text:
Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English
"Bhante Gunaratana has done it again! There is practical logic and an almost startling common sense to the explanations that lead the reader smoothly through the various stages of meditative concentration."
—Ajahn Amaro, abbot of Abhayagiri Monastery
An Introductory Guide to Deeper States of Meditation
Bhante Gunaratana
Countless people worldwide have made Mindfulness in Plain English a beloved and bestselling classic in almost a dozen languages. Now after nearly two decades, Bhante helps meditators of every stripe take their mindfulness practice to the next level—helping them go, in a word, beyond mindfulness. In the same warm, clear, and friendly voice, Bhante introduces the reader to what have been known for centuries as the "jhanas"—deeply calm, joyous, and powerful states of meditation that, when explored with the clearly presented tools in this book, can lead to a life of insight and unshakeable peace.
Bhante Gunaratana was ordained at the age of twelve as a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, earned his PhD in philosophy from The American University, and has led meditation retreats, taught Buddhism, and lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is the president of the Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia, where he lives.
Other books by Bhante Gunaratana:
Buddhist Suttas for Recitation
Start Here, Start Now
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English
Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness
Meditation on Perception
The Mindfulness in Plain English Journal
Mindfulness in Plain English
The Mindfulness in Plain English Collection
Loving-Kindness in Plain English
Liberation from Samsara
The Power of Mantra
The Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment
Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions
Illuminating the Intent
The Diamond Cutter Sutra
The Tārā Tantra
This rare teaching by Rinpoché is a uniquely concise volume of the teachings of the path to liberation that is authentic, authoritative, and complete.
In Liberation from Samsara, the Fourth Kyabjé Dodrupchen Rinpoché presents the Longchen Nyingthik preliminary teachings, with a special focus on guru yoga. These teachings, from the innermost secret instruction of Dzogchen, constitute a complete path to enlightenment.
After discussing the ways to turn our mind toward Dharma and the trainings, Rinpoché provides guru yoga instruction as he turns to the main tantric practice: meditations on unifying one's mind with Guru Rinpoché's wisdom mind. This rare teaching by Rinpoché, though intentionally succinct to accommodate the needs of contemporary Western practitioners, presents a complete path to enlightenment. It contrasts three different paths to liberation: Shravakayana (the way of the disciple), Pratyekabuddhayana (the way of the self-enlightened buddha), and Mahāyāna (the way of the bodhisattva), which is our way, our boundless intention to seek refuge in order to free all sentient beings from samsaric suffering.
Energize your practice with the potent energy of mantra.
In this book, beloved teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides us through the most popular mantras in Tibetan Buddhism: Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more.
A mantra—literally "that which protects the mind"—is a series of Sanskrit syllables that evoke the energy of a particular buddha or bodhisattva. It works as a sacred sound that brings blessings to ourself and others, and as a tool to transform our mind into one that is more compassionate and wise.
In clear and succinct teachings, Lama Zopa shows us why we need different mantras and how each mantra works. He also explains their importance and power, giving specific instructions for practicing them. The exquisite, full-color illustrations of the deities that accompany the text make this book a beautiful guide, one suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
The Wisdom Culture Series, published under the guidance of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, features translations of key works by masters of the Geluk tradition. Also available in the Wisdom Culture Series, Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), author of the well-known Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment and guru to the First Dalai Lama, is renowned as perhaps Tibet's greatest scholar-saint. A dozen years after writing his Great Treatise, he wrote the Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, presented here in its first complete English translation.
Less than half the length of the Great Treatise, this work similarly presents a systematic overview of the Buddha's teachings. Tsongkhapa begins by abridging the longer work, distilling its meditations for quicker integration. After recognizing the rarity of our human existence and the great opportunities it affords, he follows with reflections on impermanence, suffering, and the promise of liberation from our past actions, proceeding then to the path of bodhisattvas, whose universal compassion seeks to free every being from suffering. Tsongkhapa gives especially detailed instructions on śamatha, the deep meditative concentration that is a precondition for the highest insight into the nature of reality. The final and largest section, on that very insight, is unique to this work, particularly Tsongkhapa's presentation of conventional truth and ultimate truth. Beginners and longtime practitioners alike will cherish the clear guidance from one of Tibet's great luminaries.
The Wisdom Culture Series, published under the guidance of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, features translations of key works by masters of the Geluk tradition. Also available in the Wisdom Culture Series, Lama Zopa Rinpoche's The Power of Mantra.
Armed with his rigorous examination of the canonical records, respected scholar-monk Bhikkhu Anālayo explores—and sharply criticizes—four examples of what he terms "superiority conceit" in Buddhism:
the androcentric tendency to prevent women from occupying leadership roles, be these as fully ordained monastics or as advanced bodhisattvas
the Mahayana notion that those who don't aspire to become bodhisattvas are inferior practitioners
the Theravada belief that theirs is the most original expression of the Buddha's teaching
the Secular Buddhist claim to understand the teachings of the Buddha more accurately than traditionally practicing Buddhists
Ven. Anālayo challenges the scriptural basis for these conceits and points out that adhering to such notions of superiority is not, after all, conducive to practice. "It is by diminishing ego, letting go of arrogance, and abandoning conceit that one becomes a better Buddhist," he reminds us, "no matter what tradition one may follow."
Thoroughly researched, Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions provides an accessible approach to these conceits as academic subjects. Readers will find it not only challenges their own intellectual understandings but also improves their personal practice.
This work is perhaps the most influential explanation of Candrakirti's seventh-century classic Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara).
Written as a supplement to Nagarjuna's Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, Candrakirti's text integrates the central insight of Nagarjuna's thought—the rejection of any metaphysical notion of intrinsic existence—with the well-known Mahayana framework of the ten levels of the bodhisattva, and it became the most studied presentation of Madhyamaka thought in Tibet.
Completed the year before the author's death, Tsongkhapa's exposition of Candrakirti's text is recognized by the Tibetan tradition as the final standpoint of Tsongkhapa on many philosophical questions, particularly the clear distinctions it draws between the standpoints of the Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools.
Written in exemplary Tibetan, Tsongkhapa's work presents a wonderful marriage of rigorous Madhyamaka philosophical analysis with a detailed and subtle account of the progressively advancing mental states and spiritual maturity realized by sincere Madhyamaka practitioners.
The work remains the principal textbook for the study of Indian Madhyamaka philosophy in many Tibetan monastic colleges, and it is a principal source for many Tibetan teachers seeking to convey the intricacies of Madhyamaka philosophy to non-Tibetan audiences.
Though it is often cited and well known, this is the first full translation of this key work in a Western language.
Learn more about the Library of Tibetan Classics.
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In the profound teachings of the Diamond Cutter Sutra, the Buddha offers a view of the world that deconstructs our normal categories of experience to show us that what we think are real entities in the world are actually our conceptualizations. The Buddha teaches us to cut our attachment to all phenomena and to the "I," which are empty of inherent existence, and in so doing, cut the root cause of our suffering. Yet without wise guidance we may think that because all phenomena are empty there is no need to be attached to virtue, and thus we fall into the worst trap of all—an attachment to emptiness. How do we destroy our attachment without being led astray?
With this question in mind, Dzogchen Master Khenpo Sodargye provides sparkling commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra so that we understand its actual meaning, thus preparing us to understand the view of the Great Perfection and Mahamudra. Before recognizing the nature of the mind, we learn we must hold on to things that are virtuous and right. Like a boat, these can help us cross a river; until we reach the other shore, it makes no sense to give them up.
The sixth chapter of Shantideva's classic A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life is a beacon of inspiration that shows what patience—one of the essential actions of the bodhisattvas—can really mean, leading us to profound self-realization and a heightened determination for awakened action in the world.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche—a teacher whose very name means "patience"—explores Shantideva's teachings verse by verse, unpacking their lessons for the modern reader, including:
overcoming anger,
accepting suffering,
and respecting others and finding happiness in their happiness.
In explaining this quintessential quality of a bodhisattva, Rinpoche shows us ordinary beings the profundity of the practice of patience and the relevance it has in our everyday lives.
"Shantideva was like us, but he worked on his mind until he became completely free from delusions . . . A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life has inspired countless people since it was written over thirteen hundred years ago. It tells us that we too can develop our mind to the levels of realizations that the great masters have attained—and it shows us how to do it."—Lama Zopa Rinpoche
This volume contains an English translation of the "root text" of the Tārā-mūla-kalpa, a scripture-ritual compendium that captures an important Buddhist tantric tradition in mid-formation. In this regard it is utterly unique and unlike any other text in the Buddhist canon. Its contents document the emergence of the quintessential female Buddha Tārā in seventh-century India. As her popularity grew, her cult spread throughout Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet, where she became revered as the "Mother" of the Tibetan people. Tārā is worshiped for a variety of reasons, from health and long life, to wealth, protection from enemies, and ultimately, the mind of enlightenment. Her presence pervades the evolution of Buddhism in Tibet, including within royal circles, as well as mentor and guide to many important Buddhist scholars, practitioners, and lineage holders.
Collected from teachings by His Holiness, this book is a warm and comprehensive introduction to the Buddhist path as told by the patriarch of the Sakya order. His Holiness offers explanations of the philosophical tenets of the Mahayana path and in particular the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism—giving down-to-earth advice for practicing in the world today, including
the principles of tantra,
the value of retreat,
the history of the Sakya lineage,
ecology from a Buddhist perspective,
biographies of great women practitioners,
and other fascinating topics.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in following a Buddhist spiritual path.


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The 7th Annual Ride-4-Ronald raised over $230,000 to benefit the families we serve!
Thanks to the support and fundraising efforts from over 400 cyclists and all of our generous sponsors, over $230,000 was raised to benefit the 1,800 children and families that turn to our three Houses each year!
1st Place: Paul Iandoli, raising over $6,500 & winning a Trek Road Bike!
2nd Place: Doug Hilliard, raising $6,000 & winning two certificates, each good for a three-day, two-night stay at a Hilton Orlando accompanied by four Disney tickets and four ice skating-passes to RDV Sportsplex!
3rd Place: Clint Bullock, raising over $4,000 & winning a weekday private pub tour on the Limo Cycle!
A HUGE thank you also goes out to all of our wonderful volunteers! This year, over 200 volunteers assisted with pre-event, event day and post-event duties. Thank you for your generous donation of time and talents - this event would not be possible without each and every one of you!
This year, many Ride-4-Ronald memories were captured through the lens of a camera thanks to our volunteer photographers: Didi Lamont, Alex Moore, Jeffri Moore, Jim Orme, Jim Peters and Paul Thierry. Check out the event photos at the link provided below.
If you have questions or would like additional information about this event, please email our Events Manager, Kayla Jones.


Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Fleets and Facilities.
Compiled by the City Photographers, ImageBank makes up a large portion of the Photo Archives digital collection with more than 43,000 images.
The Fleets and Facilities Department (FFD) manages and maintains municipal real property and facilities, as well as overseeing the City's vehicle fleet. FFD was created in 2001 in a reorganization of the Executive Services Department, which was itself created from a merger between the Finance Department, the Personnel Department, and the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) in 1997. DAS was created in 1980 with the merger of certain functions of the General Services Department, Building Department, Division of Motor Transportation, and Office of Management and Budget.
[Item number.] Seattle Fleets and Facilities Department ImageBank Digital Photographs, Record Series 0207-01. Seattle Municipal Archives.


Nimruz is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southwestern part of the country. It lays to the east of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran and north of Balochistan, Pakistan. The province contains five districts, encompassing about 649 villages, and roughly 156,600 settled people. The city of Zaranj serves as the provincial capital and Zaranj Airport, which is located by that city, serves as a domestic airport for the province.
The name Nimruz means "mid-day" or "half-day" in Persian and Pashto. The name is believed to indicate that the meridian cutting the old world in half passes through this region. Nimruz covers 41,000 km². It is the most sparsely populated province in the country, located in the Sistan Basin. A substantial part of the province is the desert area of Dashti Margo.
The area now composing Nimruz province of Afghanistan was once part of the historical region of Sistan, which over the many centuries was held by the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great and others before being conquered and converted to Islam by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century. The region became part of the Saffarid dynasty in 860 CE with its capital at Zaranj, which was one of the first local dynasties of the Islamic era. Its founder Yaqub Saffari was born and raised in this region. The territory became part of the Ghaznavids followed by the Ghurids, Timurids, and Safavids.
In the early 18th century, the region fell to the Afghan Hotaki dynasty until they were removed from power in 1738 by Nader Shah. By 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani made it part of Afghanistan after he conquered the territory from northeastern Iran to Delhi in India. Under the modern Afghan governments, the province was known as Chakhansur Province until 1968, when it was separated to form the provinces of Nimruz and Farah. The city of Zaranj became the capital of Nimroz province at that time. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Nimruz province was used by mujahideen crossing back and forth between Afghanistan and neighboring countries. It was also used by Afghan refugees escaping the war as well as by smugglers.
As the Taliban came to power in 1995, they seized the road-controlling town of Delaram (now within Farah Province), and came to an agreement with the mujahideen warlords holding Nimroz that the fate of the province would not be decided until a clear victor emerged in the capture of Kabul. However, the Taliban advanced on Nimruz only days later, and the mujahideen under command of Abdul Karim Brahui fled to Iran.
The percentage of households with clean drinking water fell from 38% in 2005 to 24% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 7% in 2005 to 28% in 2011.
As of June 2014 Zaranj Airport which is located near the city of Zaranj had regularly scheduled flights to Herat.
The Delaram–Zaranj Highway has been constructed by India via Chaknasur, which is expected to boost the socio economic development in the region.
Trade and farming is the main source of income for the majority. This includes agriculture and animal husbandry. Animals include sheep, goat, cattle, and poultry. The province produces the following: Wheat, corn, melons, poppies; almost all irrigated.
The population of Nimruz Province is approximately 156,600 settled people. There are also many Kuchi nomads who inhabit the province seasonally. The Baloch ethnic group form majority in the province followed by Pashtun, Brahui, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara. The Pashtun tribes are mostly Barakzai and Nurzai. Almost all inhabitants except Hazaras follow Sunni Islam.] Languages spoken in the province are Pashto, Dari, and Balochi, which is spoken by the Baloch tribes as their mother tongue.
Nimruz province is divided into about 5 districts.


Buy Agents of SMERSH by 8th Summit and get spying! FREE UK DELIVERY. players, plays in 90 mins, age 13+. Video reviews, photos and game info. There are two ways of playing the encounters in Agents of SMERSH. . while the mechanics and turns are very simple rules-wise, the act of. Board Game: Agents of SMERSH» Forums» Rules 0, Missing Henchmen cards from Agents of SMERSH 0, Which book of rules is correct/current?.
All Board Games Video Games.
Flash Portraits of Link: This Fall, I Look at Death: And it ends up failing somewhere between the two. That great mechanic I praised earlier, the one where you have to balance extending the game versus going after Lobo earlier to win with less Intel? Biography of a Place September 3, It has a gorgeous map as a board, but no real reason to be exploring it or to head for any destination in particular. Along the way, you have encounters, which resolve almost exactly like the ones in Tales, except not quite.
Look, at its heart, this is an art form I love—paragraph books!
Tales is an awesomely fun game, but it is flawed. A Review of Three Books February 2, Creeping Cedar July 1, Tales of the Arabian Nights is a game that divides people.
The Lies We Tell December 26, All Collaborative Review Video Review. And the end result of all that is a game that more often than not feels like it happens to you rather than gets played by you. It never admits it of course, the publishers are probably afraid of being sued, but its teenage crush is blatant and really quite sweet. Lords of Waterdeep in Conversation February 25, Characters in Agents are no longer a mess of skills and statuses, instead they have five attributes that go up and down, plus Resolve Energy and Wounds, which really could have been the same stat.
Agents wants to have its cake and eat it: Where to Get It: I Did Not Come to Conquer: The mechanic for closing airports is superfluous.
Put down the pitchforks and torches! The Intel tokens are kept face down until the end of the game, at which point you turn all your collected tokens face-up and hope you have enough of each type to match the symbols of whatever spot Dr.
Green Linden Press December 17, Dammit, James Bond is cool. Microaggressions by Erik Stinson November 3, There are a couple of lessons for game designers here. So those with a knack for reading between lines will have noticed that of the three parts I mentioned in determining what paragraph to look up, only one is determined by the players.
Okay, I draw a card and I have encountered… a djinn. Which is fine, because the heart of the game is in the paragraph textswhich can be action sequences, dialogue exchanges, or even full-on vignettes.
Press 53 August 7, West End Games stripped the system down to create Star Trek: Now, a reasonable person would expect agenst posture to in some way influence the encounter that then occurs—and sometimes, it does. Notes on Bliss December 30, February 9th, by Chris Holly. Dzanc Books September 18, No prizes for guessing which describes me. Unfortunately, the HenchMinions are basically just tests in disguise, with art and biographical information. Chris Holly Chris Holly is the author of over first chapters of novels in genres ranging from noir to science fiction and back to noir again.
A Suicide December 28, The game needed an editor. The whole box, everything in it, is a massive love-letter to Tales. Characters in Agents are more complex than the ones in Tales without being better. And secondly, adding more complexity to a thing does not make it better. Agent Verbose reporting for duty! Then, using this 3-digit combination lock, you or another player look up the appropriate paragraph from the—.
And either this is so much your idea of fun that you have literally played your original copy of the game to destruction, or you would much rather be reading about the latest expansion to Trainy Train Training Time.
Lobo before he conquers the world. But then there are skills and statuses and rulse and advanced skills that you get from cards, which end up being just as complicated to remember as the ones in Tales.
Basal Ganglia by Matthew Revert March 31, Instead of a single deck of Encounter cards there are different ones for each continent, which makes sense. Find his daily writing exercises at http: Having all the intel on the board vanish if the number of counters passes an arbitrary amount makes sense for gameplay, but not narratively—and Agents is above all a narrative game.
First editions are still reasonably priced and available on the BGG Marketplace, but 8th Summit is also taking pre-orders now for a revised 2nd edition.
But it all works so, so well.


Pain relief for a wide range of conditions. It is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal pain, for example - back, shoulder, neck and leg pain.
Functional bowel or bladder problems such as IBS or even mild forms of incontinence.
Menstrual and menopausal symptoms, eg period pains and hot flushes.
Some other skin problems such as rashes and ulcers, itching, and some forms of dermatitis.
Sinus problems and chronic catarrh.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does give a rough idea of the wide range of conditions that respond to acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture stimulates the nerves in skin and muscle and can produce a variety of effects. We know that it increases the body's release of natural painkillers - endorphine and serotonin - in the pain pathways of both the spinal cord and the brain. This modifies the way pain signals are received.
But acupuncture does much more than reduce pain and has a beneficial effect on health. Patients often notice an improved sense of well-being after treatment.
Modern research shows that acupuncture can affect most of the body's systems - the nervous system, muscle tone, hormone outputs, circulation, antibody production and allergic responses, as well as the respiratory, digestive, urinary and reproductive systems.
Prior to your treatment a full assessment will be carried out and treatment will be tailored to your specific needs; so it is impossible to give more than a general idea of what treatment might involve. Typically, fine needles are inserted through the skin and left in position briefly, sometimes with manual or electrical stimulation. The number of needles varies but may be only two or three.
Auricular (ear) Acupuncture is a specialised form of acupuncture that is commonly used to treat and help alleviate symptoms associated with stress, pain and addictions - for example drug and alcohol addiction. Based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and also incorporating elements of Western Auriculotherapy, the treatment has also been used to successfully help with the detoxification process, helping reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms such as depression, insomnia, agitation and anxiety and promote deep relaxation.
As well as helping with stress, detox and addictions Auricular Acupuncture is a powerfully effective therapy that can help most general health conditions as well as musculoskeletal pain. Very small, fine specialised and disposable needles, small magnets and seeds are also used which are worn between treatments to support the healing process. The treatment is easy, quick and effective - very often dramatic results are achieved in just one treatment session, and free from side effects! Your treatment may also involve specific dietary advice based on Traditional Chinese Medicine which will further support and encourage the healing process.
Auricular Acupuncture can be a very effective and powerful therapy and I have seen amazing results being achieved - even with chronic conditions - in relatively short time periods - often in just one session. As well as helping with stress, pain and addictions, auricular acupuncture can also help support those wanting to stop smoking and lose weight.
How many sessions of acupuncture will you need?
The number of sessions required depends on the condition being treated. Long term or chronic conditions may require weekly or twice weekly treatments, then at longer intervals as the condition responds. Treatment sessions last between 30 minutes -1 hour. A typical course of treatment lasts 5 to 8 sessions.
If you'd like to have an informal chat about acupuncture or would like to book a free initial consultation contact me on 07757 020592 or book your appointment here.
"After the first session... I realised that something had shifted, my attitude had changed, work colleagues had commented on my calmer nature... after a few sessions I realised that I had achieved my goal, after a particularly challenging few weeks at work and with a family crisis I realised I had handled the whole episode with ease and confidence."
Find out what others have to say here.