Wisdom Publications :: Interreligious Dialogue

Interreligious Dialogue

Wisdom books on the intersections of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - and cultivating much needed compassionate tolerance for all religious viewpoints.

Awakening Through Love

Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness
John Makransky, Author
Lama Surya Das, Foreword

Mother Theresa. The Dalai Lama. Nelson Mandela. Gandhi. Some admire such figures from afar and think, How special they are; I could never be like that. But as John Makransky has learned, the power of real and enduring love lies within every one of us. Awakening Through Love is his guide to finding it.

In Awakening Through Love, he pioneers new ways of making Tibetan meditations of compassion and wisdom accessible to people of all backgrounds and faiths. Drawing from Tibetan teachings of compassion and the Dzogchen teachings of innate wisdom, and using plain, practical instruction, he helps readers uncover the unity of wisdom and love in the very nature of their minds. Then Lama John describes how to actualize those qualities in every aspect of family life, work, service and social action.

An mp3 audio file of guided meditations by Lama John Makransky is also available to accompany his book. You can download the audio file at http://foundationforactivecompassion.org/audios-videos-texts.

ISBN:0-86171-537-3_|_280_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Beside Still Waters

Jews, Christians, and the Way of the Buddha
John Keenan, Editor
Linda Klepinger Keenan , Editor_|_Harold Kasimow, Editor

A compelling question for people of faith today is how to remain committed to one's own religious tradition while being open to the beauty and truth of other religions. By example: Some fear that Buddhism is a threat to Western faith traditions and express grave doubts about interreligious and cross-cultural encounters. Yet, many who have actually broadened their experience profess to have developed a deeper understanding of and a deeper commitment to their tradition of origin.

This is what makes Beside Still Waters: Jews, Christians, and the Way of the Buddha such a new and meaningful contribution. Rather than offering research or lectures, Beside Still Waters takes a deeply personal approach, allowing the reader to delve into the individual experiences of fourteen Jews and Christians whose encounters with Buddhism have truly impacted their sense of religious identity.

As Jack Miles, (author of God: A Biography), says in the book's Foreword, "The Buddhist presence in the religious world is far larger than a head-count of Buddhists can reveal." Beside Still Waters upholds this point by way of the diverse and eloquent authors who lend their perspective in its pages; these include Sylvia Boorstein, John B. Cobb, Norman Fischer, Ruben Habito, and other important members of the Jewish, Christian, and scholarly communities. Their anecdotes and interviews, collected here, amount to an unprecedented and enduring work, sure to deepen our ability to understand each other, and therefore, ourselves.

ISBN:0-86171-336-2_|_288 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Business and the Buddha

Doing Well by Doing Good
Lloyd Field, Ph.D., Author
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Foreword_|_Master Hsing Yun, Foreword

When it comes to business, everyone wants to do well. But can we do good at the same time? Lloyd Field (and, indeed the Dalai Lama, who provides the foreword here) says, unequivocally, Yes. Field's Business and the Buddha lays out the guidelines for putting ideas about individual and corporate social responsibility into practice without sacrificing the bottom line.

No longer can business—big or small—afford to focus solely on profit. Real assessment of a business's worth must take into account its consideration of our shared human values, and the realities of our shared planet. That doesn't mean a business can't or shouldn't compete; it means that investing in efforts to build a better society can be, on many levels, an asset.

Drawing in a substantial and sophisticated way on traditional Buddhist teachings, Lloyd Field shows how decision-makers and entrepreneurs can achieve new levels of happiness and security both inside and outside the company, and take a power-position as a force for positive global change.

ISBN:0-86171-544-6_|_232 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Christian Insight Meditation

Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross
Mary Jo Meadow, Author
Kevin Culligan, Author_|_Daniel Chowning, Author

The practice of Christian insight meditation can enliven one's entire prayer life. It can prepare our hearts to hear God's word in new ways, set the stage for new insight into the deeper meaning of the words and symbols we celebrate in Christian worship and practice, and help us to grow in the purity of heart, poverty of spirit, and emptiness of self that dispose us for God's work in our lives. The practice is particularly valuable for taking prayer beyond discursiveness, petition, and thinking. Christian insight meditation is nothing short of a powerful way to "pray always" and practice loving presence to God.

Drawing heavily on the teachings of St. John of the Cross, and also drawing from the illuminating writings of Teresa of Avila, the authors here offer a masterful explication of a practice and path firmly grounded in the meditative technology of Eastern wisdom, yet wholly and vividly Christian in spirit.

ISBN:0-86171-526-8_|_288 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Compassionate Life, The (Cloth Edition)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Author

"The key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion." —His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Giving and receiving affection is the key to happiness, and compassion is the key that opens our hearts to affection. Illuminating themes touched upon in The Good Heart and The Art of Happiness, this generous and gentle book contains some of the most beloved teachings on compassion that the Dalai Lama has ever offered. Touching and transformative, The Compassionate Life is a personal invitation from one of the world's most gifted teachers to live a life of happiness, joy, true prosperity.

Collected here for the first time are four of the Dalai Lama's most accessible and inspiring teachings on compassion. The purpose of life is to be happy, His Holiness reminds us. To be happy, we should devote ourselves to developing our own peace of mind; the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own peace of mind. Therefore, we must develop compassion for others in order to be truly happy.

In these four teachings—imbued with the gentle humor and extraordinary kindness of this incomparable teacher—His Holiness explores altruism and the need for compassion on an individual as well as a global scale. He offers specific practices for developing loving-kindness and compassion in even the most difficult situations.

ISBN:0-86171-301-X_|_128 pages_|_Our Price: $15.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Compassionate Life, The (Paperback)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Author

"The key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion."—His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Giving and receiving affection is the key to happiness, and compassion is the key that opens our hearts to affection. Illuminating themes touched upon in The Good Heart The Art of Happiness, this generous and gentle book contains some of the most beloved teachings on compassion that the Dalai Lama has ever offered. Touching and transformative, The Compassionate Life is a personal invitation from one of the world's most gifted teachers to live a life of happiness, joy, true prosperity.

In these four teachings—mbued with the gentle humor and extraordinary kindness of this incomparable teacher—His Holiness explores altruism and the need for compassion on an individual as well as a global scale. He offers specific practices for developing loving-kindness and compassion in even the most difficult situations.

ISBN:0-86171-378-8_|_128 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Dharma of Star Wars, The

Matthew Bortolin, Author

Is Yoda a Zen Master? What might Jedi training be like? Is the story of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader part of a spiritual epic?

The answers-as well as excitement, adventure, and a lot of fun-are here!

The Dharma of Star Wars uses George Lucas' beloved modern saga and the universal discoveries of the Buddha to illuminate each other in playful and unexpectedly rewarding ways. Bortolin even reveals satisfying depths to the second trilogy of movies-the ones that met with what can understatedly be called a less-than-warm critical reception. The Dharma of Star Wars gives you an inpsiring and totally new take on this timeless saga, from A New Hope all the way up to 2005's Revenge of the Sith. Great fun for any Star Wars fan. Imagine The Power of Myth... with lightsabers!

Includes instruction in THE JEDI ART OF MINDFULNESS AND CONCENTRATION, and THE PADAWAN HANDBOOK: ZEN CONTEMPLATIONS FOR THE WOULD-BE JEDI.

Fun for all ages, The Dharma of Star Wars is also a perfect way for Buddhist parents to bridge the generation gap.

ISBN:0-86171-497-0_|_224 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Dreaming Me

Black, Baptist, and Buddhist - One Woman’s Spiritual Journey
Jan Willis,

Jan Willis is not Baptist or Buddhist. She is simply both. Dreaming Me is the story of her life, as a child growing up in the Jim Crow South, dealing with racism in an Ivy League college, and becoming involved with the Black Panther Party. But it wasn't until meeting Lama Yeshe, a Tibetan Buddhist monk living in the mountains of Nepal that she realized who the real Jan Willis was, and how to make the most of the life she was living.

ISBN:0-86171-548-9_|_384 pages_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Good Heart, The

A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Author

The Dalai Lama provides an extraordinary Buddhist perspective on the teachings of Jesus, commenting on well-known passages from the four Christian Gospels including the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the mustard seed, the Resurrection, and others.

ISBN:0-86171-114-9_|_224 pp_|_Our Price: $19.2 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Good Heart, The

A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Author
Robert Kiely, Editor_|_Dom Laurence Freeman, Introduction
Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Translator
The Dalai Lama provides an extraordinary Buddhist perspective on the teachings of Jesus, commenting on well-known passages from the four Christian Gospels including the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the mustard seed, the Resurrection, and others.

ISBN:0-86171-138-6_|_224 pages_|_Our Price: $12.76 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Healing Breath

Zen for Christians and Buddhists in a Wounded World
Ruben L.F. Habito, Author

Healing the woundedness of Earth is not unrelated to healing our personal woundedness. The wounds of Earth and those of the individuals making up our Earth community cannot be separated. Thus the healing of our individual lives can become the basis of the healing of Earth. This book sheds light on Zen as a spiritual path that leads to healing-in the personal, social, and ecological dimensions of our being. If you are seeking a form of spiritual practice that addresses all three of these dimensions or simply seeking to deepen your understanding of the Zen path, it is written for you. If instead of fragmentation, disorientation, and vacuity, you seek wholeness, groundedness, and integrity in your life-The Healing Breath is for you. Perhaps you, too, have come to realize that our global community is in a sad state of affairs, that we need to radically change how we live and relate to one another and to the Earth. You may already be engaged in some form of social or ecological action addressing these issues-and you may feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. If you've been tempted to pessimism or have thrown up your hands in despair when your best efforts don't seem to make a dent, this book is for you, The Healing Breath offers a way to integrate a spiritual path with active, socio-ecological engagement as the ground.

This book also addresses another set of questions:

Can a Christian practice genuine Zen? How is Zen practice compatible with a Christian faith commitment? To fully engage in a Zen practice, what kind of belief system is presupposed or required? How can spiritual practice in an Easternn tradition inform Christian life and understanding?

In the process of describing the Zen way of life, The Healing Breath will consider various Christian expressions, symbols, and practices-not as an apologetic for that belief system, but to show how they, too, point to the transformative and healing perspectives and experiences provided by Zen.

ISBN:0-86171-508-X_|_184 pp_|_Our Price: $12.76 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Living Zen, Loving God

Ruben L.F. Habito, Author
John Keenan, Foreword

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.

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.

ISBN:0-86171-383-4_|_168 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Mindful Politics

A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place
Melvin McLeod, Editor

"I've studied politics my entire life. It's been because of my time working on this book that I've finally learned what's really important in politics." So says Melvin McLeod, editor of Mindful Politics, a book that transcends Right and Left, progressive and conservative, to get to the heart of what matters: how we can all make a positive difference in our complex political world.

This is not your typical political book. It's not written at a fever pitch, it doesn't use a good/bad binary, and it doesn't tout partisan policies. Instead, this timely collection addresses the less-discussed but more important questions about politics: What insight does religion have to offer politics? How can we as concerned citizens move beyond the particulars of legislation and party affiliation, and take direct action? How, amid divisive and challenging times, can personal growth and effective advocacy take place together?

In short, Mindful Politics offers the persectives of 34 important authors and thinkers on how each of us, right now, can make the world a better place.

McLeod includes essays and insights from some of the brightest, and most controversial, lights of Buddhism - and beyond.

ISBN:0-86171-298-6_|_320 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Mission to Tibet

The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Account of Father Ippolito Desideri, S.J.
Michael J. Sweet, Translator
Leonard Zwilling, Editor

Mission to Tibet recounts the fascinating eighteenth-century journey of the Jesuit priest ippolito Desideri (1684–1733) to the Tibetan plateau. The italian missionary was most notably the first european to learn about Buddhism directly with Tibetan schol ars and monks—and from a profound study of its primary texts. while there, Desideri was an eyewitness to some of the most tumultuous events in Tibet’s history, of which he left us a vivid and dramatic account.

Desideri explores key Buddhist concepts including emptiness and rebirth, together with their philosophical and ethical implications, with startling detail and sophistication. This book also includes an introduction situating the work in the context of Desideri’s life and the intellectual and religious milieu of eighteenth-century Catholicism.

ISBN:0-86171-676-0_|_832 pages_|_Our Price: $27.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Nightly Wisdom

Buddhist Inspirations for Sleeping, Dreaming, and Waking Up
Josh Bartok, Editor
Gustavo Szpilman Cutz, Editor

Includes inspiring nighttime reflections from:

Shakyamuni Buddha * The Dalai Lama * Padmasambhava * Eihei Dogen * Ajahn Brahm * Susan Murphy * Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche * Ezra Bayda * Gyatrul Rinpoche * Lama Yeshe * Geshe Lhundub Sopa * Serinity Young * Kalu Rinpoche * Robert Langan * Barry Magid * Venerable Yin-Shun * Manhae * Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche * B. Alan Wallace

…and many more!

Nightly Wisdom mines a rich vein of Buddhist teachings on such topics as lucid dreaming, Tibetan "dream yoga"--the art of extending meditation into the boundless world of dreams--and relaxing into restful sleep. In addition to inspiration and encouragement, you'll find here simple practices for transforming your sleep into something that's beneficial in entirely new ways, as well as practices for greeting each morning with fresh eyes-and an open heart.

Featuring poetry and prose from sources modern and ancient (including the Buddha himself), Nightly Wisdom is a bedside keepsake, perfect for anyone who has wants to wake up to the entirety of life or bring fresh wisdom into that third of our lives we spend in bed.

ISBN:0-86171-549-7_|_304 pages_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Spiritual Legacy of Shaolin Temple, The

Buddhism, Daoism, and the Energetic Arts
Andy James, Author
Jerry Alan Johnson, Foreword

Combining the genius of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Daoism with rigorous physical and martial discipline and breathing exercises, the training that originated at China's famous Shaolin Temple was a unique elixir that would change the way the world perceived mind and body. Here, Andy James exposes the hitherto unrecognized spiritual legacy of Shaolin Temple, which has provided modernity with comprehensive, time-tested techniques in martial arts, health maintenance, energetic healing and spiritual transformation.

In addition to Buddhism and Daoism, James explores Qigong (Chi Kung) and the "internal" systems of martial arts such as Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan). While many books have traced Chan's story into Japan, James remains in China to explain how the unique spiritual, martial and energetic traditions of the Shaolin Temple continued to interact and evolve in dynamic relation to culture, society, and the individual. This engaging and very personal book will appeal to martial arts enthusiasts, healing arts professionals, and anyone interested in the mind-body connection.

ISBN:0-86171-352-4_|_208 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

The Best of Inquiring Mind

25 Years of Dharma, Drama, and Uncommon Insight
Edited by Barbara Gates and Wes Nisker,

For over a quarter century Inquiring Mind has been a pathblazer at the forefront of Buddhism in the West. Rich in insight, humor, and world-renowned expertise, The Best of Inquiring Mind is an unprecedented gathering of wisdom from the minds of some of the most influential thinkers in the realm of modern Dharma.

ISBN:0-86171-551-9_|_360_|_Our Price: $14.36 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems

A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought
Thuken Losang Chokyi Nyima,

The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems by Thuken Losang Chokyi Nyima (1737–1802), is arguably the widest-ranging account of religious philosophies ever written in pre-modern Tibet. Like most Tibetan texts on philosophical systems, this work covers the major schools of India, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, but then goes on to discuss in detail the entire range of Tibetan traditions as well, with separate chapters on the Nyingma, Kadam, Kagyu, Shije, Sakya, Jonang, Geluk, and Bon schools. Not resting there, Thuken goes on to describe the major traditions of China—Confucian, Daoist, and the multiple varieties of Buddhist—as well as those of Mongolia, Khotan, and even Shambhala. The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems is unusual, too, in its concern not just to describe and analyze doctrines, but to trace the historical development of the various traditions. The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems is an eloquent and erudite presentation exploring the religious history and philosophical systems of an array of Asian Cultures—and offering evidence that the serious and sympathetic study of the history of religions has not been a monopoly of Western scholarship.

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ISBN:0-86171-464-4_|_696 pages_|_Our Price: $47.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Walking the Way

81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching
Robert Rosenbaum, Author
Sojun Mel Weitsman, Foreword

Walking the Way affirms that, like yin and yang, the flowing spontaneity of Tao and the precise simplicity of Zen find perfect balance with one another. Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum brings the two traditions together in a unique presentation that elicits Zen insights from his fresh interpretation of verses from the perennial Taoist classic, the Tao Te Ching. Personal anecdotes from Rosenbaum’s life illustrate the dynamic potential of his approach, skillfully revealing Zen within the Tao and the Tao of Zen.

ISBN:1-61429-025-3_|_384_|_Our Price: $14.36 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Wholesome Fear

Transforming Your Anxiety About Impermanence and Death
Lama Zopa Rinpoche,
Kathleen McDonald,

Our anxiety around sickness, old age, and death can be a “wholesome fear”—a fear with a positive quality that ultimately enriches and nourishes our lives. Lama Zopa Rinpoche shows us how we can use our anxiety as a high-octane fuel to really live what's most important, and Kathleen McDonald presents meditations that integrate these teachings and lead to peace, compassion, and joy for ourselves and others. Doing so will help us to live well and, when the time comes as it inevitably will, to die well too. It's never too early to start making this most important of efforts—and, fortunately, it is never too late.

ISBN:0-86171-630-2_|_160 pages_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Women Practicing Buddhism

American Experiences
Peter N. Gregory, Editor
Susanne Mrozik, Editor

Individually and collectively, today’s female practitioners are changing the face of Buddhism today, as surely as Buddhist practice is transforming each one of their lives.

In Women Practicing Buddhism, you'll meet a diverse sampling of contemporary Buddhist women, from those who are crucial to the community's organizational fabric to others who infuse their art and activism with the Dharma.

Contributors include: Author and social activist bell hooks * Composer, singer, filmmaker, choreographer, and director Meredith Monk * American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun Karma Lekshe Tsomo * former Tricycle editor Helen Tworkov * Jane Hirshfield, prize-winning poet, translator, and essayist * Pat Enkyo O'Hara, abbot of NYC's Village Zendo * and many more.

Women Practicing Buddhism is a kind of mosaic portrait of the Buddhist women's movement, revealing some of the many ways that the Dharma returns the embrace of those women who are coming to it and making it their own.

ISBN:0-86171-539-X_|_256 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Zen and the Kingdom of Heaven

Reflections on the Tradition of Meditation in Christianity and Zen Buddhism
Tom Chetwynd, Author

"Let us guard the mind with all diligence from thoughts that obscure the soul's mirror; for in that mirror Jesus Christ, the wisdom and power of God the Father, is luminously reflected. And let us unceasingly seek the Kingdom of Heaven inside our mind. Indeed if we cleanse the eye of the mind, we will find all things hidden within us. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, indicating that Divinity dwells in our minds."
—;Saint Philotheos of Sinai, circa ninth century.

In this provocative and very human work, Tom Chetwynd tells the story of how his skeptical first encounters with Zen Buddhism led him to discover the rich-but largely forgotten-Christian tradition of pure contemplative prayer. Chetwynd explores the surprisingly Zen-like teachings of the Desert Fathers and other Christian meditation masters whose practice stems from the very first Christian communities-and perhaps Jesus Christ himself.

ISBN:0-86171-187-4_|_168 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

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