The Resolve for Bodhi (bodhicitta), the aspiration to reach full Awakening for the sake of all living beings, is a core element of Mahayana Buddhism. This short text by Master Xing An (d. 1734) who lived in Hangzhou, provides instructions on the Resolve for Bodhi that fit well into the Chinese cultural context, while staying true to the spirit of Mahayana Buddhism. Mainly written for a monastic audience, the text provides an intriguing glimpse into the Buddhism of the Qing Dynasty, which is yet to receive much scholarly attention. At the same time, the text and its modern commentary by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua also speak to the people of the twenty-first century, asking what makes our lives worth living. (Based on audio recordings of lectures given by Master Hua at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California, in 1979, and at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco in 1985)

A fifth-century Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen to China. Although the tradition that traces its ancestry back to him did not flourish until nearly two hundred years after his death, today millions of Zen Buddhists and students of kung fu claim him as their spiritual father. While others viewed Zen practice as a purification of the mind or a stage on the way to perfect enlightenment, Bodhidharma equated Zen with buddhahood and believed that it had a place in everyday life. Instead of telling his disciples to purify their minds, he pointed them to rock walls, to the movements of tigers and cranes, to a hollow reed floating across the Yangtze. This bilingual edition, the only volume of the great teacher's work currently available in English, presents four teachings in their entirety. "Outline of Practice" describes the four all-inclusive habits that lead to enlightenment, the "Bloodstream Sermon" exhorts students to seek the Buddha by seeing their own nature, the "Wake-up Sermon" defends his premise that the most essential method for reaching enlightenment is beholding the mind. The original Chinese text, presented on facing pages, is taken from a Ch'ing dynasty woodblock edition.

Pt. 1. On generating the resolve to become a Buddha / by Ārya Nāgārjuna -- pt. 2. Exhortation to resolve on buddhahood / by Sheng'an Shixian -- pt. 3. Exhortation to resolve on buddhahood / by Peixiu.

In A Path of Practice: The Bodhi Path Program, K&ü nzig Shamar Rinpoche offers his vision of focused Dharma practice with the power to lead practitioners in today' s world toward achieving the state of awakening. His emphasis lies in general on Mahayana Buddhism as the essential support of such practice, and in particular on the path of Mahamudra as transmitted in the Kagy&ü tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. From these perspectives, he describes the various elements of meditation practice, that is, the path of Dharma to be walked consistently. In addition, he recommends the study of certain Buddhist topics which can help a meditator to navigate through the different layers of his or her spiritual practice and encourages practitioners to develop the right view which can then lead the meditation.

Clear and simple teachings on voidness and living an ethical life. In Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu presents in simple language the philosophy of voidness, or sunnata, that lies at the heart of the Buddhism. By carefully tying voidness to ethical discipline, Buddhadasa provides us clear and open grounds to reflect on the place of the philosophy in our lives. With his ecumenical, stimulating, and enthusiastically engaged approach to reading the Buddha's teaching in full flourish, Ajahn Buddhadasa transforms the jungle of philosophy into a glade as inviting as the one in which he famously taught.