What does Shakespeare have to teach us about mindfulness? What Eastern spiritual views about death, love, and presence are reflected in the writings of The Bard? The Buddha and the Bard reveals the surprising connections between the 2,500-year-old spiritual leader and the most compelling writer of all time. “Shufran’s compelling juxtapositions will encourage the reader to ask the deepest questions of themselves while delighting in the play of resonances across a cultural and historical divide.” – YOGA Magazine Shakespeare understood and represented the human condition better than any writer of his time. As for the Buddha, he saw how to liberate us from that condition. Author Lauren Shufran explores the fascinating interplay of Western drama and Eastern philosophy by pairing quotes from Shakespeare with the tenets of an Eastern spiritual practice, sparking a compelling dialogue between the two. There’s a remarkable interchange of echoes between Shakespeare’s conception of “the inward man” and Buddhist approaches to recognizing, honoring, and working with our humanness as we play out our roles on the “stage” of our lives. The Buddha and the Bard synthesizes literature and scripture, embodied drama and transcendent practice, to shape a multifaceted lyric that we can apply as mindful practice in our own lives. Shufran’s compelling juxtapositions will encourage the reader to ask the deepest questions of themselves while delighting in the play of resonances across a cultural and historical divide.

A Tibetan Buddhist nun offers her insights on anger, the ways that it manifests in our lives, and the ways that we can skillfully work to transform it, in this inspiring and humble guidebook. Anger plagues all of us on many levels and can be a formidable emotion to overcome. Yet, we see people, such as the Dalai Lama, who have faced circumstances far worse than many of us have faced—including exile, persecution, and the loss of many loved ones—but do not burn with rage or seek revenge. Using the teachings and advice presented by beloved Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron, anyone can learn to calm their emotions, sit with and understand their anger, and peacefully move toward resolution and peace. Working with Anger presents a variety of Buddhist methods for subduing and preventing anger—not by changing what is happening but by framing our feelings and circumstances anew. As Chodron writes, we each long for harmony—in our hearts, relationships, and societies—and this book can help all of us to accomplish just that.

The Buddha taught his followers to transcend the cycle of birth and death by doing no harm, training the mind, and benefiting others. Shakespeare wrote plays about romantic love, sex, war, royal power, betrayal, jealousy, murder and revenge. What can these two figures, separated by 2000 years and living in such different societies, possibly have in common? More than you might think. Both recognized that our thoughts shape our experience. Both were concerned with suffering and its causes. Both embraced qualities that counter suffering, including love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Both were concerned with impermanence and death. Both understood the illusory nature of existence. Both believed that ill-intentioned actions bring bad consequences for the actor. And both realized that the self to which we cling has no enduring reality. Our book explores each of these areas, drawing on passages from Buddhist teachings and passages from many of Shakespeare's works. Through our exploration we will find that Shakespeare's mirror-like mind reflected universal wisdom that resonates with the some of the Buddha's basic teachings.

The most prominent expert on Buddhism in the West presents his most importantteaching and meditation practice for everyday life.

This easy-to-understand translation of one of the earliest surviving Buddhist texts offers a pathway to awakening that is simple, straightforward, and free of religious doctrine One of the earliest of all Buddhist texts, the Atthakavagga, or “Book of Eights,” is a remarkable document, not only because it comes from the earliest strain of the literature—before the Buddha, as the title suggests, came to be thought of as a “Buddhist”—but also because its approach to awakening is so simple and free of adherence to any kind of ideology. Instead the Atthakavagga points to a direct and simple approach for attaining peace without requiring the adherence to doctrine. The value of the teachings it contains is not in the profundity of their philosophy or in their authority as scripture; rather, the value is found in the results they bring to those who live by them. Instead of doctrines to be believed, the “Book of Eights” describes means or practices for realizing peace. Gil Fronsdal’s rigorous translation with commentary reveals the text to be of interest not only to Buddhists, but also to the ever-growing demographic of spiritual-but-not-religious, who seek a spiritual life outside the structures of religion.

Here is the core of the Buddha’s teaching in his own words, as it was memorized word-for-word by his disciples and written down two hundred years after his death. These selections from the Buddhist scriptures deal with the search for truth, the way of contemplation, life and death, living in community, and many other topics, serving as an excellent small introduction to the Buddha’s teaching. Whether addressed to monks and nuns, householders, outcastes, or thieves, the Buddha’s teachings are characterized by one main concern: conveying the reality of our bondage to suffering—and the supremely good news that liberation is possible. It is a concern as relevant for people today as it was for the people of north India a millennium and a half ago.

Based on the early Brahminic literature, the author asserts the origin of the method of meditation learned by the Buddha from his two teachers and identifies some authentic teachings of the Buddha on meditation.