path are concisely explained, and clear instructions for shamatha ("calm abiding") meditation are provided. Question-and-answer sections follow each chapter, anticipating common problems and addressing them in a direct, accessible style.
A comprehensive collection of classic texts, contemporary interpretations, guidelines for activists, issue-specific information, and materials for environmentally-oriented religious practice. Sources and contributors include Basho, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Gary Snyder, Chögyam Trungpa, Gretel Ehrlich, Peter Mathiessen, Helen Tworkov (editor of Tricycle), and Philip Glass.
A no-nonsense guide to the evolution of meditation, mindfulness, and enlightenment in modern-day society—from their religious origins in the East to their more secular incarnations in the West Evolving Dharma is the definitive guide to the meditation revolution. Fearless, unorthodox, and irreverent scholar and activist Jay Michaelson shows how meditation and mindfulness have moved from ashrams and self-help groups to classrooms and hospitals, and offers unusually straight talk about the “Big E”— enlightenment. Michaelson introduces us to maverick brain hackers, postmodern Buddhist monks, and cutting-edge neuroscientists and shares his own stories of months-long silent retreats, powerful mystical experiences, and many pitfalls along the way. Evolving Dharma is a must-read for the next-generation meditator, the spiritually cynical, and the curious adventurer in all of us.
