Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

Confession of a Buddhist Atheist - Stephen Batchelor
Written with the same brilliance and boldness that made Buddhism Without Beliefs a classic in its field, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is Stephen Batchelor’s account of his journey through Buddhism, which culminates in a groundbreaking new portrait of the historical Buddha. Stephen Batchelor grew up outside London and came of age in the 1960s. Like other seekers of his time, instead of going to college he set off to explore the world. Settling in India, he eventually became a Buddhist monk in Dharamsala, the Tibetan capital-in-exile, and entered the inner circle of monks around the Dalai Lama. He later moved to a monastery in South Korea to pursue intensive training in Zen Buddhism. Yet the more Batchelor read about the Buddha, the more he came to believe that the way Buddhism was being taught and practiced was at odds with the actual teachings of the Buddha himself. Charting his journey from hippie to monk to lay practitioner, teacher, and interpreter of Buddhist thought, Batchelor reconstructs the historical Buddha’s life, locating him within the social and political context of his world. In examining the ancient texts of the Pali Canon, the earliest record of the Buddha’s life and teachings, Batchelor argues that the Buddha was a man who looked at human life in a radically new way for his time, more interested in the question of how human beings should live in this world than in notions of karma and the afterlife. According to Batchelor, the outlook of the Buddha was far removed from the piety and religiosity that has come to define much of Buddhism as we know it today. Both controversial and deeply personal, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is a fascinating exploration of a religion that continues to engage the West. Batchelor’s insightful, deeply knowledgeable, and persuasive account will be an essential book for anyone interested in Buddhism.


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Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom

Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Eric Swanson

Yongey Mingyur is one of the most celebrated among the new generation of Tibetan meditation masters, whose teachings have touched people of all faiths around the world. His first book, The Joy of Living, was a New York Times bestseller hailed as “compelling, readable, and informed” (Buddhadharma) and praised by Richard Gere, Lou Reed, and Julian Schnabel for its clarity, wit, and unique insight into the relationship between science and Buddhism.

His new book, Joyful Wisdom, addresses the timely and timeless problem of anxiety in our everyday lives. “From the 2,500-year-old perspective of Buddhism,” Yongey Mingyur writes, “every chapter in human history could be described as an ‘age of anxiety.’ The anxiety we feel now has been part of the human condition for centuries.” So what do we do? Escape or succumb? Both routes inevitably lead to more complications and problems in our lives. “Buddhism,” he says, “offers a third option. We can look directly at the disturbing emotions and other problems we experience in our lives as stepping-stones to freedom. Instead of rejecting them or surrendering to them, we can befriend them, working through them to reach an enduring authentic experience of our inherent wisdom, confidence, clarity, and joy.”

Divided into three parts like a traditional Buddhist text, Joyful Wisdom identifies the sources of our unease, describes methods of meditation that enable us to transform our experience into deeper insight, and applies these methods to common emotional, physical, and personal problems. The result is a work at once wise, anecdotal, funny, informed, and graced with the author’s irresistible charm.

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Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life -  Karen Armstrong 
 It takes courage for a religious historian and writer of Armstrong’s stature to step out from behind the scrim of scholarship and analysis to offer guidelines for a spiritual practice designed to make humanity a kinder and saner species. With the boon of the prestigious TED Prize, Armstrong (The Case for God, 2009) worked with “leading thinkers from a variety of major faiths” to compose a Charter for Compassion, which calls for the restoration of “compassion to the heart of religious and moral life” in a “dangerously polarized” world. Not content with merely stating lofty goals, however, Armstrong, a revered genius of elucidation and synthesis, now tells the full and profound story of altruism throughout human history. She turns to neuroscience and tracks the evolution of our brains and our natural capacity for empathy, and performs her signature mode of beautifully clarifying interpretation in a mind-expanding discussion of the history of the Golden Rule (“Always treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself”), the essence of compassion and the kernel of every religious tradition. Exquisite and affecting explications of Buddhist, Confucian, Judaic, Christian, and Islamic commentary prepare the ground for meditation exercises meant to engender “open-mindedness” and the cultivation of compassion, making for the most sagacious and far-reaching 12-step program ever.

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Meditactics

Meditactics
This is a complete guide to meditation in both theory and practice for everyone. From the complete beginner to the expert.
It is also an extensive library on meditation, containing material from some of the absolute best scientists and teachers in the world, all recognised experts on the complex topic of meditation.

It contains:

• 10 Hours Video (29 Video Clips)
• 97 Hours Audio (28 Audio books on 91 CDs converted to mp3 files)
• 10 000 pages of eBooks

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Thus Come, Thus Gone

I have decided to finally end Buddha Torrents today. I'm sure to the delight of some people and to sadden others. I really don't have the time anymore to devote to postings and I feel the time is right to stop. There has been some interest by others to continue this blog, either as a website or a new blog and I very much support that. I however wont be involved with maintaining anything new. Its a shame that there hasn't been any similar blogs to this one but now with the death of Buddha Torrents I hope some seeds may sprout.

I would like to thank all those that contributed to the blog over the years and all the followers. This blog has allowed me to watch and listen to a wide variety of Buddhist material that I would never had a chance to otherwise see. I hope that the community will continue to share items of merit and enlighten those still on the way.

Gassho - Namaste - Peace

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Touching the Earth

Touching the Earth - Thich Nhat Hanh
One of the most powerful acts of devotion is also one of the most simple: bowing down and surrendering to the earth. This is the basis for The Five Prostrations, a time-honored Buddhist meditation practice that joins the mind and body. On Touching the Earth, Buddhist masters Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chân Không update this ancient teaching for the modern student. You learn each phase of this practice, which will help empty your body of resentment while opening it to compassion for all life. Through the songs of Sister Chan Khong (whom Thich Nhat Hanh has called a living bodhisattva, or one dedicated to the enlightenment of all beings) you also gain an ancient Buddhist technique for communicating tenderness and healing to your body. Touching the Earth comes to you with a foldout explaining this artful meditation in detail.

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Aitken Roshi Final Interview

Aitken Roshi Final Interview
This past week American Zen Master Robert Aitken passed away at age 93. Shortly before his passing he gave this final interview. The audio is of poor quality and unedited.

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