Just Add Buddha!: Quick Buddhist Solutions for Hellish Bosses, Traffic Jams, Stubborn Spouses, and Other Annoyances of
$11.95
by Franz Metcalf
Written for spiritual seekers who deal with unenlightened coworkers and inconsiderate bank tellers more often than Zen masters and Tibetan monks, this book demonstrates the practical side of Buddhism. Author Franz Metcalf shows how to weave simple vows, quick rethinks, instant relaxations, fast visualizations, and many other stripped-down Buddhist practices into every area of life. Individually, Metcalf's techniques work as quick fixes for specific dilemmas, but woven together, they gradually strengthen one's spiritual base when one day a habitual way of being has been quietly transformed. While not written to impress pure Buddhists, this book takes Buddhism seriously. Approachable sections on Buddhism's rich tradition and a sprinkling of quotes from ancient scripture and contemporary teachers connect the book's practices to the deeper wisdom underlying them. Always, Just Add Buddha remains squarely focused on daily life, drawing out the most practical aspects of Buddhism. What Would Buddha Do?---1569751811-15.00-Ulysses Press-00/1999-35,000 What Would Buddha Do?---1569752982-9.95-Ulysses Press-02/2002-15,000 Buddha in Your Backpack---1569753210-12.95-Ulysses Press-11/2002-8,000 What Would Buddha Do?
1569751811
15.00
Ulysses Press
00/1999
35,000 What Would Buddha Do?
1569752982
9.95
Ulysses Press
02/2002
15,000 Buddha in Your Backpack
1569753210
12.95
Ulysses Press
11/2002
8,000 Franz Metcalf did his Masters work at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and received a doctorate from the University of Chicago with a dissertation on the question, "Why Do Americans Practice Zen Buddhism?" He continues to study psychological development and American Buddhism, and is a contributor to Buddhist Spirituality as well as several scholarly journals. He currently works with the Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change, serves on the steering committee of the person, culture and religion group of the American Academy of Religion, and teaches at California State University Los Angeles. Dealing with Troublesome Types (a.k.a., All Sentient Beings) Some people really get my goat. (Note: the origin of that expression is unknown, lost in time. Things arise and they pass away; we must not hold on too tightly. Still, it sounds great, doesn’t it?) These are the troublesome types we encounter nearly every day. If they were rarer they wouldn’t bug us so much because they’d be interesting curiosities. If they were even more common, they again wouldn’t bug us so much because we’d be used to them. As it is, there are just enough of them to keep us in a state of maximum irritation. On another level, the title of this chapter also reminds us that each and every one of us can be such a person. Just as all sentient beings can be bodhisattvas or even Buddhas, if we just live up to our potential, so can we all be colossal jerks if we just live down to our baseness. Guess which happens more often. In this chapter I’ll give you some quick techniques to solve both sides of the problem: to nullify the effect of jerks on you by helping you act like a bodhisattva. In fact, it’s in dealing with exactly these troublesome people that we have our best chances to make progress. I know it sounds strange, but our adversaries, even our enemies, are our most consistent teachers. They are the folks we can count on to keep on showing us exactly where we’re failing, where we’re stuck, where we need work. And they give us that work, bless their tiny, twisted hearts. One of my favorite Buddhist texts, the Bodhicharyavatara ("Guide to the Bodhisattva Life") puts a great deal of effort into teaching us how this works. It says And so, just like a treasure that arrives Without my having striven to attain it, I should be deeply happy with my enemies For they support my long awakening. Because they let me practice patience, They are worthy of my giving them The flower of that patience: my compassion, For they have been the very cause of it. 6.107-6.108 The author, Shantideva, is pointing out something really obvious but which we tend to ignore. Our enemies deserve our thanks and our compassion precisely because we gain that compassion through having to deal with the likes of them! It’s so difficult we should be extra grateful they keep on giving us opportunities to improve. They are the cause of our progress. You can’t get that from friends; they’re too darn nice. No, only enemies can help you out here. Alright then, our enemies are our friends. Good for them. But they’re also still our enemies; we’ve got to marshal our inner resources to be open to learning from them. It’s tough and we can all use help. That’s why I’ve put this chapter together, to share some tricks I use to create that openness. I start us off with people we don’t know: unknowns who tick us off, telemarketers, politicians, bums, terrorists. And these are just examples; as you know, there are plenty of others we could add to the list. But the tricks that work with
1569751811
15.00
Ulysses Press
00/1999
35,000 What Would Buddha Do?
1569752982
9.95
Ulysses Press
02/2002
15,000 Buddha in Your Backpack
1569753210
12.95
Ulysses Press
11/2002
8,000 Franz Metcalf did his Masters work at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and received a doctorate from the University of Chicago with a dissertation on the question, "Why Do Americans Practice Zen Buddhism?" He continues to study psychological development and American Buddhism, and is a contributor to Buddhist Spirituality as well as several scholarly journals. He currently works with the Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change, serves on the steering committee of the person, culture and religion group of the American Academy of Religion, and teaches at California State University Los Angeles. Dealing with Troublesome Types (a.k.a., All Sentient Beings) Some people really get my goat. (Note: the origin of that expression is unknown, lost in time. Things arise and they pass away; we must not hold on too tightly. Still, it sounds great, doesn’t it?) These are the troublesome types we encounter nearly every day. If they were rarer they wouldn’t bug us so much because they’d be interesting curiosities. If they were even more common, they again wouldn’t bug us so much because we’d be used to them. As it is, there are just enough of them to keep us in a state of maximum irritation. On another level, the title of this chapter also reminds us that each and every one of us can be such a person. Just as all sentient beings can be bodhisattvas or even Buddhas, if we just live up to our potential, so can we all be colossal jerks if we just live down to our baseness. Guess which happens more often. In this chapter I’ll give you some quick techniques to solve both sides of the problem: to nullify the effect of jerks on you by helping you act like a bodhisattva. In fact, it’s in dealing with exactly these troublesome people that we have our best chances to make progress. I know it sounds strange, but our adversaries, even our enemies, are our most consistent teachers. They are the folks we can count on to keep on showing us exactly where we’re failing, where we’re stuck, where we need work. And they give us that work, bless their tiny, twisted hearts. One of my favorite Buddhist texts, the Bodhicharyavatara ("Guide to the Bodhisattva Life") puts a great deal of effort into teaching us how this works. It says And so, just like a treasure that arrives Without my having striven to attain it, I should be deeply happy with my enemies For they support my long awakening. Because they let me practice patience, They are worthy of my giving them The flower of that patience: my compassion, For they have been the very cause of it. 6.107-6.108 The author, Shantideva, is pointing out something really obvious but which we tend to ignore. Our enemies deserve our thanks and our compassion precisely because we gain that compassion through having to deal with the likes of them! It’s so difficult we should be extra grateful they keep on giving us opportunities to improve. They are the cause of our progress. You can’t get that from friends; they’re too darn nice. No, only enemies can help you out here. Alright then, our enemies are our friends. Good for them. But they’re also still our enemies; we’ve got to marshal our inner resources to be open to learning from them. It’s tough and we can all use help. That’s why I’ve put this chapter together, to share some tricks I use to create that openness. I start us off with people we don’t know: unknowns who tick us off, telemarketers, politicians, bums, terrorists. And these are just examples; as you know, there are plenty of others we could add to the list. But the tricks that work with