Finding an Authentic LIfe

Publisher's Description:

How did an undisciplined child, an utter waster in his twenties who squandered the best part of his early life away in the pubs, wine bars, and nightclubs of London, find himself playing solo concerts in Japan on a Zen flute? This book began out of a response to that question. Blowing Zen is the story of the author's search for an authentic life. The path he follows leads to a wonderful spontaneity that fuses art, mind, body, and spirit. It was written in the hope that at least one person with thoughts of changing their life will be inspired into action.

 The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh 

Publishers Description: Bringing the energy of true presence into our lives really does change things for the better—and all it takes is a little training. This treasury of 365 gems of daily wisdom from one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers of our age is a help and support for anyone who wants to train to meet every moment of life with 100 percent attention. Thich Nhat Hanh shows how practicing mindfulness can transform every area of our lives—and how its benefits radiate beyond us to affect others and the whole, larger world.

Editor's Notes: I don't have much to add to the description other than it is true to most of Hanh's books - full of inspiration, thoughtfulness, and upliftment. This is a lovely way to start the day. I don't take them in order, but open randomly each morning for a "message" to start my day. This morning, I turned to 121, "Every object of the mind is itself mind." Words to ponder for sure.

Publisher’s Description: In the Buddhist tradition, love is not just a feeling but a way of being present with ourselves and others. This book offers practical advice on how to cultivate love, how to deepen it, and how to let it flower in our lives. 

We may feel great love for our partners, our children, and our friends, but how do we put that love into action so that others are nurtured by it? And what about loving ourselves? How can we develop greater self-acceptance and self-compassion?

Meditation teacher Moh Hardin offers key insights and practices from the Buddhist tradition for deepening our relationships and finding true fulfillment in our lives. 

Topics include: 

   • Simple Buddhist practices for awakening the heart 

   • How and why to become your own best friend 

   • Finding freedom from destructive patterns in relationships 

   • Listening and speaking with love 

   • Loving and letting go 

Publisher's Description: Bring Me the Rhinoceros is an unusual guide to happiness and a can opener for your thinking. For fifteen hundred years, Zen koans have been passed down through generations of masters, usually in private encounters between teacher and student. This book deftly retells more than a dozen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. Koans show that you don’t have to impress people or change into an improved, more polished version of yourself. Instead you can find happiness by unbuilding, unmaking, throwing overboard, and generally subverting unhappiness. John Tarrant brings the heart of the koan tradition out into the open, reminding us that the old wisdom remains as vital as ever, a deep resource available to anyone in any place or time.

Publisher’s Description:  A tulku is a fully enlightened one (buddha) or highly accomplished adept (siddha) who choses to be reborn again and again for the benefit of all beings. Most tulkus, though, are the rebirths of well-trained masters who are engaged in spiritual training and service. Tibetan Buddhists have, for well over a millennium, been meticulously following the tradition of finding, recognizing, enthroning, training, and venerating these revered figures, who provide teachings of libration for both monks and lay people.