Chock full of moving and enlightening stories, The Chocolate Cake Sutra will help you let go of perfectionism and celebrate the sacred nature of the life you already have.

The Dhammapada is much loved by Buddhist practitioners as a simple and straightforward rendition of some of Buddha's core teachings, and is read daily by thousands of people. While there are many translations available, few have an inclusive – and lyrical – sensibility. In studying various versions of this sacred text, Larkin noted many discrepancies and embarked upon an entirely original translation. Each instalment gets tested at the Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple in Detroit, a remarkab...

Gardens have often been used as metaphors for spiritual nurturing and growth. Zen rock gardens, monastery rose gardens, even your grandmother's vegetable garden all have been described as places of refuge and reflection. Drawing on her experience working at Seattle's premier gardening center, Zen teacher Geri Larkin shows how the act of gardening can help you uncover your inner creativity, enthusiasm, vigilance, and joy. As your garden grows, so will your spirit.Larkin takes you th...

Love Dharma offers compassionate guidance and advice, looking at contemporary relationship dilemmas from a Buddhist perspective as expressed in traditional stories of enlightened Buddhist women who lived and loved during the Buddha's lifetime.We all experience the ups and downs of relationships—the fun of dating, the pain of breaking up, the demands of serious partnerships, and the ache of loneliness. But we often forget that they affect not only our love lives, but our sp...

After the bliss and emptiness we might be lucky enough to experience along our spiritual path, what’s left are the karmic knots of conditioning that still need to be undone if we are going to be of any genuine help to anybody. Untying them is the work of spiritual warriors: that is, all of us. The seven factors of enlightenment are a means to loosen these knots, all the while keeping us upright in our efforts. The seven factors include mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, energetic eff...

A humorous and honest collection of Buddhist wisdom from a Western beginner'Âs perspective.Instead of promising a straight and clear path to enlightenment, author and teacher Geri Larkin shows us that even stumbling along that path can lead to self-discovery and awakening, especially if we prize the journey and not the destination. With candor, affection, and earthy wisdom, Larkin shares her experiences as a beginning and continuing Buddhist. This spirituality classic shows any see...

Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news.In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades?Interwoven with Whit...

Getting along well with others is the real secret to success and happiness. In tens of thousands of classrooms we teach reading, writing, and arithmetic and yet we leave solutions to the universal problems of human relationships to be discovered, if at all, by trial and error. The trial is painful and the error is costly. People Tools: 54 Strategies for Building Relationships, Creating Joy, and Embracing Prosperity, provides time-proven techniques that you can use to build a better, happie...

A blend of history, science, philosophy, and environmentalism, The Tree is an engaging and elegant look at the life of the tree and what modern research tells us about their future.There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed, and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field.Fr...

From the first African American assigned to the presidential Secret Service detail comes a gripping and unforgettable true story of bravery and patriotism in the face of bitter hatred and unthinkable corruption.Abraham Bolden was a young African American Secret Service agent in Chicago when he was asked by John F. Kennedy himself to join the White House Secret Service detail. For Bolden, it was a dream come true—and an encouraging sign of the charismatic president’s vision for a ne...

The beautiful practicality of her teaching has made Pema Chödrön one of the most beloved of contemporary American spiritual authors among Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. A collection of talks she gave between 1987 and 1994, the book is a treasury of wisdom for going on living when we are overcome by pain and difficulties. Chödrön discusses:· Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage· Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than ...

Start your journey toward inner child healing with mindfulness tools that will help you mend fraught relationships, process difficult emotions, and transform the hurt of childhood trauma.“Thich Nhat Hanh’s work, on and off the page, has proven to be the antidote to our modern pain and sorrows.” —Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We’re Briefly GorgeousBased on Dharma talks by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and insights from participants ...