Buddhist meditators and progressive political activists rarely interact. Activists may dismiss Buddhism as irrelevant in the face of struggles for urgent political change, while many Buddhist meditators believe activists fail to recognize that human suffering arises not simply from unjust social institutions but also from our tendency toward greed, anger, and delusion.In Mindful Solidarity, Mike Slott encourages political activists and Buddhist practitioners to connect wit...

A bracing and essential modern-day polemic from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Beyond Religion is a blueprint for all those who yearn for a life of spiritual fulfillment as they work for a better world. This is HHDL's new model for mutual respect and understanding - rooted in our shared humanity - between religious believers and non-believers.Ten years ago, in his bestselling Ethics for a New Millennium, His Holiness the Dalai Lama first proposed an ...

In 1999 His Holiness The Dalai Lama published the bestselling Ancient Wisdom: Modern World, which addressed the question of ethics for the new millennium. A decade later, His Holiness enters the contemporary debate about religion vs atheism, and returns to the theme of ethics with a major new work: Beyond Religion: ethics for a whole world.In this thought-provoking new book he argues that religion is not a necessity for pursuing a spiritual life. Rather, focusing ...

Do you want to be on the cutting edge of the future of yoga?If you desire an authentic yoga practice embracing ancient yogic philosophy and traditions but don't know how to embody that knowledge with integrity in today's modern yoga culture, Embrace Yoga's Roots is your guide to honor and not appropriate yoga."When we mistake yoga for a workout routine, reduce it to physical fitness or even do some of the deeper aspects of yoga without an eye t...

Every aspect of our life has a part to play in the greater ecological system, Michael Stone explains in this book. How do we bring this large view to our yoga practice? According to Stone, our responsibility as human beings is to live in a sustainable and respectful way. He says two things need to change. First, we need to understand the relationship between our actions and the effects of our actions. Second, once we see the effect of our actions in the human and non-human world, we need p...

“Awakening Together combines the intimately personal, the Buddhist and universal into a loving, courageous, important work that will benefit all who read it. For anyone who longs to collaborate and create a just and inclusive community, Larry provides a brilliant guidebook.”—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With HeartHow can we connect our personal spiritual journeys with the larger course of our shared human experience? How do we compassio...

What's Wrong with Sex?How to Drive Your KarmaConsciousness CommodifiedThe Karma of FoodThe Three Poisons, InstitutionalizedWhy We Love WarThese are just some of the chapters in this brilliant book from David R. Loy.In little time, Loy has become one of the most powerful advocates of the Buddhist worldview, explaining like no one else its ability to transform the sociopolitical landscape of the modern world....

The massive outpouring of consumer products available today might alone lead one to ask "How much is enough?" But at the same time, if we allow ourselves to see the social, political, economic and environmental consequences of the system that produces such a mass of "goods," then the question is not simply a matter of one's own personal choice, but points to the profound interconnectedness of our day to day decisions about "How much is enough?" The ease with which we can acquire massive qu...

At one time or another, most of us have experienced an all-consuming desire for a material object, a desire so strong that it seems like we couldn't possibly be happy without buying this thing. Yet, when we give in to this impulse, we often find ourselves feeling frustrated and empty. Advertisers, of course, aim to hook us in this way, and, from a global perspective, our tendency to get hooked fuels the rampant over-consumption that is having a devastating impact on the world's stability a...

The most essential insight that Buddhism offers is that all our individual suffering arises from three and only three sources, known in Buddhism as the three poisons: greed, ill-will, and delusion. In The Great Awakening, scholar and Zen teacher David Loy examines how these three poisons, embodied in society's institutions, lie at the root of all social maladies as well. The teachings of Buddhism present a way that the individual can counteract these to alleviate personal sufferin...

An essential critique of American Buddhism—11 Asian American women reclaim a vibrant feminist Dharma against whitewashing, patriarchy, and model-minority stereotypesMainstream American Buddhism is often portrayed through a narrow, problematic lens: a group of mostly white converts sits on cushions. Eyes closed, blissed out, serenely meditating—this is Buddhism made passive and patriarchal, scrubbed of the rich complexities, myriad expressions, historical nuances, a...

A bold and provocative work from the late preeminent feminist scholar, which challenges men and women alike to free themselves from attachment to gender.At the heart of Buddhism is the notion of egolessness—“forgetting the self”—as the path to awakening. In fact, attachment to views of any kind only leads to more suffering for ourselves and others. And what has a greater hold on people’s imaginations or limits them more, asks Rita Gross, than ideas about biological...