Synopsis:

PAVE YOUR WAY TO ENLIGHTENMENT

 

Bet you thought the audience for Buddhism is fairly marginal, but have you heard? — one in eight Americans admit the influence of teachings of the Buddha as playing a positive role in their lives. This timeless path is one of the fastest growing today — especially in such uncertain times. This is a philosophy of change, and change is in the air. Buddhism is the art of happiness (whose pursuit is guaranteed in our Constitution, as is liberation). Its unique view of interconnectedness makes sense of life’s contingencies; its compassion brings relief in the face of great suffering; and in economic downturn, we all need to re-examine our values and know when enough is enough, understanding true fulfillment.

Read all about Buddhism In Seven Words, as phrased by poet Jane Hirshfield (“It all changes. It’s interconnected. Pay attention.”) — or no words (Holding up a flower, without words, was the basis for Zen; similar to Jesus’ outdoor teaching in Matthew 6:28: the lily in the field.)

A student of Buddhism for 40 years, Gary Gach (prounounced like “Bach” or “clock”) is a generalist who explains not only Buddhism but also its applications in all walks of life. Plain-spoken, and witty, Gach is available for ink or broadcast interview, and as a dynamic, inspirational speaker. Amazon.com has said, “Gary Gach is like that teacher you always wanted—easygoing, full of information, able to communicate in humorous and meaningful ways, and a little bit wacky ….  brings it all together with a light touch and an enthusiasm that makes you want to get up and do something Buddhist.” He currently teaches Buddhism at Stanford Continuing Studies (3rd term), and bringing “The Art of Happiness” there soon.

Here, Gach weds the highly-organized format of the Complete Idiot’s Guides to the systematic, comprehensive approach of the Buddha — geared for layperson and dept alike, and with the series’ trademark dash of levity.
    It’s a two-fer: (1) living Buddhism (sections on Buddha, the teacher; Dharma, the teachings; and Sangha, the practice); and (2) Buddhist living (the second half of the book treating applications in daily life, in personal relations, family, food, work, the arts, and society and politics).

This is the first book to really explain what all Buddhists believe, encompassing Insight Meditation (Vipassana), Zen, Pure Land (the largest path in the world, and America), and Tibetan (Vajrayana): One Dharma. 

The audience for Buddhism is changing with these times of enormous change.  It’s not that there’s more suffering, but that many are more aware of, and wish to alleviate needless suffering. So a new edition of the book has been created for these uncertain times. The Buddha himself said, “I teach but one thing, and one thing only: the nature of suffering, and liberation thereof.” And a younger generation is looking at Buddhism in whole new ways.

-/  http://word.to/dharmadoor2.html for more 411

Book Excerpt:

HERE ARE four chunks from the new edition, sandwitched by some chapter and section heads, one-liners, and other quotes from the book:


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"We're each the unique crossroads of all the happenings within and outside us, of which we're unaware when we identify ourselves with our personal hang-ups."

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"Attitude is all. Take a friendly attitude toward your mind."

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"When's the last time you experienced an 'Aha!'?"

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"'Buddha' is whomever or whatever awakens us to greater intimacy with life."

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"Don't sweat any isms or schisms."

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"A carpentry manual's not a guide to living in a house."

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"Things change. Impermanence is a primary cause of sorrow but without it life wouldn't be possible, and so it's also a cause for happiness.'Long live impermanence!'"

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"All things are interdependent, interacting, interreacting, interpenetrating."

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Note the itch, without scratching.

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Life is an open book, with your name on the cover.

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Work regardless of outcome.

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Be grateful to everyone (Thank you, friend! Thank you, enemy!)

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You are how you eat.

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When the student is ready, the master appears

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"What did the Buddha say to the hotdog vendor?" ("Make me one with everything.")






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The human brain takes up 2% of the body's weight yet requires about 25% of its oxygen. The number of states the brain is capable of at any given moment is 1 followed by a million zeros. It contains more cells (neurons) than stars in the Milky Way, and each has app. 1,000 points of interconnection (synapses) with other brain cells, 100 trillion such path-points in all, each firing from 1-100 times/second, simultaneously, and with built-in feedback loops, enabling it to learn from experience and change its structure (neuroplasticity). This adaptive process is dependent on interaction with other brains, from early childhood development on throughout life, thus confirming our inextricable and profound interdependence.





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Tibetan monks have been furnishing a rich spectrum of "introspective subjects" for diverse experimentation. Vajrayana discipline represents millennia of intensive mind-science research. Within that tradition, tantric mahasiddhis (highest accomplishment) are accredited with an array of remarkable special powers. One recent scientific investigation correlates claims of a nectar of longevity produced in the crown of the head and which reverses aging, with the pineal gland's production of melatonin, stimulating stem cells in a process of regeneration.





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Have you considered money, in and of itself? Consider this: on one day (September 29, to be exact, in the midst of the financial meltdown of 2008), a trillion dollars left the equity marketsPoof!, evaporated. Where did it all go? Money heaven? The phenomenon underscores the Buddha's teachings. Whether on Wall Street or Main Street, money ‹ like self ‹ is a story, a fiction; it's really convenient sometimes, but it is also temporary, conditional, nonseparate, illusory, and an abstraction (you can't eat, wear, or go to bed in your money). You might take refuge in it, but only so far.

How do you measure wealth? Defining it in terms of satisfying your desires, there's never enough. The grasping self is never satisfied. Measuring itself against the world, it sets itself apart, a set-up for further cravings, aversions, and indifference. Typical measurements of wealth are inherently dualist: pleasure/pain; praise/blame; fame/shame; loss and gain. In your own outlook, notice whether you label economic and work choices in terms of success/failure, boring/exciting, work/play, me/them, and so on. When you do, examine the self-image that accompanies them. Then, look deeper and imagine what goals might really satisfy your vision of life, based upon your unchanging Original Nature. While you're at it, you might round up what's been around your house unused for over a year and donate it to charity. Generosity is a wonderful way to massage the heart and make it truly happy.

"I remember how destitute I was when I first arrived in Taiwan, fleeing China during the tumultuous years of World War II.... Even though I did not possess many things, I felt most fortunate and content. When I went to the market before the break of dawn to buy vegetables for the day [for the monastery], the stars in the sky kept me company. Flowers and trees were there for me to enjoy. Roads were there for me to travel. I also had the opportunity to meet people from different walks of life. Though I possessed nothing, I had all the wealth the universe could offer me."
‹ Venerable Master Hsing Yun
The great trick is knowing when enough's enough, thus knowing a satisfied mind. Are you going to be lying on your deathbed, thinking the whole time, "I really should have spent more time at the office!"? It might sound kind of silly, but it happens. Like the romantic definition of love, measuring wealth or success in terms of money can also be a set-up for guaranteed frustration. It seems there's never enough. The Middle Way shows precisely what's enough. When I have three pairs of slacks, and I see a fourth in a store window, why should I buy it if I don't really need it? Status? Self-esteem? Security blanket? Whether metal coin, tinted etching, or plastic credit card, the convenient fiction of money often tells a story illustrating the Second Noble Truth, craving, in its worst form: greed, with its flipside of fear (both predicated on the idea that there's never enough). Don't bite the hook.
A meditation in hard times might be to visualize abundance and scarcity in the manner of tonglen. Breathing in, visualize scarcity and all its attendant fears, as a black coin of sludge. As you inhale the blackness and it contacts your heart, instead of clutching at and constricting your heart, it is zapped by a ray of clear light from the diamond purity in your heart, your boundless love and natural generosity. This light dissolves the black gunk, Pfffsst!, leaving behind a thin white fume that dissolves as you exhale abundance. As with metta, practice first on yourself, your own fears of scarcity, your own limitless capacity for good.

To understand the cause of suffering is to simultaneously see liberation from suffering. Money, which can alleviate material suffering, can also symbolize nirvana. Never fixed, always changing, money can be like a freeze-frame snapshot of life's infinite web of interdependence. And money is, in and of itself, blank essence, like a blank check. (See how fertile a zero can be, when added to the end of your bank balance.) In fact, because a dollar hasn't represented a fixed amount of gold or silver since the 1970s, its value is now really whatever people say it is, thus it is truly a construct of mind. Dissolving the needy, skinflint, tabulating self in the light of insight and compassion, we see our ultimate identity is limitless. Sunyata, selflessness, always discovers a fertile cornucopia of abundance at the heart of the universe, perpetually creating itself in boundless goodness. And when it is for the benefit of all beings, the universe seems even more glad to help out.


What Would the Buddha Buy?

What would the Buddha buy? Not too much, not too little. Picture him with his own reusable grocery bag slung over his shoulder, talking to a shopper about making mindful choices: "Do you really need it?" "Where does it come from?" "How will it affect the environment when you're done?" ... Recall how the Buddha's monasteries served as a kind of buffer zone between the ancient traditions of agrarian culture and the fierce competition of the newly emerging market economy. These days engaged Buddhist sanghas play a similar role. They believe that we are again at a turning point  a new Axial Age, an opportunity to turn the Wheel of Dharma. Without pie charts, sustainability statistics or solemn computation of your ecological footprint, Gandhi said it all: "There is enough for human need, not for human greed." And as for greed  sad and sorry, mindless, addicted, grasping greed  the Buddha knows it beckons us with all its tempting lures.
The Buddha's critique of mindless craving and needless suffering pinpoints the precise moment during which real pleasure becomes abstract desire  the want to want. In our addictive culture of capitalism, it's the exact same vital acupressure point that our basic market economy capitalizes on. "Don't get hooked," the Buddha says. Remember the hungry ghost, craving more and more of what can never satisfy.

With Dharma, a marketplace can be seen as an opportunity to practice mindfulness, rather than mindless consumption. Nothing exotic  we do it every day. In each advertisement and at each potential point of purchase is a karmic choice, the opportunity to practice wise compassion for the universal human condition. The bodhisattva shopper vows to consider all beings.






Y e t xxx M o r e

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The Gate to the Trail: The Path Is the Goal

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East? West? West Meets East in the West, and Vice-Versa

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The Cherry Blossom Grafted onto the Hickory Branch : Buddhist Democracy

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Women Buddhas Giving Birth to Western Buddhism

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Interfaith: Same Mountain, Different Trails

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Yoga: The Mindful Body, the Embodied Mind, as One

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Benedictine Buddhists, Zen Judaists, Sufi Yogis

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Christian Followers of the Way: Onwards (and Inwards)

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Jubus (and Bujus): Where Mount Sumeru Greets Mount Sinai

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Camps and Schools: Don't Sweat Over Any Isms or Schisms

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The Garden Cultivates Its Gardeners

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Doing No Thing : How Relaxing !

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Notice What You Notice : Mind Quiets On Its Own

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Infinite Soundscape: Hear the Here, of the Here and Now

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Slowly, Slowly, Peace Is Every Breath

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Viewless View, No Thought, Effortless Effort

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The Middle Way Between the Greatest Good and the Greatest Goods

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Price or Value : How Do You Measure Wealth?

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Mind Mirror : Buddha at the Movies

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Holism : Keep Your Eye on the Donut AND the Hole

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The Great Matter: Who Dies?

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Seeing Like a River, Thinking Like a Tree: Deep Ecology

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Is Happiness an Individual Matter?: Engaged Buddhism

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Why Don't Buddhists Vaccuum in Corners? (Because they don't have any attachments!)

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Author Comment:

May all beings be well.

Topics/Categories:

birth, Buddhism, Cognitive Science, Death, Emotional Intelligence, Family, Food, interfaith, Life, Livelihood, Marriage, mindfulness, Parenting, Psychology, Pure Land, rebirth, Romance, Social Engagement, Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana, Vipassana, Zen

Genre:

Ancient Culture, Asian, Asian Cultural Studies, Atheism - Agnosticism - Doubt, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Eastern Religions, Education, General Religion - Spirituality - Doubt, Guidebooks, Healing, New Age, Philosophy, Religion - Spirituality , Religious History, Science, Spirituality, Wellness

Type of Work:

Book

Publishers:

Penguin/Alpha Books

Purchase From:

Your Local Independent Bookstore
Amazon

Reading Guides:

http://word.to/dharmadoor2.html

Publishing Notes:

Complete Idiot’s Guides have been phenomenally successful at bringing a wealth of know-how to the layperson. Of all the series’ titles in religion, this has been one of the most successful. (And did you know? movable type for printing books was invented 400 eyars before Gutenberg in order to print a book of Buddhism?) Relatively recent strong interest in books on Buddhism have influenced the acceptance of Buddhism in the West, especially such bestsellers as Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind; The Book of Living and Dying; The Art of Happiness; and now The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Buddhism (+100,000 copies sold to date).

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