Find out how organizations can be more successful by making practical decisions that work best for their groups, rather than by blindly adhering to rules, customs, or so-called professional "norms." Applying common sense and independent judgment will generate greater success than just doing what everybody else is doing. Practical decisions may sometimes be outside the mainstream. They may often be different than commonly accepted organizational practices. They may not always be embraced by...

Share the perspective of neighborhood happenings from the inside of city government when Marion Volini served as 48th ward Alderman. Find out why important decisions affecting community events were made the way they were. Uncover details about City Council actions, Housing Court procedures, local development issues, city service delivery, and political doings. Hear stories involving the Mayor, other Aldermen, political party officials, and neighborhood leaders. See how gender and religion ...

This second volume of the five-volume commentary by the renowned Buddhist scholar Geshe Lhundub Sopa focuses on the key Buddhist concepts of karma, or cause and effect, and dependent origination. Considered one of the finest living Buddhist scholars, Geshe Sopa provides commentaries essential for anyone interested in a sound understanding of Tibetan Buddhist practice and philosophy. Never has a book gone into such clear detail on karma and dependent origination--concepts which, despite man...

Here's a memoir about growing up in West Rogers Park, in a world filled with odd family customs, silly school rules, and unusual cultural habits, a place occupied by inventive playmates and explorers and an occasional rebel.It was where parents and teachers told kids what to do and how to act and they usually, sort of, obeyed.And where kids assumed that whatever they ended up doing was probably going to be OK.It offers an opportunity to think back to a time that was...

Steps on the Path to Englightenment: The Foundation Practices marks the first volume of a much-anticipated, comprehensive commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo by the renowned Buddhist scholar, Geshe Sopa.This landmark commentary on what is perhaps the most elegant Tibetan presentation of the Buddhist path offers a detailed overview of Buddhist philosophy, especially invaluable to those wanting to enact the wisdom of the Buddha in their lives.In...

Geshe Lhundub Sopa's Steps on the Path to Enlightenment is a landmark commentary on what is perhaps the most elaborate and elegant Tibetan presentation of the Buddhist path, Tsongkhapa's monumental Lamrim Chenmo. In this third volume of five, readers are acquainted with the bodhisattva's path and the altruistic desire to make service to others the driving force of spiritual development.It begins with an explanation of what distinguishes the Mahayana practitioner f...

Peek behind the scenes to see what many politicians did to get what they wanted. Find out how they manipulated the law, stole votes, initimidated constituents, and avoided elections. Learn about City Council antics, racism and anti-Semitism, partisan redistricting, and how easily candidates could be thrown off the ballot.Hear about the Alderman who lost his gun in a City Hall bathroom. The Congressman who stepped down as a candidate so his son - who didn't even live in the state - ...

A global tour of Jewish humor about the Holocaust.Laughter After: Humor and the Holocaust argues that humor performs political, cultural, and social functions in the wake of horror. Co-editors David Slucki, Gabriel N. Finder, and Avinoam Patt have assembled an impressive list of contributors who examine what is at stake in deploying humor in representing the Holocaust. Namely, what are the boundaries? Clearly, there have been comedy and laughter in the dec...

The final installment of the Steps on the Path to Enlightenment series examines the nature of reality with a master class in Buddhist Middle Way philosophy and meditation.The late Geshe Sopa was a refugee monk from Tibet sent to the United States by the Dalai Lama in 1963. He became a professor at the University of Wisconsin, training a generation of Western Buddhist scholars, and was a towering figure in the transmission of the Buddhism to the West. In th...

An exploration of the practice of samatha, the style of meditation devoted to focus and attentionGeshe Sopa continues his elucidation of Lama Tsongkhapa's masterwork on the Buddhist path with an explanation of the core meditative practice of samatha, or calm abiding.Showing how it is absolutely essential for--and goes hand in hand with--the achievement of insight into reality, he gives practical tips for countering sleepiness, agitation, and their ...

The second volume of the 15th-century spiritual classic that condenses Buddhist teachings into one easy-to-follow meditation manualThe Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) is one of the brightest jewels in the world’s treasury of sacred literature. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed it in 1402, and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan...

The new standard work and definitive biography of Tsongkhapa, one of the principle founders of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism--the school of the Dalai Lamas.In this groundbreaking addition to the Lives of the Masters series, Thupten Jinpa, a scholar-practitioner and long-time translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, offers the most comprehensive portrait available of Jé Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), one of the greatest Buddhist teachers in history. A devout mona...