The teachings of Shunryu Suzuki have served for innumerable people as the gateway to Zen practice and meditation. In Zen Is Right Now, devoted student and biographer David Chadwick sheds new light on Suzuki’s presence and teachings through selected quotes from his lectures and a variety of stories told by his students.

What if you could profoundly change your life just by becoming more mindful of your breathing? According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, you can. What if "paying attention on purpose and non-judgmentally" could improve your health? Again, according to Dr. Kabat-Zinn, it can.

Lucidly and beautifully written, Peace Is Every Step contains commentaries, meditations, personal anecdotes, and stories from Nhat Hanh's experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the listener already is - in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking - and shows how deep meditative presence is available now.

In simple and straightforward language, Bhante Gunaratana shares the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness and how we can use these principles to improve our daily lives, deepen our mindfulness, and move closer to our spiritual goals. Based on the classic Satipatthana Sutta, one of the most succinct yet rich explanations of meditation, Bhante's presentation is nonetheless thoroughly modern.

This very short introduction offers listeners a superb overview of the teachings of the Buddha, as well as a succinct guide to the integration of Buddhism into daily life.

With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present, and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests.

This book will help you appreciate the significance of Japan's own religion in everyday life, recognize the key traditions and festivals of the Shinto year, understand what you will see at Shinto shrines and in Shinto rituals, and gain insights into the controversies surrounding Shinto politics and nationalism.

The Japanese people have always seen themselves as a nation uniquely apart. Their exquisite art forms and elegant culture, military prowess and technological precision, have long been the envy of friend and foe alike. Today, even as Japan adapts to a rapidly changing world, its traditional culture and consensus-based philosophy have proved remarkably resilient. Culture Smart! Japan will broaden your perception and understanding of this complex, rich, and dynamic society.

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo is a long essay linking the role of tea (teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English tea classics. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life.

Through a study of the way of the samurai, Nitobe identifies the seven virtues most widely recognized by the Japanese: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, veracity, honor, and loyalty. In sharing these moral guidelines, handed down over generations, Nitobe gives the world unique insight into a previously unexplored code of honor.

On the face of it, a simple book of 26 poem fables sharing one man’s wisdom. But The Prophet is so much more than that. It has inspired people from John F Kennedy to The Beatles and became the '60s Bible of counterculture – all because of the timeless truths it shared. Each poem takes a different theme – pleasure, beauty, freedom, joy and sorrow – as the fictional Al Mustapha shares his thoughts and experiences as he prepares to travel back to his island home.

Listeners of this book will gain a clear understanding of what makes the Japanese, and their society, tick.

This long-awaited second book by renowned spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle goes deeper into the teachings so eloquently and clearly expressed in his first book, The Power of Now.

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is “take it easy.” At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.

For the average Indian, Japan is the land of the bullet train, zippy cars, and geishas, and also hard to understand. However, what appears to be opaque and insular to the world outside turns out to be a society that is friendly, intimate and closely knit when you get to know it better.

Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: This idea changed my life.

Akira Kido is a divorce attorney whose own marriage is in danger of being destroyed by emotional disconnect. With a midlife crisis looming, Kido's life is upended by the reemergence of a former client, Rié Takemoto. She wants Kido to investigate a dead man - her recently deceased husband, Daisuké. Upon his death she discovered that he’d been living a lie. His name, his past, his entire identity belonged to someone else, a total stranger.

Practicing the Power of Now is a carefully arranged series of excerpts from the The Power of Now that directly gives us those exercises and keys. Return to those words, reflect on the words, reflect even on the space between the words and - maybe over time, maybe immediately - you'll discover something of life-changing significance.

The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.

Noted Japan expert Professor Mark J. Ravina of the University of Texas at Austin covers the politics, economics, and culture of the island nation since World War II - a conflict that saw the end of Japan’s dream of regional conquest, which Professor Ravina calls Empire 1.0. The country’s postwar leaders radically changed course, renouncing a strong military to pursue Empire 2.0 - Japan as an economic colossus.

Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him.

心に沁み入るブッダの教え。私たちが幸福になる秘訣は、「世の中の考え」と「この世の真理」を正しく理解することにあります。


「あなたは、ふだん、まったくあべこべの感覚で生きていますね」

こう言われたら、あなたはどう感じるでしょうか?

「あべこべ」とは「さかさま・逆」の意味。
つまり、「あなたはさかさまの感覚で生きています」ということです。

私たちは、そんなことはないと思うでしょう。
ですが、お釈迦さまから見れば、実際は皆、あべこべ感覚で生きていると言います。

たとえば、「人生は楽しい」と考えても、実際の人生は「苦」ばかりということ。
「私は死なない」と思っても、人間には必ず「死」が訪れます。
「世の中の考え」と「お釈迦さまがいうこの世の真理」はあべこべです。
それは、私たちがものごとを勝手に捏造していることが原因なのです。

この本では、私たちが真の幸福と安らぎを得るために、ものごとをありのままに
知るために、お釈迦さまの道を紹介してくれます。

差別こそが苦しみの原因。生死を分けずにとらえるインド人。一方、生死を分けてとらえるのが日本人。死を差別することが私たちに死の恐怖を与え、死を克服することを妨げています。差別する心をなくしていけば、死が怖くなくなる。死に正対できる。差別する気持ちを減らしていく――生きていく上で大切にしたい心がけです。○講演者:ひろさちや-宗教評論家。本名、増原良彦。1936年、大阪府生まれ。東京大学卒業。気象大学校で教鞭を執るかたわら、「ひろさちや」のペンネームで仏教の入門書などを執筆。著書は『仏教入門』『まんだら人生論』『般若心経二六二文字の宇宙』『世逃げのすすめ』『世間も他人も気にしない』『ポケットに仏さまを』『サラリーマン劇薬人生相談』『ゆったり生きよう』『「狂い」のすすめ』『無責任のすすめ』など多数。○昭和60年2月収録○一部衣擦れなどの雑音がございますが、内容の聴取には差し支えないかと思われます。

Brett L. Walker tackles key themes regarding Japan's relationships with its minorities, state and economic development, and the uses of science and medicine. The book begins by tracing the country's early history through archaeological remains, before proceeding to explore life in the imperial court, the rise of the samurai, civil conflict, encounters with Europe, and the advent of modernity and empire. Walker's vibrant and accessible new narrative then follows Japan's ascension from the ashes of World War II into the thriving nation of today.