First Buddhist Women is a readable, contemporary translation of and commentary on the enlightenment verses of the first female disciples of the Buddha. The book explores Buddhism’s relatively liberal attitude towards women since its founding nearly 2,600 years ago, through the study of the Therigatham, the earliest know collection of women’s religious poetry. Through commentary and storytelling, author Susan Murcott traces the journey of the wives, mothers, teachers, courtesan, prostitutes, and wanderers who became leaders in the Buddhist community, roles that even today are rarely filled by women in other patriarchal religions. Their poetry beautifully expresses their search for spiritual attainment and their struggles in society.
Susan Murcott was draw to Buddhism as a peace activist in Boston in the late 1960’s. She traveled to Japan, Australia, and Hawaii to study Zen and Buddhist philosophy, and spent more than 10 years researching and translating this text. She was a co-founder and editor of Kahawai: Journal of Women and Zen for many years, and taught meditation at Wellesley College while completing her graduate studies in environmental engineering at M.I.T. Today, Susan Murcott is a world expert in safe drinking water technologies for developing countries.
Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life slowly and gently over the course of 80 years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo...
Hermitage Among the Clouds tells the story of the fourteenth century Princess Amazing Jewel, the daughter of one of Vietnam’s greatest historical Zen master kings. This beautifully written story expresses the suffering caused by war and conflict, the transformative potential of a commitment to practicing peace and building reconciliation, and the simple beauty of a...
Seeds of Peace is a critique of modern society and a proposal for a more humane and livable world. Sulak Sivaraksa of Thailand is one of Asia’s leading social thinkers and social activists. His wide-ranging work includes founding the International network of Engaged Buddhists, inviting those in war zones from Burma and Sri Lanka to...
With poems from spiritual teachers to jazz musicians, from the monastery to the street, What Book!? brings together a broad range of verse, expressions of living in an awakened way. A poet once located poetry as somewhere before or after words take place. Mindfulness is the practice of finding that realm, dwelling there, and cultivating...
Engaged Buddhist Reader offers a comprehensive glimpse of the range of perspectives and insights on socially engaged Buddhism, a Buddhism that is not just in meditation halls but which pervades our everyday lives and concerns.
Have you ever wished for a simpler life or an opportunity to transform the stresses of the busyness and complexity of our fast-paced society? Stepping into Freedom offers us a look at Buddhist monastic life and shows us all ways to live simply, beautifully and happily while dwelling in the present moment. It is a...
A finalist for the 2001 Nautilus Award, Understanding Our Mind is Thich Nhat Hanh’s profound look at Buddhist psychology with insights into how these ancient teachings apply to the modern world. Based on the fifty verses on the nature of consciousness taken from the great fifth-century Buddhist master Vasubandhu and the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra,...
In this highly anticipated Buddhist perspective on resolving conflict, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh demonstrates how a real peace process is based on spiritual,not political strength. Inspired by an ongoing Buddhist retreat project for Israelis and Palestinians, this book offers practical ways to handle our strong emotions and misperceptions and provides a possible...
Keeping the Peace speaks to all of us who work in difficult, people-oriented jobs and shows us how to turn environments that are often filled with anger, stress, and frustration into islands of peace. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh creates a revolutionary definition of public service that includes all of us. He challenges us to...
In a time of terrorism and uncertainty, how can any of us feel truly safe? Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh looks at the real roots of terrorism and fear and offers the way out: a path of compassion and open-heartedness. In this unique book, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that we will only be safe when...
The teachings contained in this The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are fundamental to the practice of meditation, and constitute the foundation of all mindfulness practice. The Sutra has been studied, practiced and handed down with special care from generation to generation for 2,500 years. In his commentaries Thich Nhat Hanh guides the...
In January of 2005, after nearly 40 years in exile, Sister Chân Không was able to return on a 3-month visit to Vietnam. In this fully revised edition of Learning True Love she movingly describes the return to her homeland, the reunions with many old friends and fellow activists, and shares her impression of the...
Two Treasures contains two sutras: The Sutra On The Eight Realizations Of Great Beings and The Discourse on Happiness. They explain in practical detail how to progress step-by-step towards realization of the Buddhist ideals of simplicity, generosity, compassion, and ultimately enlightenment. Entirely in accord with both the Mahayana and Theravada tradition, The Sutra On The...
This overview of Joanna Macy’s innovative work combines deep ecology, general systems theory, and the Buddha’s teachings on interdependent co-arising. A blueprint for social change, World as Lover, World as Self shows how we can reverse the destructive attitudes that threaten our world, with concrete suggestions on how to address “An Inconvenient Truth”. The essays...
The Dragon Prince is a collection of 15 stories and legends from Vietnam retold by Zen master poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. As in many of his teachings, Nhat Hanh emphasizes themes of cooperation and reconciliation, while providing a rich introduction to the mythical elements of Vietnamese culture. The stories range from creation...
Eco-philosopher and best-selling author Joanna Macy, Ph.D., shares five stories from her more than thirty years of studying and practicing Buddhism and deep ecology. Gathered on her travels to India, Russia, Australia, and Tibet, these stories give testament to Joanna Macy’s belief that either humankind awakens to a new and deeper understanding of our interconnectedness...
Though the original edition of Touching the Earth is deeply embraced by those already practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, the revised edition seeks to make the exercises contained within more accessible for those new to Buddhist or mindfulness practice. Based on the loving kindness and compassion meditation of the Lotus Sutra,...
Peaceful Action, Open Heart shines 60 years of study and practice upon one of the crowning scriptures of the path of the Buddha, and is destined to be known as one of the most significant writings by Thich Nhat Hanh. The Lotus Sutra is one of the most revered of Mahayana sacred texts and is sometimes...
This extraordinary story takes the reader from the rice fields of Vietnam to the peaceful surrounding of Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastery in Plum Village where Sister Dang Nghiem took refuge. There she gained a deep understanding of the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness forged in the fire of her own life experience. Ordained as a nun...
In Thundering Silence Thich Nhat Hanh presents the early teachings of the Buddha on not becoming so attached to his teachings that we don’t see reality clearly anymore and become stuck in notions and ideologies, however noble they may be. These teachings can liberate us from the prisons of our mental constructions and allow us...
The Diamond Sutra, a mainstay of the Mahayana tradition, has fascinated Buddhists for centuries because of its insights into dualism and illusion: the “diamond” can cut through any obstacle on the road to enlightenment. In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha responds to a disciple’s question about how to become a Buddha. The Diamond that Cuts...
How do we learn to believe in ourselves and not just rely on our spiritual teachers? This question often directly posed to Thich Nhat Hanh as “Who will be your successor?” was answered in August of 2009 when over a thousand people came to Colorado to spend a week with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh...
This easily accessible translation and commentary by Thich Nhat Hanh on the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way To Live Alone, is the earliest teaching of the Buddha on living fully in the present moment. “To live alone” doesn’t mean to isolate oneself from society. It means to live in mindfulness: to let go of...
Solid Ground: Buddhist Wisdom for Difficult Times is a lively and topical book that offers guidance on how to respond to the individual crises that inevitably arise in all of our lives as well as to the political, economic, and social challenges society is currently facing. The issue of difficulty in life is at the...
Awakening of the Heart is a comprehensive, single volume collection of the Buddha’s key sutras, translated with contemporary commentary by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. It is an essential complement to Happiness, the bestselling collection of meditation and mindful practices released in 2009. Awakening of the Heart captures the heart of Buddhist wisdom and Thich...
Path of Compassion is a collection of key stories from Thich Nhat Hanh’s classic Old Path White Clouds, a book celebrating its 20th publishing anniversary this year. It tells the fascinating life story of Prince Siddhartha, who left his family and renounced his carefully guarded life, and after many years of spiritual seeking became the Buddha, the...
Published here for the first time, these fifty poems, explore his journey from young boy in Vietnam to being a leader in Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastic community. The early poems reflect childhood memories of war and destruction yet are also full of romantic and poetic imagery. His later poems convey a profound wisdom and spaciousness...
While many experts point to the enormous complexity in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thich Nhat Hanh identifies one key issue as having the potential to create a tipping point. He believes that we need to move beyond the concept of the “environment,” as it...
One of the key tenets of the Zen school of Mahayana Buddhism is that each one of us is already a Buddha—our enlightenment is inherent within us, and the practice of mindfulness is the tool to bring this truth to our full awareness. While it can bring much relief, this simple statement does not preclude...
To be alienated from animals is to live a life that is not quite whole, contends nature writer Tai Moses in Zooburbia: Meditations On The Wild Animals Among Us. Urban and suburban residents share their environment with many types of wildlife: squirrels, birds, spiders, and increasingly lizards, deer, and coyote. Many of us crave more...
This beautifully designed book will be cherished for generations. Written in the summer of 2013, Inside the Now contains the most recent, never before published commentaries and reflections of Thich Nhat Hanh on living in stillness and timelessness. The book begins with an autobiographical reflection in which we hear the voice of the young monk, poet, and...
Before she became a Buddhist nun in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Dang Nghiem was a doctor. She’d traveled far in her 43 years. Born during the Tet Offensive and part of the amnesty for Amerasian children of the late 1970s, Dang Nghiem arrived in this country virtually penniless and with no home....
As soon as you open the cover of Clouds in a Teacup, you step into a contemplative journey of your own creation. Oakland, California artist and activist Brett Cook invites you to shed your stress and worries to consider the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh during the relaxing process of coloring. His evocative black and...
This new translation of the Buddha’s most important, most studied teaching offers a radical new interpretation. In September, 2014 Thich Nhat Hanh completed a profound and beautiful new English translation of the Prajñaparamita Heart Sutra, one of the most important and well-known sutras in Buddhism. The Heart Sutra is recited daily in Mahayana temples and...
This guide for adults working with adolescent girls will help them explore and develop their emotional, social, and spiritual selves. Young people are hungry and capable of engaging in meaningful explorations of themselves and the world around them. Adolescent girls especially have a deep desire and capacity to know themselves and explore their own spirituality....
Heather Lyn Mann was a battle-weary environmental advocate in Madison, Wisconsin, struggling over what to do about climate change when she and her husband decided to explore the Atlantic on a small sloop. This memoir of six years living afloat is a chronological unfolding of disasters and discoveries—life–threatening storms, the boredom of isolation, societies on...
The Idealist’s Survival Kit is a series of 75 short reflections on mindfulness in action designed to support humanitarian professionals and volunteers in addressing the specific themes and issues that they are likely to encounter in their work. The Idealist’s Survival Kit is built on the premises that changing the world starts from within and that personal development and global...
Happy Teachers Change the World is the first official, authoritative guide to the Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village approach to mindfulness in education. Spanning the whole range of schools and grade levels, from preschool through higher education, the teachings, guidance, practices, and techniques are grounded in the everyday world of schools, colleges, and universities. Beginning firmly with teachers...
Heather Lyn Mann was a weary environmental activist who decided that a change of scenery was in order. Over the next six years, Heather made the Atlantic Ocean her home as she sailed through a series of life-threatening storms, pirates, near-collisions, and societies nearing extinction. Come aboard for this discussion with Heather Lyn Mann as...
Known to many as "the Matisse of Japan," Oda combines traditional Japanese and Buddhist iconography with her own unique sense of color, line, and movement.
Buddhist teachings and meditation offer a roadmap to help college students and others in early adulthood incorporate mindfulness into their lives as a means of facing the myriad struggles unique to this stage of life.
A finalist for the 2001 Nautilus award, Transformation at the Base is a profound look at Buddhist psychology with insights into how these ancient teachings apply to the modern world. Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the direct experience of recognizing, embracing, and looking deeply into the nature of our feelings and perceptions. Presenting the basic...
When the world is burning with anger, divisiveness, and fear, this book of inspiring quotes selected by the editors of Parallax Press is a still, small voice in the storm that will bring peace of mind to the reader. With delicate illustrations by artist Maude White, this book speaks to the vulnerability and courage of...
Formulated during the Vietnam War, these ethical guidelines remain a penetrating expression of traditional Buddhist morality and how to come to terms with contemporary issues. Interbeing offers a practical blueprint for living mindfully, one that has proven useful and meaningful to people from all walks of life. The book also includes a brief history, ceremonies, and...
Thich Nhat Hanh and many others are featured in this foundational trove of Buddhist essays, poems, and teachings. Now a modern classic, True Peace Work is the premier collection of writings on the practice of Engaged Buddhism, a term that Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh coined in the 1950s as part of his peace work...
On sale September 15, 2020. Available for pre-order. Immediate, illuminating, and hopeful: this is the key set of talks given by leading Zen Buddhist teacher Larry Ward, PhD, on breaking America’s cycle of racial trauma. “I am a drop in the ocean, but I’m also the ocean. I’m a drop in America, but I’m also...
ISBN: 9781888375541
Trade Pbk, 230 pages
Trim size: 0.000″ x 0.000″
First Buddhist Women
Poems and Stories of Awakening
Susan Murcott
$27.95
In stock
First Buddhist Women is a readable, contemporary translation of and commentary on the enlightenment verses of the first female disciples of the Buddha. The book explores Buddhism’s relatively liberal attitude towards women since its founding nearly 2,600 years ago, through the study of the Therigatham, the earliest know collection of women’s religious poetry. Through commentary and storytelling, author Susan Murcott traces the journey of the wives, mothers, teachers, courtesan, prostitutes, and wanderers who became leaders in the Buddhist community, roles that even today are rarely filled by women in other patriarchal religions. Their poetry beautifully expresses their search for spiritual attainment and their struggles in society.
Susan Murcott
Susan Murcott was draw to Buddhism as a peace activist in Boston in the late 1960’s. She traveled to Japan, Australia, and Hawaii to study Zen and Buddhist philosophy, and spent more than 10 years researching and translating this text. She was a co-founder and editor of Kahawai: Journal of Women and Zen for many years, and taught meditation at Wellesley College while completing her graduate studies in environmental engineering at M.I.T. Today, Susan Murcott is a world expert in safe drinking water technologies for developing countries.
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