Preface: Why Write or Read this Book? -- 1. What Really is Zen? Recovering the Beginner's Open Mind -- 2. Previewing the Path of Zen: Know Thyself, Forget Thyself, Open Thyself -- 3. Zen Meditation as a Practice of Clearing the Heart-Mind -- 4. How to Practice Zen Meditation: Attending to Place, Body, Breath, and Mind -- 5. The Buddha's First and Last Lesson: The Middle Way of Knowing What Suffices -- 6. The Buddha's Strong Medicine: Embracing Impermanence -- 7. The True Self is Egoless -- 8. We are One: Loving Others as Yourself -- 9. But We Are Not the Same: Taking Turns as the Center of the Universe -- 10. Who or What is the Buddha? -- 11. Mind is Buddha: So, if You Encounter the Buddha, Kill Him! -- 12. Dying to Live: Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Christianity -- 13. Zen as Trans-Mysticism: Everyday Even Mind is the Way -- 14. Engaged Zen: From Inner to Outer Peace -- 15. The Dharma of Karma: We Reap What We Sow -- 16. Zen and Morality: Following Rules to Where There Are No Rules -- 17. Being in the Zone of Zen: The Natural Freedom of No-Mind -- 18. Zen Lessons from Nature: Samu and the Giving Leaves -- 19. Zen and Art: Cultivating Naturalness -- 20. Zen and Language: The Middle Way Between Silence and Speech -- 21. Between Zen and Philosophy: Commuting with the Kyoto School -- 22. Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Practice: Just Sitting and Working with Kōans -- 23. Death and Rebirth--Or, Nirvana Here and Now -- 24. Reviewing the Path of Zen: The Ten Oxherding Pictures -- Endnotes -- Discussion Questions -- Index.

The Zen Diet is different from quick-fix fad diets, since the focus is on the small but permanent changes that you will continue for life. Each change is a positive evolution in behaviour, that brings vitality, harmony and well-being. No big dramatic change, just small, positive ones. The Zen Diet is the first diet to offer a long-term solution based on Kaizen and other harmonious spiritual principles from Japan. This is the first diet, also, to work in harmony with how your body burns fat. You make subtle adjustments to how you eat so that the nutrients feed your body while starving your fat stores. All the changes in the Zen Diet work synergistically to transform your physical health, lifestyle and mental outlook, profoundly altering your view of your self and your interaction with food. The Zen Diet will teach you the art of renewal and the secrets of effortless attitude adjustment. Learn the art of making new habits and permanent positive changes.

Long term recovery from alcoholism and addiction isn't easy. While many find initial success in sobriety, securing ongoing happiness, peace of mind, and a meaningful life often seems maddeningly illusive. Transcending Hell offers an approach to sustained recovery that incorporates a Zen sitting practice with more traditional avenues of sobriety.

There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with simplicity and insight, in a manner that both guides and inspires. In Taking the Path of Zen Robert Aitken presents the practice, lifestyle, rationale, and ideology of Zen Buddhism with remarkable clarity. The foundation of Zen is the practice of zazen, or mediation, and Aitken Roshi insists that everything flows from the center. He discusses correct breathing, posture, routine, teacher-student relations, and koan study, as well as common problems and milestones encountered in the process. Throughout the book the author returns to zazen, offering further advice and more advanced techniques. The orientation extends to various religious attitudes and includes detailed discussions of the Three Treasures and the Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism. Taking the Path of Zen will serve as orientation and guide for anyone who is drawn to the ways of Zen, from the simply curious to the serious Zen student.

Zen is unconditionally value-free – if you make a condition, you miss the point. Zen has no fear and no greed. Zen has no God and no Devil, and Zen has no heaven and no hell. It does not make people greedy by alluring them, promising them rewards in heaven. And it does not make people frightened, scared, by creating nightmarish conceptions of hell. It does not bribe you by rewards, and it does not punish you with tortures. It simply gives you an insight to see into things – and that insight frees you. That insight has no greed as a base to it and no fear as a base to it. All other religions are greedy, all other religions are based deep down somewhere in fear. That’s why we use the word ’god-fearing’ for a religious person – a religi-ous person is god-fearing.

A sequel to the popular Zen and the Brain further explores pivotal points of intersection in Zen Buddhism, neuroscience, and consciousness, arriving at a new synthesis of information from both neuroscience research and Zen studies. This sequel to the widely read Zen and the Brain continues James Austin's explorations into the key interrelationships between Zen Buddhism and brain research. In Zen-Brain Reflections, Austin, a clinical neurologist, researcher, and Zen practitioner, examines the evolving psychological processes and brain changes associated with the path of long-range meditative training. Austin draws not only on the latest neuroscience research and new neuroimaging studies but also on Zen literature and his personal experience with alternate states of consciousness. Zen-Brain Reflections takes up where the earlier book left off. It addresses such questions as: how do placebos and acupuncture change the brain? Can neuroimaging studies localize the sites where our notions of self arise? How can the latest brain imaging methods monitor meditators more effectively? How do long years of meditative training plus brief enlightened states produce pivotal transformations in the physiology of the brain? In many chapters testable hypotheses suggest ways to correlate normal brain functions and meditative training with the phenomena of extraordinary states of consciousness. After briefly introducing the topic of Zen and describing recent research into meditation, Austin reviews the latest studies on the amygdala, frontotemporal interactions, and paralimbic extensions of the limbic system. He then explores different states of consciousness, both the early superficial absorptions and the later, major "peak experiences." This discussion begins with the states called kensho and satori and includes a fresh analysis of their several different expressions of "oneness." He points beyond the still more advanced states toward that rare ongoing stage of enlightenment that is manifest as "sage wisdom." Finally, with reference to a delayed "moonlight" phase of kensho, Austin envisions novel links between migraines and metaphors, moonlight and mysticism. The Zen perspective on the self and consciousness is an ancient one. Readers will discover how relevant Zen is to the neurosciences, and how each field can illuminate the other.

Zen and the Art of Subration is a three-part masterwork arising from the author’s thirty-five-year journey to overcome cultural conditioning and achieve the ultimate transformation: living on light and oxygen. Ashoka Annamaya Ishaya shares an intimate look into how she discovered tantric and Taoist practices for cultivating immortality and integrated them into her life. She follows up this first-person account with a teaching guide distilling knowledge and practices aimed at readers on their own transformative path toward achieving your immortal jing cycle. Ishaya believes that if a critical mass of humans commit to the process of sustainable immortality, we can affect the evolution of our entire species. Ishaya pursues an illuminating range of questions: • Are we as a species destined to be enlightened? • Can we apply mindfulness skills to evolve our physiology? • How can our health-care system better support the maturation of our species? • Can we become an immortal species? The treatise concludes with a scholarly overview of noted prophets from varied traditions and times who have taught and fostered transformation of consciousness and sustainability of culture.

Carl Olson is Professor of Religious Studies at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. His previous books include The Indian Renouncer and Postmodern Poison: A Cross-Cultural Encounter and The Theology and Philosophy of Eliade: A Search for the Centre.

The authors--one a clinical educator and social scientist, the other a nurse psychotherapist and practicing Buddhist--present a fascinating dialog on the "science" and the "art" sides of the art-science debate. Practical suggestions are included for achieving a balance between these two poles of the helping and healing process.

"200 Zen Stories: Cultivating Positivity and Inner Peace" takes you on a journey to explore the timeless wisdom of Zen stories. These captivating stories will empower the readers with essential life skills while instilling a sense of joy, mindfulness, and compassion. This book will help children to: - Unlock a greater understanding of themselves and the world around them - Develop resilience, emotional intelligence, and empathy - Cultivate an awareness of the present moment and embrace their emotions with acceptance - Find calm amidst the storms of life - Greater sense of positivity, compassion, and wonder as they navigate the wondrous tapestry of life This book contains 200 captivating Zen stories that will engage young minds, inspire them to reflect on deeper truths, and open doors to profound insights. With simple yet profound narratives, these stories offer invaluable teachings on the nature of existence, the human mind, and the pursuit of inner peace. Embark on this adventure to explore the timeless wisdom of Zen stories!