Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Eastern Religion FEATURED IN THIS EMAIL: * "Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers" by Thich Nhat Hahn * "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master" translated by Daniel Ladinsky * "Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion" by Stephen P. Huyler * "Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living" by Pema Chodron * "The Teachings of Buddha" compiled by Paul Carus "Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers" by Thich Nhat Hahn http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573221457/entertainmentsit Did you know that Jesus meditated? In "Living Buddha, Living Christ," Thich Nhat Hanh delivered a powerhouse bestseller about the affinities of Buddhist and Christian ideals. In "Going Home," he focuses on fundamental concepts that still drive a wedge between the two religions--such as rebirth vs. eternal life, God vs. nirvana, and so on. After praising the differences between Christianity and Buddhism, Nhat Hanh proceeds to dissolve them in virtuosic style. Not only did Jesus meditate, he says, but God is equivalent to nirvana. This effort to free us from limiting concepts is Nhat Hanh's way of paving a road back to Christianity for Christians who have been attracted to Buddhism but alienated from their original faith. In effect, Nhat Hanh is dressing up Christianity in the garb of philosophical Buddhism, which isn't too far off from what certain progressive Christian thinkers have themselves done in different terms. Mindfulness engenders concentration, concentration leads to understanding, understanding strengthens faith, and faith provides the energy to practice mindfulness. More conventional Christians may balk at this blending of traditions, but for many lost souls, it will be a beacon back to a warm hearth. "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master" translated by Daniel Ladinsky http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140195815/entertainmentsit Hafiz, a secret Sufi, came to prominence in his day as a writer of love poems. That love transformed into an all-consuming passion for union with the divine. In "The Gift," Daniel Ladinsky bestows on us the impassioned yet whimsical strains of Hafiz's ecstasy. Never forced or awkward, Ladinsky's Hafiz whispers in your ear and pounds in your chest, naming God in a hundred metaphors. I once asked a bird, "How is it that you fly in this gravity Of darkness?" She responded, "Love lifts Me." Like Fitzgerald's version of Khayyam's "Rubaiyat," the language of "The Gift" strikes a contemporary chord, resonating in the reader's mind and then in the heart. Ladinsky's language is plain, fresh, playful--dancing with an expert cadence that invites and surprises. If it is true, as Hafiz says, that a poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, reading Ladinsky's Hafiz is like gulping down the sun. "Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion" by Stephen P. Huyler http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300079834/entertainmentsit An anthropologist-turned-believer, Stephen Huyler has dared to cross the line of objectivity and produce an introduction to Hindu religion that combines first-person detail with reverential admiration. Ten years in the making, "Meeting God" is the culmination of Huyler's travels throughout the Indian subcontinent, documenting in vivid photographs the panoply of Hindu devotional practices. What distinguishes "Meeting God" is its intimacy--through his glossy color photos and vignettes of individual Hindus practicing their rituals, he takes the reader into a world that pulses with the power of faith. The crux of the book is puja, daily devotional practices that anchor Hindus in the divinity of the universe, whether that person is a farmer, carpenter, engineer, or housewife. The remarkable array of different puja don't seem to interfere with modern life in India, and, as Huyler insists, they actually enhance it. Given the vacuity of meaning in our own modern world, each page of "Meeting God" is an inspiration to deepen life. "Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living" by Pema Chodron http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0877738807/entertainmentsit Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun for regular folks. Having raised a family of her own, she doesn't shy away from persistent troubles and the basic meatiness of life. In fact, in "Start Where You Are," Chodron tries to get us to see that the faults and foibles in each of us now are the perfect ingredients for creating a better life. No need to wait for a quieter time or a more settled mind. The trick Chodron says is to repattern ourselves, to transform bad habits into good by first opening ourselves to the groundlessness of existence. When the cliff dissolves beneath our feet, fear has a way of actually lessening. Fearlessness opens the way to recognizing our pushy egos and that rather than being cursed with original sin, we are blessed with an original soft spot--the squishy feeling inside that we all have that is the seat of true compassion, and that we all do our best to armor over. Chodron is the kind of teacher who has seen it all and keeps pushing us back into ourselves until there's no one left to wrestle with but a certain recalcitrant image in the mirror. "The Teachings of Buddha" compiled by Paul Carus http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312195869/entertainmentsit You know that feeling of serendipity you get when, on the dusty shelves of a used book store, you come across a priceless gem? That's the feeling you get when you open "The Teachings of Buddha." Originally published under the title "Gospel of Buddha" in 1894, it is an artifact of a time when non-Western religions tended to be fit into Christian boxes (e.g., Henry Steel Olcott's "The Buddhist Catechism"). But "The Teachings of Buddha" is more than an artifact. It was compiled by Paul Carus, the first American to promote Eastern religions on a grand scale. Carus took pains to bring together the core teachings of Buddhism and present them in a single accessible package. Patterned on the Christian gospels, it relates the story of the Buddha's life, bringing in the Buddha's sermons along with parables and stories. Although the familiar package hints at similarities with Christianity, the content is of course the radically different perspective of Buddhism. With the addition of photos of Buddhist art and the Victorian language smoothed over by the new publisher, "The Teachings of Buddha" is a comfortable read and a great compact collection of core Buddhist sutras. In fact, its previous incarnation was translated into Japanese by Carus's protege, none other than the immortal D.T. Suzuki. --Brian Bruya is a comparative philosopher, writer, and translator. His latest publication is "The Wisdom of the Zen Masters." ****** You'll find more great books, articles, excerpts, and interviews in Amazon.com's Religion & Spirituality section at Religion & Spirituality
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