A compact summary like Probing the Sutras has been sorely needed for some time, as more and more Westerners have dipped into meditation without any understanding of its predominantly Buddhist scriptural underpinning. This concise, well-informed introduction to the history and contents of eleven seminal Buddhist sutras also provides suggestions for reflection, meditation, and practical applications related to the key teachings of each scripture. Readers of Probing the Sutras will be able to develop a framework for understanding Buddhist doctrines--and see the unique pearls of wisdom contained within each sutra.

This book is part of an initiative in cooperation with renowned Chinese publishers to make fundamental, formative, and influential Chinese thinkers available to a western readership, providing absorbing insights into Chinese reflections of late, and offering a chance to grasp today’s China. In their influential book Handbook of the History of Religions in China, Zhongjian Mou and Jian Zhang present a panorama of the religions existing in China through time. In their fascinating History, they delineate the emergence and development of Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity and explore the roles they played in Chinese society and the interrelations between them. In China, also due to the encompassing Confucian idea of “living together harmoniously while maintaining differences,” religions—including newly arrived ones—came closer together than anywhere else in the world and reached a unique level of peaceful societal coexistence. Despite many frictions and conflicts, communication and reconciliation were indisputably predominant in China throughout history. Buddhism was peacefully introduced into China and, later on, a harmonious, symbiotic syncretism of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism developed—an exemplary process of how a diverse set of different religions can complement each other and contribute to a better life.

The Braha Sutras is the culmination of James Braha’s forty years of astrological experience. In his most comprehensive book yet, James clarifies 216 of the most challenging birth chart issues for astrologers. With the remarkable clarity and insight for which he is known, James shares everything he has gained from his practice, having analyzed over 10,000 horoscopes. This 500 page reference is comprised of seven chapters: The Being, The Doing, The Predictions, The Nodes, The Clients, The Upayas (gems, mantras, and yagyas), and The Odds and Ends. It is invaluable for students of both Hindu and Western astrology at all levels of experience.

‘Yoga, Yog-Sutras and Gita’ is not a systematic commentary on these great Indian scriptures. It is a collection of scattered writings or interpretations of these subjects by Swami Dakshinamurti. He considered Yoga, Yog-Sutras and Gita as the source of all spiritual wisdom in its most condensed form, which was relevant to his own spiritual growth and to all those who are on this path. Spontaneous living, renunciation and detachment are the key points in his spiritual philosophy, for which he drew inspiration from these powerful texts. He explains how we can use the wisdom contained in these texts for our spiritual growth.

“Draws on wisdom from both Theravada and Vajrayana traditions to offer a systematic and practical approach to liberation through mindfulness.” —Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart Bringing his experience as a monk, scientist, and contemplative, Alan Wallace offers a rich synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions along with a comprehensive range of mindfulness meditation practices interwoven throughout the text. An ideal reference for both students and teachers, Minding Closely presents the guided meditations systematically, beginning with very basic instructions, which are then gradually built upon as one gains increasing familiarity with the practice. This edition includes a new preface and three never-before-published translations by B. Alan Wallace from three renowned traditional Buddhist works on mindfulness.

For more than a thousand years, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra has been held in high regard in the Mahāyāna Buddhist countries of East and Southeast Asia and has been as popular as the Lotus, Heart, and Diamond Sūtras. Its wealth of theoretical and practical instruction in living a spiritual life often made it the first major text studied by newly ordained monks, particularly in the Chan tradition. This Sutra is regarded as a complete and practical manual for spiritual practice that will lead to enlightenment. It provides instruction on understanding one’s own Buddha-nature, the potential within every being for becoming a Buddha. The Sutra explains how and why this nature is hidden and how we can uncover it and recognize it as our own true mind. The Sutra also explains why personal integrity and purity of conduct are prerequisites for spiritual awakening. It presents the principles of meditation, and provides guidelines for discerning correct practices from those which deviate into wrong ones. It explains how our own intentional acts, whether physical, verbal, or mental, result in karmic experiences, including rebirths into various levels of being, both human and non-human. At the heart of the Sūtra is the Śūraṅgama Mantra. The Sutra promises that the practice of reciting this mantra, in the context of the other practices taught in the Sutra, can successfully eliminate internal or external obstacles that block the path of spiritual progress

"This lucid and wide-ranging study sets out to reconcile the objective and subjective perspectives in the investigation of the phenomenon of time. [Lawrence W. Fagg] . . . explores the wondrous subtleties of time that modern physics continues to reveal, but complements them with the rich insights of the spiritual perspectives on time that the world's major religions have to offer."--Helga Nowotny, Former President, International Society for the Study of Time