This text emphasizes the need for peace, compassion and tolerance and is filled with lessons that everyone can learn from.
Siddhartha (Shambhala Pocket Library, #31) (Penguin Drop Caps)
by Herman Hesse
Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of a Nepali man named Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha. The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, powerful, and lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland and Wilhelm Gundert. The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth). Th...
Derived from the Anguttara Nikaya, the texts translated and chosen by Nyanaponika Bodhi and Bhikkhu Bodhi, represent the canonical discourses of the Buddha that emphasise a practical form of spirituality.'
A Short Introduction to the Philosophy of Santarakshita
by Marie Louise Friquegnon
Truth is regularly stranger than fiction for the abbot of a Buddhist temple in the far-from-tranquil inner city of Los Angeles, California. Whether he is talking a dangerously unbalanced man out of buying a gun, confronting a naked woman in his meditation hall, or helping gamblers reform, Bhante Walpola Piyananda demonstrates that every experience can be an opportunity for learning and appreciating the Buddha's teachings. Bhante Piyananda also reflects on social and political issues such as t...
Theravada Buddhism (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)
by Richard F Gombrich
Written by the leading authority on Theravada Buddhism, this up-dated edition takes into account recent research to include the controversies over the date of the Buddha and current social and political developments in Sri Lanka. Gombrich explores the legacy of the Buddha's predecessors and the social and religious contexts against which Buddhism has developed and changed throughout history, demonstrating above all, how it has always influenced and been influenced by its social surroundings in a...
Do Buddhas Go to Heaven? the Evolution of the Soul in Myth, Science and Religion
by Bob Myer
For the past two thousand years and more, the figure of Gautama, the Buddha, has attracted hagiographers and legend-makers whose writings have, for the most part, left readers with a sense of dissatisfaction and frustration. At the same time, there has been a flood of arcane scholarship on particular aspects of the Buddha's life, times, and teaching which has left the discriminating reader unmoved. This biography, written with rare elegance, delicacy, and verve will serve as a breath of fresh ai...
Sources of Vietnamese Tradition (Introduction to Asian Civilizations)
Sources of Vietnamese Tradition provides an essential guide to two thousand years of Vietnamese history and a comprehensive overview of the society and state of Vietnam. Strategic selections illuminate key figures, issues, and events while building a thematic portrait of the country's developing territory, politics, culture, and relations with neighbors. The volume showcases Vietnam's remarkable independence in the face of Chinese and other external pressures and respects the complexity of the V...
Rong Mo Tam Hon - Thuc Tap Tu Bi Trong Cuoc Song Hang Ngay
by Dalai Lama XIV
African Religions: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
by Jacob K. Olupona
Africa is home to hundreds of ethnic groups, who together speak more than a thousand languages. It is not surprising, then, that Africa's enormous range of peoples, cultures, and ways of life has engendered a wide diversity of religious practices. This Very Short Introduction offers a wide-ranging look at the myriad indigenous religious traditions on the African continent. Drawing on archeological research, historical evidence, ethnographic studies, and archival materials such as missionary re...
On Living Life Well: Echoes of the Words of the Buddha from the Theravada Tradition
Tibetan Buddhist art is not only rich in figural icons but also extremely diverse in its symbols and ritual objects. This first systematic review is an abundantly illustrated reference book on Tibetan ritual art that aids our understanding of its different types and forms, its sacred meanings and ceremonial functions. Eighteen chapters, several hundred different implements are documented in detail, in many cases for the first time and often in their various styles and iconographic forms: altar u...
In this volume John Keenan provides access to an otherwise largely unstudied Mahayana text, the Buddhabhumi-sutra, along with two commentaries that interpret the sutra in terms of Yogacara thought: the Buddhabhumivyakhyana by Silabhadra, extant in Tibetan, and Bandhuprabha's Buddhabhumyupadesa from the Chinese, which expands on Silabhadra's text with additional explanation. Due to the influence of these two commentaries, the Buddhabhumisutra has traditionally been considered a Yogacara text. In...