The influence of Buddhism on World History

The influence of Buddha on world history can hardly be over estimated. His teachings and organization influenced religion and philosophy in China, it reached as far as Japan. It impacted art, culture and architecture in Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka - the whole of Southern Asia in short.
There's no denying that Buddhism itself changed in each of these places. In fact, Buddhism has been hailed as one of the most adaptable religions. It changes with every place it lands in. Who knows how it will change in the West, and how we will be changed by it...

Read the whole story: http://hubpages.com/hub/influence-Buddha-World-History

Best books on Buddhism

These are the best selling books on Buddhism today.

The top 3 Buddhist Books

	You might want to digest this book slowly, a few pages at a time. Although Zen teacher Steve Hagen has a knack for putting the philosophy of Buddhism in a "plain and simple" package, it may take a while to sink in. There is so much there. Seeing reality, realizing the wisdom of the self, breaking free of dualistic thinking--this is pretty heady stuff. Thankfully, Hagen passes it along in the form of examples from life, psychological tidbits, and stories from Buddhist teachers past and present. And when it clicks in, it can be life-transforming. Hagen explains this shift in outlook and how the fundamental way we look at the world affects everything we do. As an outline, Hagen follows the basic teachings of the Buddha, and we see that, rather than dogmatic truths, they are reminders for us as we reconsider the life we have taken for granted for so long. As it turns out, Buddhism is life, plain and simple. --Brian Bruya Price: $6.15 List Price: $10.95
	The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching What should we think when on the one hand Buddhism tells us that life is suffering and on the other we are told to enjoy life's every moment? Loved around the world for his simple, straightforward explanations of Buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh has finally turned his hand to the very core of Buddhism and conundrums such as this. In the traditional way, Thich Nhat Hanh takes up the core teachings one by one--the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Twelve Links of Interdependent Co-Arising--but his approach is as fresh as a soft breeze through a plum orchard. For illustration, he dips into the vast stores of Buddhist literature right alongside contemporary anecdotes, pointing out subtleties that can get glossed over in other popular introductions. He also includes three short but key sutras, essential source teachings from which all Buddhism flows. Studying the basics of Buddhism under Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is like learning basketball from Michael Jordan. --Brian Bruya Price: $8.57 List Price: $14.95
	Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life Thich Nhat Hanh's writing is deceptive in its subtlety. He'll go on and on with stories about tree-hugging or metaphors involving raw potatoes; he'll tell you how to eat mindfully, even how to breathe and walk; he'll suggest looking closely at a flower and to see the sun as your heart. As the Zen teacher Richard Baker commented, however, Nhat Hanh is "a cross between a cloud, a snail, and piece of heavy machinery." Sooner or later, it begins to sink in that Nhat Hanh is conveying a depth of psychology and a world outlook that require nothing less than a complete paradigm shift. Through his cute stories and compassionate admonitions, he gradually builds up to his philosophy of interbeing, the notion that none of us is separately, but rather that we inter-are. The ramifications are explosive. How can we mindlessly and selfishly pursue our individual ends, when we are inextricably bound up with everyone and everything else? We see an enemy not as focus of anger but as a human with a complex history, who could be us if we had the same history. Suffice it to say, that after reading Peace Is Every Step, you'll never look at a plastic bag the same way again, and you may even develop a penchant for hugging trees. --Brian Bruya Price: $6.95 List Price: $15.00

How do Buddhists live? Buddhist lifestyle

Buddhists live all over the world. They live in all kinds of ways, so there is no simple all encompassing answer to the question how Buddhists live.
Still, there are a few things to take into account:

1. Real Buddhists have taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha
2. Many Buddhists meditate (though traditionally this was only done by a few monks)
3. Buddhists will often vow to take on the Five Vows – pancha sila – either on religious holidays or throughout their life.
4. Many Buddhists are vegetarians
5. Buddhists often have rituals dedicated to the Buddha: puja rituals.

Buddhist meditation explained

Meditation and the relativity of thought in Buddhism

* Taming the mind, Pema Chodron
* The eight jhanas or stages of meditation in Theravada Buddhism
o part 2: entering the 8 jhanas
o part3:Controversy around the eight jhanas
* Meditating on compassion useful? on being too practical and realistic, Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama
* Meditation quotes
* Mindfulness of breathing, from the Anapanasati Sutta. Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
* It is easier to get enlightened than to stay enlightened, Lama Surya Das
* On spiritual enlightenment, Hinduism and Buddhism compared
* Thich Nhat Hanh: meditation quotes
* Thich Nhat Hanh on the benefits of silence
* The Mind and the Nature of Mind, Sogyal Rinpoche
* Prayer of blessing to all sentient beings, Sogyal Rinpoche
* Invocation to Tara, Nagarjuna
* The natural liberation through naked vision, identifying intelligence, by Padma Sambava. A very inspiring text that goes to the depth of the illusiveness of our thinking.
* Asanga's Teaching of Great Compassion,a meditation and visualization exercise.
* Parts of Tsong Kapa's Medium Length Transcendent Insight are recommended on the subject of meditation:
o Part 1
o Part 6
* The Nature of Buddhist Meditation, by Lama Doboom Tulku
* Nirvana etc. - from a discussion group
* More on Nirvana - theosophical and zen-approaches, from a discussion group
* Zen quotes

Calendars and date books with a Zen theme.

Some of these calendars have a specifically Zen Buddhist theme, others use Zen as an inspiration, but aren't religious.

Zen Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh is so popular, his teachings are shared in engagement planners and wall calendars. All of these are beautiful and inspiring.

Karma in Buddhism: reincarnation and rebirth

* Books on rebirth and karma
* Karma quotes by Buddha
* Karma in Buddhism, Hans Wolfgang Schuman
* Karma: It's not about Fatalism, Bhikkhu Thanissaro
* Anatta (Non-self) and Kamma (Karma); The Best Kept Secret in the Universe, by Ajahn Jagaro
* Atman in Sunyata and the Sunyata of Atman; An attempt to reconcile the alleged difference between Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta on the nature of the Self, by Bijoy H. Boruah
* Self, world and incarnation,Mark Harriss on the self and the question of 'what is it that reincarnates or is reborn?'
* Merits,commented on by Hui Neng, Buddhist Zen Master and sixth patriarch
* Past Lives and their spiritual meaning, What does my past life say about me now? Katinka Hesselink
* Inattention & past lives: Buddhist story about rebirth
* Reincarnation of the personality? If they can find reincarnated lamas, why can't I find the rebirth of my father? Katinka Hesselink

More about karma and reincarnation.

Buddhism blogposts All Considering Spiritual Blog

Being halfway a Buddhist – what’s a real Buddhist?

By Katinka - Spirituality | September 28th, 2009

I said in my blogpost about whether Buddhism was the best world religion (let alone win an award) that I was halfway a Buddhist myself. I got a question about that: what do I mean?
A real Buddhist, in my view, and in the traditional Asian view, is someone who has taken refuge. That is, in [...]

3 Comments

The karma of disease and health

By Katinka - Spirituality | September 1st, 2009

The relationship between karma and disease is a controversial one. There is the common sense view that since disease is unwelcome, it ‘must be’ bad karma. On the other hand there is a long tradition of theosophical thought saying that bad karma doesn’t exist. I was reading up on a related topic this summer and [...]

6 Comments

Did Buddhism win the best Religion of the world award?

By Katinka - Spirituality | July 24th, 2009

There’s a rumor going about a lot of blogs that Buddhism wins the best religion of the world reward. Unfortunately it’s only blogs that are reporting this. No ordinary news sources, nor can I find the ‘Icarus’ foundation that is said to have given the award because:
“It wasn’t a surprise to me that Buddhism won [...]

15 Comments

Osel Hita Torres – aka Lama Osel goes on to make movies

By Katinka - Spirituality | June 15th, 2009

This is a true story that someone emailed me because it reminded them of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s story. That is: someone raised to be a teacher, steps outside the tradition that he was brought up in to do something totally different. Lama Osel was born to Spanish parents, but brought up as the reincarnation of Thubten [...]

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Remembering Blavatsky – White Lotusday

By Katinka - Spirituality | May 8th, 2009

On May 8th theosophists all over the world, whatever theosophical organization they belong to, commemorate Blavatsky’s passing on May 8th 1891. This day is called White Lotusday. Traditionally quotes from three texts are read: The Bhagavad Gita, The Voice of the Silence and Light of Asia. So here goes from chapter ten of the Bhagavad [...]

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Work as those who are ambitious…

By Katinka - Spirituality | April 13th, 2009

Work as those work who are ambitious. Respect life as those do who desire it.
Be happy as those are who live for happiness.
Mabel Collins, Light on the path, part 1 (4)
This quote must be a bit puzzling for those who think ambition itself is a spiritual virtue. Light on the Path is one of the [...]

2 Comments

The difference between spiritual growth and personal development?

By Katinka - Spirituality | March 18th, 2009

Michael asked me on my Dutch blog:
What’s the difference between personal and spiritual growth anyhow? I think self knowledge is perhaps the only spiritual or personal growth there is, isn’t it?
It’s a very good question. Depending on ones spiritual background, one can go into this very deeply, or just skimp the surface. Ken Wilber has [...]

13 Comments

The Dalai Lama – a peaceful response to violence

By Katinka - Spirituality | March 10th, 2009

It is a good blogging tradition to pay attention to important dates. Today it is 50 years since His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet, because it was being occupied by Chinese forces. I’m not going to go into the whole story here. Follow the links in this post for more details.
Got Enlightenment? – [...]

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Generosity and detachment – spiritual virtue no. 5

By Katinka - Spirituality | February 10th, 2009

Generosity is, for once, a classic virtue. In Islam it’s called Zakat: the duty to give a percentage of your possessions to the poor.
Generosity is linked to another classic virtue: detachment. In both Hinduism and Buddhism attachment to stuff, money and status is seen as a problem. Letting go of that in the form of [...]

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Spiritual virtues / values / norms: perspective on alternative spirituality

By Katinka - Spirituality | February 2nd, 2009

Auch. That was way too long a title.
Anyhow, I was thinking about some of the responses to my post about the difference between religion and spirituality (and how little difference there is). While I don’t agree with Jan Peter for instance – spirituality is more than something emotional – I do think I know what [...]

Introduction to Buddhism

Buddhism: practice, religious views and beliefs
Buddhism is one of the most inspiring world philosophies. On this lens you will find information on the Buddhist path, basic concepts and links to more information.