|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This page offers an overview of James Robbins' book, Build A Better Buddha: The Guide to Remaking Yourself Exactly as You Already Are. Spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Zen, Taoism and Dzogchen (Tibetan Buddhism) are examined in this work. Various practices such as concentration and contemplation meditation, Tibetan and Toltec sleep and dream practice and guru yoga are also detailed. Elements of psychology, philosophy and science are integrated throughout.
AUTHOR'S UPCOMING EVENTS IN YOUR AREA CLICK HERE
|
BUILD A BETTER BUDDHA: The Guide to Remaking Yourself Exactly As You Already Are |
|
|
|
published by Nicolas-Hays, Inc. |
||
|
May 2003 |
||
|
$19.95 |
336 pages |
|
|
JAMES ROBBINS |
||
|
ISBN 0-89254-065-6 |
|
NOTE: If Amazon is out of stock, or if you wish to order in quantity, simply order directly from the publisher: 800-423-7087
|
To join James Robbins' free online newsletter, subscribe using box provided at left of page |
These days, the search for self-actualization and liberation can be rather overwhelming. With so many spiritual systems and teachings readily available, many of us feel confused and intimidated. We want to find just the “right” system or teacher—but how? In this book, James Robbins guides you beyond the seeming complexities and idiosyncrasies of various beliefs and traditions, redirecting you toward a few, simple truths common to all paths of realization. In so doing, Robbins helps you recognize and distill the core teachings of both traditional and non-traditional paths into your own unique way.
• Includes clear and simple instruction for meditation and contemplation practice to discover your true self and release false identifications and attachments
• Use guru yoga to find an inner or outer teacher
• Better understand yourself with psychology, untangle the knot of “self” with Taoism and Buddhism
• Expand your conscious awareness and contact inner teachers through lucid dreaming practices from Native American and Tibetan Buddhist traditions
• Integrate your spirituality with your daily experience, understanding negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences, as well as positive ones, as part of the path
• Skillfully work with desire to bring greater joy in your relationships
| MORE | PRAISE FOR BETTER BUDDHA |
“Robbins offers a plain-language introduction to Buddhist and Taoist teachings, clear step-by-step descriptions of meditation practices and, my personal favorite, spiritual perspectives on sexuality and romantic relationships … I think it’s time to rediscover what I think I once knew. What better way to do this than by reading Build A Better Buddha: The Guide to Remaking Yourself Exactly as You Are?”
—The Dallas Observer
“Describing the path to his own self-discovery and spiritual understanding and drawing upon an encyclopedic knowledge of the eternal wisdom expressed by ancient and modern prophets and philosophers, James Robbins takes the reader on a journey of enlightenment that is amazingly compelling. He writes in a friendly style with engaging anecdotes and offers the stressed 21st-century reader a practical guide for the recovery of inner peace and a resolution of that primeval perplexity that is experienced by human beings as the enigma of the self. Robbins seems to me to speak with his soul.”
—Zulfikar Ghose, author of The Triple Mirror of the Self.
“This book creates a new benchmark in East-West Psychology. . . . Robbins embeds a rich and powerful set of practical, meditative exercises that he has adapted for Western usage within an exceedingly comprehensive presentation of Buddhist and Western psychological traditions.”
—Peter Fenner, author of The Edge of Certainty and, with Penny Fenner, Essential Wisdom Teachings
“James Robbins' book, Build a Better Buddha, will reward anyone interested in exploring the interaction between Buddhism and psychology. This work serves as a fine introduction to the integration of Eastern and Western approaches to human change processes. It builds a bridge that will fascinate readers wanting to learn more about the relationship between Buddhism, psychology and psychotherapy.”
—Monty Evans, Ph.D., Director of Interdisciplinary Psychoanalytic Consortium
|
THE PARADOX OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT |
|
Each of us is already perfect, the many wisdom traditions tell us, a spontaneous manifestation of Divine Awareness. Consequently, we are assured, to realize ultimate freedom and happiness we need only be ourselves. The vast majority of us, however, don’t feel so perfect. We want to improve ourselves, to follow some logical, systematic plan of personal actualization, yet there is a Catch-22 built-in to all such plans: To apply effort toward improving the self, we are told, is to lose the self—to fail to simply be the self. Such is the paradox of self-improvement, the proverbial dangling carrot: We want to accept ourselves and our life circumstances just as they are, yet even this want easily becomes a frustrating and self-punishing feedback loop. We feel stuck, as is said, between a rock and a hard place, our tendencies toward acceptance and struggle, toward selflessness and selfishness, pulling us in two directions at once. As such, we find ourselves trapped in what Zen calls a “double-bind.” |
This book addresses this existential double-bind by exploring two essential spiritual teachings: direct perception and compassion. The principle of direct perception—which forms the basis for traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism and Dzogchen—teaches us to let go our long-entrenched habits of thinking, feeling and doing, so that we can simply see life as it is. It is, relatively speaking, an inwardly directed approach. By contrast, the teaching of compassion—which is at the core of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and other similar belief systems—directs us outwardly. It encourages us to openly and empathically participate with others in such a way as to realize the divinity present within each and every being, to recognize our own self reflected back to us through the mirror of the other. In examining these essential spiritual paths, the most basic, inclusive teachings of the historical Buddha and Christ are emphasized.
Alongside a variety of contemporary-minded methods and exercises, Better Buddha addresses common obstacles encountered along any spiritual path with detailed, step-by-step explanations of four traditional practices:
|
TRADITIONAL SPIRITUAL PRACTICES |
|
With this book, you learn that you already have everything you need to expand your conscious awareness, recognize where you are on your path, and fully experience the profound beauty of life and the world we live in—right here, right now.