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His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New England
The Tibetan Association of Boston is honored to invite the 14th Dalai Lama to share his message of hope and compassion in a public address. The universally recognized spiritual leader of Tibet and Nobel Peace Laureate will host two public talks on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA.
The day will be broken into two talks. A single ticket allows access to both sessions. The morning session from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. will be a brief introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (The Four Noble Truths). The afternoon session from 2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. will be a public talk on "A Path to Peace and Happiness". Click on the press release for more details.
Ticket prices are $37.50, $75.50, $117.50 & $200. Tickets will go for sale on Friday, March 6th at 10:00 a.m. Tickets can be purchased online through www.TicketMaster.com or by phone (866) 448-7849.
For more info visit: www.bostontibet.org
Wisdom Publications & Google Book Search Video
Because of our success in using the internet to reach readers of Dharma books, search-engine giant Google recently approached us to do a short video about Wisdom, and our partnership with them via their Book Search program.
The video is a brief but fine introduction to Wisdom and our history, and our efforts to bring Buddhist teachings to the global community. In it you'll get some peeks at the Wisdom offices, meet members of our staff, and even a brief cameo from Wisdom author Joseph Goldstein.
The video will make its off-line debut at Book Expo America 2007, the biggest annual book show in the States, but it's also available online at Google video and YouTube.
Sogyal Rinpoche Video
In this classic archive video, Wisdom author Sogyal Rinpoche offers clear practical advice on the practice of meditation with great humor and sincerity. If you enjoy his video teaching, you can learn more about these methods in our latest book release Losing the Clouds, Gaining the Sky: Buddhism and the Natural Mind.
Einstein and Buddhism - This is a very touching short piece that we ran across on YouTube that we feel is a wonderful message for people everywhere who are trying to understand the actionable essence of a great scientist's theories and their relationship to Buddha-Dharma.
The Mindful Way - A great British television program on Buddhism, featuring an interview with
Ajahn Chah, the highly revered Thai monk, and Wisdom author.
Wind Power Generates Good Karma for Buddhist Publisher: Our Renewable Energy Commitments
Somerville, Massachusetts - November 3, 2006 – Wisdom Publications has taken the lead in reducing its environmental footprint by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for the next 3 years to offset 100% of the electricity used by its corporate offices. With this commitment, Wisdom is preventing more than 29,232 pounds (13 metric tons) of CO2 from entering the earth's atmosphere. This has an environmental benefit equivalent to taking 3 cars off the road each year, or more than 11 acres of trees storing carbon for one year.
Inspired by the passion of prominent Tibetan Buddhist teacher and Wisdom author, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, to address the dangers of climate change, Wisdom Publications began focusing on what they call “Environmental Mindfulness” in 2004 which includes an initiative to print on quality recycled papers. Since that time Wisdom has printed over 130,000 Dharma books using a paper called Glatfelter Natures Book that is made from 50% post-consumer recycled material.
Wisdom has partnered with 3 Phases Energy Services, a national renewable energy marketing and development company, who provides Green-e® certified Renewable Energy Certificates. The Green-e® program, run by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions, ensures the RECs meet strict environmental and consumer protection standards. Now, with this commitment to power itself with renewable energy, Wisdom Publications has become an environmental leader in their industry.
About 3 Phases Energy
In operation since 1994, 3 Phases Energy is committed to promoting and implementing renewable energy options for businesses, utilities, governments, and institutions through Green Direct Access, green pricing support services for utilities, retail and wholesale sales of Green Certificates, and onsite efficiency and solar photovoltaic installation. For more information, visit www.3phases.com.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Ultimate Healing makes Google's first-ever top 10 most searched for book list!
Wisdom Publications' Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently made Google's first-ever top 10 most searched for book list! Based on Google Book Searches from September 17th to the 23rd, Rinpoche's book had the auspicious karma be listed alongside such high-profile titles as:
Hegemony Or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance By Noam Chomsky
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
• The Holy Qur'an Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
• Peterson's Study Abroad 2006 (Thomson Peterson's)
Google released this research as a press release and it has been picked up and syndicated as a news story in many places including Reuters and various Silicon Valley and publishing industry blogs.
If you would like to read the full article, use the following link:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/008242.html
Lama Yeshe, teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, gave this teaching in California in 1980 for Vajrapani Institute as an introduction to his commentary on the Thousand-Arm Avalokiteshvara yoga method. Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935–84) was born in Tibet and educated at Sera Monastic University in Lhasa. In 1959 he fled Chinese oppression for India. In 1969 he began teaching Buddhism to Westerners at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, and in 1974 began traveling the world to spread the Dharma. In 1975 he founded the international Buddhist organization The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which now numbers more than 150 centers in over 30 countries worldwide.
Click here to view Wisdom's extensive collection of Lama Yeshe books.
The Wisdom Prisoner Fund
Providing Dharma Materials to Prisoners around the United States
Wisdom has been committed to helping prisoner gain access to Dharma materials for many years now, but we recently realized it had been far too long since we updated you, our supporters, on the mission's progress.
In the last decade, on your behalf, The Wisdom Prisoner Fund, has reached out to 1300+ individual prisoners and other prison Dharma programs, giving away more than 6,300 books ranging across seven languages. If all those books were put on one long shelf, it would extend a whooping 184 yards, or almost two football fields! In addition, we’ve also provided many thousands more to various prison Dharma programs.
Interesting as those numbers are, they're not nearly as meaningful as the file cabinet bursting with letters of appreciation from the prisoners themselves. We share a few excerpts from these letters here, so you can see the impact that your support of Wisdom and the Prisoner Fund is having.
If you would like to make a special donation to the Wisdom Fund, please visit our Friends of Wisdom web page, or call 800-272-4050, and be sure to write in the comments area or mention verbally, that you would like these funds to be earmarked for the Wisdom Prisoner Fund. If you wish to mail a donation directly, please make the check out to "The Wisdom Fund," and send it to our offices at 199 Elm Street, Somerville MA 02144.
We look forward to working with you towards the compassionate goals of this program.
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Wisdom has recieved many beautiful works of art made by prisoners as well. Above is Shakyamuni Buddha, Oil on Canvas, 14"x19", 1999, by Chris
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"I am most grateful for the books you have provided me. My mother said recently that over the past five years she had seen the anger melt away from my letters. Much of this is due to your help."—M.N.
"You have helped me construct a meditation practice that has enabled me to turn off the crazy prison noise to be able to play with my mind pretty much everyday."—J.T.
"I truly consider you all as embodiments of Avalokiteshvara-Kuan Yin- helping to pass on the Dharma so all beings can hear the voice of the World-Honored-One and find lasting peace and joy." —L.D.
"The books I have received from you have helped change the way I perceive my stay in prison and better deal with everyday problems." —B.T
"Incarceration provides excellent opportunity for reflection ad meditation for any willing to follow the path. Those efforts have been rewarding to me. I am at peace with myself, my fellow man, have had no disciplinary incidents in the past five years, and now have one of the best and most responsible of prison jobs. When I was transferred to this institution, I had to leave most of my possessions behind at the previous institution. I donated the books you provided me to the Sangha at that place, where I hope they will prove as valuable to others as they were to me." —B.V.
"Let me begin with a sincere thank you for your kindness and generosity over the past six years that I have been incarcerated. The books you have sent me were often my only connection to the sanity of the Dharma. They provided light and inspiration through some very difficult days." —R.H.
"With body, speech and mind I prostrate to you and all who aspire to preserve the precious teachings through skillful means, to all the Compassionate Ones who struggle and suffer every moment that we may find our release from our three-tiered pain, without regard to their own benefit, and to those Ultimate Conquerors who have defeated all obstacles for our benefit." —D.C.
Environmental Mindfulness
What do Al Gore, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Wisdom have in common?
We recently received an email describing Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche's reaction to Al Gore's recent film "An Inconvenient Truth" (http://www.climatecrisis.net/). After seeing the film and becoming more directly aware of the suffering that rising global temperatures and greenhouse gas levels are causing beings, Rinpoche immediately requested that he be updated about what the international network of Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) organizations were doing to contribute to solutions to this rapidly growing problem.
We at Wisdom are pleased to be able to respond to this inquiry with a great deal of information about our growing commitments to environmentally friendly book production and office operation. We call this commitment one of "Environmental Mindfulness." Since adopting the program in late 2004, Wisdom Publications has produced more that 130,000 Dharma books using a paper called Glatfelter Natures Book that is made from 50% post-consumer recycled material. This has resulted in the following environmental savings:
808 trees saved, 563 million BTUs of energy, 71,021 lbs. of greenhouse gases, 294,791 gallons of water, and 37,855 lbs. of solid waste.
We are also integrating more Earth-friendly supplies and practices into our everyday operations in our Somerville offices, making a proactive and positive effort towards reducing our business's impact on the global environment.
As you browse our book pages, please look for the following logo:
This symbol on the back cover, copyright page, or web page of our recently printed and released books, assures you of both high production quality and earth-friendly printing technology.
If you are interested in learning more about these commitments, or sponsoring a publication for the finest environmental production, please contact us at wisdom@wisdompubs.org.
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