Sangharakshita: 44 books

Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the ideal of the Bodhisattva, one who seeks to become Enlightened out of a compassionate desire to help all living beings. In the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa we meet the Bodhisattva Vimalakirti, a worker of wonders, a formidable debator and skilful teacher. Sangharakshita's commentary...

Kindness is one of the most basic qualities we can possess, and one of the most powerful. In Buddhism is it called a metta - an opening of the heart to all we meet. Any friendly feeling contains the kernel of metta. It is a seed that is waiting to be developed, right here amidst the conditions of...

How can we be happy and at the same time responsive to the suffering of others? It can be done: this is the message of the Bodhisattva ideal. For one wishing to follow this path, the development of inner calm and positivity that leads to true wisdom is balanced by a genuine and active concern for...

In a world of increasingly confused ethics, Living Ethically looks back over the centuries for guidance from Nagarjuna, one of the greatest teachers of the Mahayana tradition. Drawing on the themes of Nagarjuna's famous scripture, Precious Garland of Advice for a King, this book explores the relationship...

Tantric Buddhism is concerned with the direct experience of who we are and what we can become. Its sole aim is to help us realize our potential for profound wisdom and unbounded compassion by transforming the energy locked in by old habits, fears and narrow views. For the Tantra this experience is...

The Noble Eightfold Path is the most widely known of the Buddha's teachings. It is ancient, extending back to the Buddha's first discourse and is highly valued as a unique treasury of wisdom and practical guidance on how to live our lives. This introduction takes the reader deeper while always remaining...

In this collection of four essays, Sangharakshita - a Buddhist teacher and poet - discusses how art, like religion, can challenge our perceptions, awareness and experience of truth. Recounting his own experiences as a young monk and poet, he urges the reader to apply a similar kind of awareness in...

Imagine a world without beauty, myth, celebration or ritual. It seems that to feel fully and vibrantly alive, these experiences are essential to us. Devotional ritual speaks this language of the heart, but can be a confronting aspect of Buddhism for some people in the West. Skilfully steering us through...

A Survey of Buddhism continues to provide an indispensable study of the entire field of Buddhist thought and practice, placing its development in a historical context. 'I recommend Sangharakshita's book as the best survey of Buddhism' Dr Edward Conze, author of Buddhism: Its Essence and Development...

Mindfulness is the means by which our consciousness is transformed, transcended, Enlightened. The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the Buddha's foremost discourses on mindfulness. In Living with Awareness, a commentary on this sutta, Sangharakshita counsels against an over-narrow interpretation of mindfulness...

Recollections of one man's journey of spiritual legacy, Buddhist lineage and friendship. In this latest addition to his memoirs, Sangharakshita shares his recollections of the diverse men and women who lived in and passed through Kalimpong, a hill station at the foot of the Himalayas, just as Tibetan...

In 1964 Sangharakshita left India for a visit to the UK. After twenty years in the subcontinent - travelling and lecturing, writing, working among the most deprived, and extending and deepening his knowledge of the Dharma - he had been invited by leading British Buddhists to help resolve tensions...

We are what we think. Happiness and suffering arise from the way our mind interprets what we see, hear, touch or imagine. Realizing this, we can develop increasing clarity and creativity - qualities perfected in the mind of the Buddha. Sangharakshita challenges us to look at what holds us back from...

Know Your Mind is an accessible introduction to traditional Buddhist psychology, offering a clear description of the nature of mind and how it functions. Sangharakshita guides us expertly through the Abhidharma classification of positive and negative mental states and shows us how we can work with...