Rock & Holy Rollers – The Spiritual Beliefs of Chart-Topping Rock Stars in their Lives and Lyrics

Rock & Holy Rollers by Geoffrey D. Falk is a very entertaining look at the correlation between popular music and the musicians spiritual beliefs and practices. From the introduction: “One may or may not take seriously ideas such as meditation, yoga, astral travel, paganism, or the magick of Aleister Crowley. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of [...]

Fundamentals of Vipassana Meditation

Fundamentals of Vipassana Meditation by Mahasi Sayadaw was published in 1991. Vipassana meditation also called insight meditation is a basic approach used by diverse traditions. Mahasi Sayadaw, died in 1982, was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master who had a significant impact on the teaching of Vipassana meditation in the West and throughout Asia. [...]

Silavanta Sutta

This book “Silavanta Sutta” is a discourse on the Silavantasutta given by Venerable U Silananda during a nine-day Special Retreat at Tathagata Meditation Center in 2001. The Sutta is about a conversation between Sariputta and Mahakothika, two of the greatest disciples of the Buddha, regarding the objects of mindfulness meditation. This is, therefore, one of the Suttas directly related to the practice of [...]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad With commentary of Sri Sankaracharya

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads and one of the largest and important ones, according to . It was written by Ajnavalkya in the mid-first millennium BCE. Brhadaranyaka Upanishad means the “great forest-book” – meaning that is should be read in solitude – and it consists of three part called kandas: the Madhu kanda, the Yajnavalkya [...]

A Map of the Journey by Sayadaw U Jotika

A Map of the Journey by Sayadaw U Jotika is a nearly 400 pages long introduction to insight meditation. A Map of the Journey is an orginial, never previously published work. It is a transcript of a series of eleven preparatory talks given by Sayadaw U Jotika of Burma prior to a meditation retreat held in [...]

The 31 Planes of Existence

The 31 Planes of Existence by Suvanno Mahathera describes the ancient Buddhist concepts of planes in the context of karma, rebirth, samsara and meditation and realization. The 31 planes, as described in the Suttas, are divided into three types of worlds: 1. Kama-Loka (the sensuous world) – 11 planes 2. Rupa-Loka (the world of form – [...]

A Critical Analysis of the Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation by Henepola Gunaratana

One of the most important aspects of Buddhist meditation is a set of attainments called, in Pali, the Jhanas. The Jhanas are encountered repeatedly in the scriptural texts of early Buddhism. They were instrumental in the Buddha’s own achievement of enlightenment and in the training he formulated for his disciples. Jhana means meditative stages and equivalent terms in other Buddhist schools [...]

Mind without measure by J. Krishnamurti

Mind without measure by Jiddu Krishnamurti is a huge collection of public talks held by Krishnamurti in Delhi, Calcutta and Madras during 1982 and 1983. Form the book: “Now, to live without measurement, to be totally, completely, free of all measurement, is part of meditation. Not that `I ampractising this, I will achieve something in [...]

The Role of Sound in Meditation by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

The Role of Sound in Meditation by Swami Nirmalananda Giri explains why and how Hindus use verbal sound as a tool in meditation. Nirmalananda draws from sources such as the Upanishades, works by I.K. Taimni and modern business psychology from the West in this eight-page long guide. From the text: “Sound, is the direct means to [...]

An Unentangled Knowing – Lessons in Training the Mind

An Unentangled Knowing – Lessons in Training the Mind is Upasika Kee Nanayon, who wrote by the name Acharn Kor Kaho-suan-luang, is one of the most respected women teachers of Dhamma in modern Thailand. The teachings in this book, drawn from her talks and poetry, deal with a wide range of issues in the training of the mind. [...]

The Bodhidharma Anthology – Earliest Records of Zen Buddhism

The Bodhidharma Anthology – Earliest Records of Zen Buddhism by Broughton, Jeffrey L. There exists only two book-length English language translations of Bodhidharma’s teachings: The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma translated by Red Pine and Broughton’s The Bodhidharma Anthology.Both volumes are valuable for understanding Zen (C’han) as taught by Bodhidarma, the first Zen Patriarch in China. The [...]

The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind – Buddhism, Mind and Meditation

The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind – Buddhism, Mind and Meditation.The six Buddhist teachings contained herein come from Tibetan Lama Yeshe’s 1975 visit to Australia. The first three are a series of consecutive evening lectures Lama gave at Melbourne University. By the third night he thought people had heard enough talk and instead offered [...]

Ego, Attachment and Liberation by Lama Yeshe

Ego, Attachment and Liberation with the subtitle Overcoming your Mental Bureaucracy – a five-day Meditation Course by Lama Yeshe is a detailed guide to handling the obstacles during retreats and more advanced meditation techniques. At the same time Lama Yeshe presents and explains his own thoughts on concepts such as karma: Every time your ego [...]

Samadhi for Liberation

Samadhi for Liberation consists of short, advanced and personal instructions for medition by Ajahn Anan Akincano: “With the heart being at ease, there may be the feeling that our body expand. Our body becomes imbued with blissful feelings called piti, waves of joy and rapture rolling on to the shore. When piti is strong, we might [...]

Walking with Awareness – A Guide to Walking Meditation

Walking with Awareness A Guide to Walking Meditation Written by Luang Por Liem Áhitadhammo –  a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition, was born in 1941. After higher ordination at twenty years of age, he first practised in several village monasteries until he joined Wat Nong PahPong, Ajahn Chah’s famous forest monastery in UbonProvince, in [...]