Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Eastern Religion FEATURED IN THIS EMAIL: * "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Stephen Cope * "Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths" by Shirley Du Boulay * "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism" by Zara Houshmand * "Early Daoist Scriptures" by Stephen R. Bokenkamp * "Teachings of Sufism," edited by Carl W. Ernst * "Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen," edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi * Amazon.com Presents the Best of the Century "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Stephen Cope http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055310313X/entertainmentsit Despite skeptical jibes from his well-meaning friends, Stephen Cope set off for a four-month yoga retreat in rural Massachusetts. Ten years later, he is still there. A psychotherapist left in the lurch after a long-term relationship, Cope was experiencing the same deep questioning of life that he had witnessed so often in his practice. His self-prescribed antidote was to pursue the practices of contemplation and inner discovery, which he had felt drawn to for some time. "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" is Cope's chronicle of self-discovery. Cope is at turns frank in describing his own obstacles and epiphanies, brotherly in relating anecdotes of friends and patients on similar quests, and clinical in his trenchant psychological summations of why we find ourselves estranged and how yoga and meditation bring us back to clear awareness. Like Mark Epstein's "Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart," "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" is a milestone in the melding of Eastern and Western methods of personal transformation. "Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths" by Shirley Du Boulay http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385489463/entertainmentsit To hear about a Catholic monk who meditates and seeks nondual union with Christ doesn't seem so astonishing anymore. That's because Bede Griffiths began blazing a trail to the East as far back as 1955. You might call Bede the Thomas Merton of England, except that Bede delved further into Eastern spirituality than Merton ever dreamed of doing. In "Beyond the Darkness," Shirley Du Boulay traces Bede's ascetic tendencies back to early experiments in communal living after graduating from Oxford. A staunch atheist, Bede, like his professor and friend C.S. Lewis, then rediscovered the spiritual profundity of the Christian tradition. After entering the monkhood, a certain unarticulated pantheism led Bede to pursue the wide-open spiritual landscapes of the East, and to "discover the other half of my soul." In the 1950s, when the rest of the West turned to science and materialism for salvation, he donned the saffron robes of a Hindu monk and started a Catholic ashram in southern India. Left to his own devices by Rome, Bede, through his implacable kindness and theological writings, drew an increasingly large following, right through 1992 when he was drawing thousands of people to talks all over the world. "Beyond the Darkness" reveals a man who was called a saint while he lived but who achieved that status only through sustained curiosity and sincerity in his search for the truth behind all religions. "Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism" by Zara Houshmand http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1559391278/entertainmentsit How about getting a plain English rendition of the latest in brain research and psychology from the leading lights in the field? Or a succinct explanation of the Buddhist view of consciousness from the Dalai Lama himself? No need to choose. When the second Mind and Life conference convened in 1989, East and West became collaborators in understanding consciousness. Antonio Damasio, neurologist and author of "The Feeling of What Happens," Larry Squire, psychiatrist and author of "Memory: from Mind to Molecules," and Lewis Judd, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, sat down with other scholars and scientists for face-to-face talks with the Dalai Lama. Although late in coming, the result is this tidy volume of eager exchange and cross- cultural bridge building. Each specialist first summarizes the latest in research and then accepts questions from and poses questions to the Dalai Lama, acting representative of Buddhism's extraordinarily sophisticated views on consciousness, dreams, memory, meditation, and that stickiest of points, rebirth. The inevitable collision of scientific materialism and Buddhist emptiness isn't avoided, but neither is it fatal, serving instead as motivation for further conversations. Step up to the roundtable and set your mind spinning. "Early Daoist Scriptures (Daoist Classics, No 1)" by Stephen R. Bokenkamp http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0520219317/entertainmentsit What do we know about Daoism (Taoism) beyond Laozi and that slightly more obscure fellow Zhuangzi? A complex and colorful religious system grew up in China paralleling the developments of Buddhism and Confucianism, and yet there have been next to no translations of its key scriptures-- until now. Scholar Stephen Bokenkamp has brought us six religious texts dating from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE. These works, originally meant for secret transmission, span the concerns of the Daoist cosmos. They delineate sect origins, describe the unfolding of the universe, and tell the story of Laozi's journey to India and his influence on Buddhism. There are petitions to the vast bureaucracy of deities; guided meditations and visualizations; alchemical recipes for achieving longevity; and serpents, dragons, and gods galore. Given the intricacies and specialized terminology of religious Daoism, it is little wonder that more texts have not been translated. Bokenkamp's copious notes and extensive introductions make this volume all the more valuable and a necessary addition to any budding Daoist's bookshelf. "Teachings of Sufism" edited by Carl W. Ernst http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157062349X/entertainmentsit In Carl Ernst's well-received "Shambhala Guide to Sufism," he laments the scarcity of traditional Sufi texts in English. In "Teachings of Sufism," Ernst sets out to make amends. His reach is broad, spanning three languages, 10 centuries, and numerous countries and cultures. He divides his brief texts into sections such as Spiritual Practice, Mastery and discipleship, and Lives of the Saints, with special attention given to his section on listening to sacred music, which "becomes a way of transporting oneself back to that moment of harmony with God in pre-eternity." Also included are selections on lives of Sufi women and the prominent role of the Qur'an in Sufi mysticism. A scholar first, Ernst never himself crosses the line into sectarianism or proselytizing in his introductions, but the unflagging devotion that imbues the pages of his translations is enough to attune anyone's ear to the divine music of life. "Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen" edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1570623058/entertainmentsit Dogen, the 13th-century Zen monk whose name is now synonymous with early Japanese Zen, was once nearly forgotten in Japan. Only in the last century and a half have his writings been published, and only in recent decades have they appeared in Western languages. Most of these focus on his life work, the Shobogenzo, selections of which are translated here. "Enlightenment Unfolds" also contains accounts of Dogen's studies in China, poems, instructions on Zen practice, and informal talks with his students. Enlightenment for Dogen was not something that results from practice but is the practice itself. For those engaged in Zen practice, reading "Enlightenment Unfolds" can be worked seamlessly into that practice, with insights gleaned from daily contemplation. Dogen is one of the few Zen monks to value the Zen literary tradition, but he never meant it to be separate from practice. As with "Moon in a Dewdrop," Tanahashi's previous collection of Dogen's writings, we find that brilliant awakenings occur in everyday moments--and in the everyday moments of reading this collection, enlightenment indeed unfolds. --Brian Bruya is a comparative philosopher, writer, and translator. His latest publication is "The Wisdom of the Zen Masters." AMAZON.COM PRESENTS THE BEST OF THE CENTURY ******************************************* As the century comes to a close, Amazon.com takes a look at the landmarks in books, music, and video of the past 100 years. Selected by our editors, our lists take you decade by decade from the turn of the century all the way to the end of the millennium. But don't just take our word for it; cast your vote for the best book, video, and CD in our best-of-the-millennium poll for your chance to win our customers' 300 favorite music, book, and video titles. 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