{"id":4055,"date":"2015-07-18T17:38:17","date_gmt":"2015-07-18T21:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=4055"},"modified":"2015-07-18T17:38:17","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T21:38:17","slug":"everything-essential-buddhism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2015\/07\/everything-essential-buddhism.html","title":{"rendered":"Everything Essential Buddhism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"E-Essential<\/a>I am pleased to announce the release of the Everything Essential Buddhism Book<\/a>. This book is an abridgment of the popular Everything Guide to Buddhism, 2nd Edition.<\/p>\n

As the name implies, this book is a leaner, more essential, treatment of the topic and it can serve as an accessible introduction to the teachings, principles, and practices associated with Buddhism.<\/p>\n

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:<\/p>\n

Buddhism traces its roots back to the historical Buddha, a yogi who lived more than 2,500 years ago in northern India. The Buddha discovered a way to live that radically transformed people\u2019s lives, starting with his own. His revolutionary insights have withstood the test of time, and his methods can still transform lives as they did in ancient India. The Buddha taught mindfulness, kindness, and compassion. Buddhism, the family of religions that evolved from the Buddha\u2019s teachings, is one of the great ethical systems that benefit humanity.<\/p>\n

While Buddhism may be considered a nontheistic religion, it transcends religious belief into practical experience. You don\u2019t believe in Buddhism; you practice Buddhism. In fact, you don\u2019t even need to be a \u201cBuddhist\u201d to practice \u201cBuddhism.\u201d In one sense, all you have to do is sit down and meditate with openness, curiosity, and dedication.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am most drawn now to a secular interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings. He was not out to found a religion. His goal was to ameliorate the woes of himself and the rest of the world. Because his insights and methods worked, he attracted a large following and the establishment of religions, doctrines, and hagiography were inevitable.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, today looking back we can go to the essential teachings that precede the proliferation of the Buddhist religions. We can find value in the psychology that he taught. All we really need to know about the Buddha’s wisdom are contained in the Four Noble Truths. These are enumerated in the book and are really the essence of this teachings. The irony of this essence is that there is no essence. We are all process<\/a>, as I recently reminded.<\/p>\n

I hope you’ll enjoy this read.\u00a0It’s a good introduction to the variations of Buddha and Buddhism for beginners and a reminder of the teachings for those of you with experience, with my sometimes irreverent and always practical \u00a0take on the subject. Order your copy through your independent bookseller below or get your copy from Amazon here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Shop<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am pleased to announce the release of the Everything Essential Buddhism Book. This book is an abridgment of the popular Everything Guide to Buddhism, 2nd Edition. As the name implies, this book is a leaner, more essential, treatment of the topic and it can serve as an accessible introduction to the teachings, principles, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,15],"tags":[1026,1025,1028,1027],"class_list":["post-4055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-shelf","category-buddha-101","category-media","tag-basic-buddhism","tag-essentials-of-buddhism","tag-introduction-to-buddhism","tag-teachings-of-the-buddha"],"yoast_head":"\nEverything Essential Buddhism - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Everything Essential Buddhism - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am pleased to announce the release of the Everything Essential Buddhism Book. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4055"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4064,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4055\/revisions\/4064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}