This new commentary by Buddhist teacher and author David Brazier draws back the curtain revealing the deeper meaning of the text in language that will be as transparent to the general reader as it is informative to the specialist.

This account explains how the Buddha's path of wisdom and loving kindness grew out of the challenges he encountered in life. It explores enlightenment, nirvana, and the Four Noble Truths, presenting a picture of the Buddha as a very human figure whose success lay not in his perfection, but in his method of positively utilizing the energy generated by personal suffering.

Buddhism, from Abhidharma to Zen, offers a practical path to harmony of head and heart. For over 2,000 years Buddhists have been developing sophisticated psychologies to guide the work of achieving freedom from mental suffering. Now East and West are beginning to learn from each other.In a readable and practical manner, this book challenges basic assumptions of Western psychology, demystifies Buddhist psychology and presents Zen as a therapy. Giving examples of its effectiveness in...

A beautiful book to treasure: stunning artwork and stylish poems covering major themes from personal love to world crisis. Sometimes provocative, always compassionate.The book has emerged from a creative partnership of poet and artist. You will be charmed, carried along, challenged, seduced, inspired. You will find surprises. War and pain, nature and imagination, loss and love, destruction and restoration. Poems from the heart, the spirit and the gut. Poems of heav...

Meditation techniques, including mindfulness, have become popular wellbeing practices and the scientific study of their effects has recently turned 50 years old. But how much do we know about them: what were they developed for and by whom? How similar or different are they, how effective can they be in changing our minds and biology, what are their social and ethical implications? The Oxford Handbook of Meditation is the most comprehensive volume published on meditation, written i...