LionHeart
July 2009

All Holiness is Silent.

Enter Silence, and you will see the world that Spirit created.
Enter Silence, and you will see that you are that Spirit, the creator.
Enter Silence, and you will see that you are that world, the created.

Spirit, the world, and you are one and the same in Silence.

This is what all sages know and say:

Enter Silence, and leave yourself behind in the rubble of thoughts, and time, and death.
Enter Silence, and become the creator and the created.
Enter Silence, and life is suddenly real—beautiful and perfect in each curve and angle.

This is called awakening, awakening into truth.

Bhagavan Dass
'The Hippie Sadhu'
born Kermit Michael Riggs in Laguna Beach, California on May 17, 1945 is also known
by the name Anagorika Dharma Sara within the Buddhist community,
is a Western Yogi who lived for six years in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. He is a singer and teacher.

Bhagavan Das, or Baba as he is affectionately known by devotees and friends,
is a Bhakti Yogi, Shakta Tantra adept, and traveling teacher of Nada Yoga.
As a young man he was the first Western initiate/devotee of the late Hindu saint Neem Karoli Baba,
as well as the first American to meet Kalu Rinpoche of the Shangpa Kargyupas lineage.

He has received Vajra Yogini initiation from His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
of the Karma Kagyu lineage and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the 11th Trungpa Tulku.

During the almost seven years he spent as a wandering ascetic in India and Nepal
he received numerous initiations and teachings from living saints and sages including
Swami Chaitanya Prakashananda Tirtha, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Sri Anandamoyi Ma,
and Tarthang Tulku of the Dudjom Rinpoche lineage.

Bhagavan Das is perhaps most widely known for being the individual
who guided renowned spiritual teacher Ram Dass, also known as Dr. Richard Alpert,
throughout India, eventually introducing him to his guru.

As a young man Bhagavan Das shot to fame in the west after being featured in
Ram Dass' spiritual classic Be Here Now.
Now, at age 64, he travels widely throughout the world as an ecstatic performer
of traditional and non-traditional Indian bhajans and kirtans,
and is the author of an autobiography, It's Here Now (Are You?).

It's Here Now (Are You?)
by Bhagavan Das

Ancient Mother Kali Puja Live:II-Audio CD

"Now" -Audio CD

Kahlil Gibran

"I have lived from the alpha of Creation and I shall live until the omega of Eternity..."

The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran
'A Hippie Classic'

Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran
by Kahlil Gibran

Tear and Smile
by Kahlil Gibran

The Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul
by Kahlil Gibran, Juan R. I. Cole (Translator)

The Storm: Stories & Prose Poems
by Kahlil Gibran, John Walbridge (Translator)

The Eye of the Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran, Margaret Crosland (Translator)

Please Visit our' Tribute' to Kahlil Gibran in our Tao of Spiritual Teachers!

Baba Hari Dass

Baba Hari Dass is a silent monk who has not spoken since 1952
and communicates by writing on a small chalkboard.
This verbal silence is a process which gradually quiets the mind
and eliminates unwanted thoughts.
While this concept may be initially difficult for most of us to understand,
the example of Baba Hari Dass is ample expression of the potential
for peace that lies within each of us as the result of
spiritual discipline and devotion to helping others.

Babaji is first and foremost a master yogi,
having practiced the disciplines of yoga from childhood.
In addition he is an accomplished author, builder, philosopher, sculptor,
and proponent of Ayurveda (the ancient Indian system of health and healing).
He is also conversant in several languages.
Babaji gives his time unstintingly in service to others
and has been the inspiration for a variety of service projects.
The California based Hanuman Fellowship was formed in 1974.
Two other fellowships, Dharmasara Satsang Society/Salt Spring Centre
near Vancouver, and Ashtanga Yoga Fellowship in Toronto,
also take their inspiration from Babaji.
They too are involved with yoga teaching, retreats, service and publishing.
Baba Hari Dass presides at weekly sessions in the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita,
yoga practices and other related subjects at various yoga retreats.

He also writes on many yoga topics and spiritual stories,
creates theatrical props and masks for the Ramayana,
and always has a special welcome for children.
He is present every Sunday at gatherings called Satsang,
open to all without charge at the Pacific Cultural Center in Santa Cruz.

Satsang means keeping the company of truth
and provides an opportunity for spiritual singing,
meditation and questions for Babaji.
In his presence it is evident that he has found a way to be at peace
despite the pain and confusion of the world.
His writings, his actions and more importantly his example,
communicate the realization that this peace is available to each of us,
if only we make the effort.

Hariakhan Baba-Known, Unknown
by Baba Hari Dass

The Path to Enlightenment is Not a Highway
by Baba H. Dass, Baba Hari Dass, Ma Renu (Editor)

Silence Speaks from the Chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass
by Baba Hari-Dass

Everyday Peace : Letters for Life
by Baba Hari Dass

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi (1982) -DVD

Gandhi An Autobiography:
The Story of My Experiments With Truth
by M.K.Gandhi, Sissela Bok (Foreword), Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi
Translated by Mahadev Desai and with a New Preface

The Essential Gandhi :
An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas.

Gandhi on Non-Violence
by Mahatma Gandhi

All Men Are Brothers:
Autobiographical Reflections

Baba Ram Dass

Be Here Now
by Ram Dass

The Only Dance There Is
by Ram Dass

Grist for the Mill
by Ram Dass

Compassion in Action :
Setting Out on the Path of Service
by Ram Dass

Still Here:
Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying
by Ram Dass, Ram Dass, Mark Matousek, Marlene Roeder

Paths to God :
Living the Bhagavad Gita by Ram Dass

Ram Dass:
Fierce Grace (2002)-DVD

Please visit our 'Tribute' to Ram Dass in our Tao of Spiritual Teachers

H.H. Dalai Lama XIV

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
by Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler
The Art of Happiness is read like an enchanting Indian tale by Howard Cutler and Ernest Abuba. Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritiual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Cutler helps to blend psychology with the Dalai Lamas Buddhist meditations and stories. Gyatso talks about how to defeat depression, anxiety, anger, and jealousy through meditation. He discusses relationships, health, family, work, and spirituality and how to find inner peace while facing these struggles. His tireless efforts on behalf of human rights and world peace have brought him international recognition. He is the recipient of the Wallenberg Award (conferred by the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Foundation), the Albert Schweitzer Award, and the Nobel Peace Prize.

How to Expand Love : Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey, Ph.D. Hopkins
In this simple primer on compassion and kindness, the Dalai Lama teaches that "if we really want happiness, we must widen the sphere of love." The book draws on many of the same principles found in His Holiness's other works, most notably The Art of Happiness, but it presents them in a seven-step process that is both practical and wise. Readers are encouraged to use the warm feeling they have for their best friends as a model of how they can regard all people and extend their circle of loving relationships to include others, even enemies. Then they can proceed to the next steps: developing a "heroic intention" to further their personal enlightenment, having compassion for the suffering of others and committing to a life of altruism.

The Wisdom Of Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys
by Dalai Lama XIV, Victor Chan, Dalai Lama XIV Bstan-Dzin-Rgya-Mtsho
"Do you hate the Chinese?" Chan asked the Dalai Lama when they first met in India in 1972. It was a live question, since Chan hailed from the country that had forced the Tibetan spiritual leader into exile and subjugated the Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama replied immediately with the English word "no," then stated through an interpreter that he had forgiven the Chinese and did not blame China's people. Drawing on Buddhist principles, this book loosely discusses His Holiness's ideas on forgiveness, though Chan presents them gently through stories. Apart from the expected teachings on forgiveness, what comes through most clearly is the personality of the Dalai Lama himself: his humor, playfulness and joy. We learn that he had something of a temper as a young man and that he can't resist pulling men's beards. Somehow, the book's serious call to forgiveness becomes all the more engaging and possible because of the Dalai Lama's own lighthearted spirit.

365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the Heart
by Dalai Lama XIV
This book is a compilation of quotations from the Dalai Lama. It is not an essay or story, though the quotes are loosely grouped by category.
The quotations are written simply and directly, and contain a great degree of insight into the human emotions and the human spirit.
It serves as an excellent daily inspiration for living or meditation.

The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom
by Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama
HH Dalai lama speaks of compassion, ridding oneself of anger, forgiveness of enemies, living life in a truly more loving way. Though much of it seems familar to western ears,the simplicity of much of what the Dalai Lama says is striking. His own struggles with anger are enlightening,and the prose,gleaned from lectures I believe, is smooth and cleanly transformed into english. A lovely gift, a wonderful introduction to one of the masters of the day.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi
by Paramahansa Yogananda
This book was given to me more than 30 years ago when I was a teenager. Little did I know then what a tremendous positive impact it would have on my life. Yogananda's writings could only have come from one who is an illumined being. When truth is read a small "tuning fork", if you will, goes off in you that signals to your soul what it has known all along to be the truth. This happened repeatedly to me as I read through 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. His use of the English language, as well as analogies, are masterful and helps make the reading of his facinating life stories that much more enjoyable. It's easy to understand why this book has remained a spiritual "classic" for many decades once you have read it. Yogananda's teachings have continued to inspire and change people's views on the universality of religion. What originally drew me in was his insistence that until you prove to yourself that you can have a personal relationship with your creator, you will never truly believe it is possible; that there are definite techniques that were taught by the ancient spiritual teachers that you can use to prove to yourself of God's existence.

Metaphysical Meditations: Universal Prayers, Affirmations, and Visualizations
by Paramahansa Yogananda
1932. This little book offers definite metaphysical methods of meditation for the student who has already struggled through the mobs of rowdy thought and has entered the portals of silence. The meditations are of three types: prayers or demands addressed to God, affirmations about God, and those spoken to the individual consciousness. Contents: devotion and worship; meditations on God; expansion of consciousness; on finding God; on material concerns; on self-improvement.

Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life (Collected Talks and Essays)
by Paramahansa Yogananda
An inspiring guide for all who wonder what lies behind the seeming realities of life, this book offers compelling evidence that it is possible for each one of us to find that elusive joy that is in fact right within us. Paramahansa Yogananda takes the reader on a profound journey that explores the little-known and seldom-explained aspects of meditation, life after death, healing, and the powers of the mind. A wealth of inspiring, in-depth, practical guidance for self-development.

The Divine Romance: Collected Talks and Essays on Realizing God in Daily Life (Collected Talks and Essays)
by Paramahansa Yogananda
"If you could feel even a particle of divine love, so great would be your joy -- so overpowering -- you could not contain it." It is from connection with that Divine that the faces of long-silent, meditating yogis of India beam with unrepentant Joy, that the whirling Sufi dervish tirelessly dances without apparent partner. With unblinking insight and full compassion, Yogananda reflects on the varied places and degrees of human success in finding lasting love, because "...by investigating human love, we can learn something of divine love, for in human love we have glimpses of that love of God's."

Scientific Healing Affirmations: Theory and Practice of Concentration
by Paramahansa Yogananda
The practice of affirmation is very ancient and includes the discipline of Sanskrit Mantra. This classic on the power and uses of affirmation explains the laws for harnessing the power of focused thought. The first part reveals the relationship between matter/energy and mind and how one can set in motion the healing power of spirit. It also explains consciousness and matter/energy as vibratory expressions of spirit. Some of the purposes/conditions for which affirmations are provided include general healing, guidance, wisdom, material success, spiritual success and eyesight, stomach, teeth, purity, curing bad habits, freedom. There is an index, plus a short biography of the author plus a portrait. This title has been in print for many decades and it's easy to see why - it is a very authoritative but easily understood guide to this ancient practice. Free of esoteric jargon, it explains all aspects of the discipline clearly and comprehensively.

Visit our tribute to Yogananda in our Tao of Spiritual Teachers

Jiddu Krishnamurti

"In talking over together these questions, which are our daily problems of life, I think we have to bear in mind that we are in life together; together we are taking a journey into rather complex issues of life, and to investigate together there must be a quality of intensity, a quality of mind that is not tethered to any par belief or conclusion, but is willing to go very far, not in distance of time, but in depth." -J. Krishnamurti-

Total Freedom: The Essential Krishnamurti
by J. Krishnamurti
Total Freedom is both an introduction to Krishnamurti and an essential, extensive collection. It includes selections from his early work to his later, Krishnamurti to Himself: His Last Journal, and his valuable insight into the nature of the self, meditation, sex, love, and the mysteries of life and death. Revealing his core teachings in all their eloquence and power, these writings incite us to recognize that Truth is a pathless land, to accept no spiritual authority -- not even himself -- and to think critically, that we may free our minds and see clearly on our own personal journey.
As revolutionary now as ever, Krishnamurti remains, for independent minds, one of the most influential guides in the quest for spiritual understanding and enrichment.

On Love and Loneliness
by Jiddu Krishnamurti
In 1950 Krishnamurti said: "It is only when the mind is not escaping in any form that it is possible to be in direct communion with that thing we call lonliness, the alone, and to have communion with that thing, there must be affection, there must be love."
On Love and Lonliness is a compelling investigation of our intimate relationships with ourselves, others, and society. Krishnamurti suggests that "true relationship" can come into being only when there is self-knowledge of the conditions which divide and islolate individuals and groups. Only by renouncing the self can we understand the problem of lonliness, and truly love.

Think On These Things
by Jiddu Krishnamurti
‘The material contained in this volume was originally presented in the form of talks to students, teachers and parents in India, but its keen penetration and lucid simplicity will be deeply meaningful to thoughtful people everywhere, of all ages, and in every walk of life. Krishnamurti examines with characteristic objectivity and insight the expressions of what we are pleased to call our culture, our education, religion, politics and tradition; and he throws much light on such basic emotions as ambition, greed and envy, the desire for security and the lust for power – all of which he shows to be deteriorating factors in human society.

Book of Life, The : Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti
by J. Krishnamurti
"To listen to him or to read his thoughts is to face oneself and the world with an astonishing morning freshness."
Krishnamurti is a leading spiritual teacher of our century. In The First and Last Freedom he cuts away symbols and false associations in the search for pure truth and perfect freedom. Through discussions on suffering, fear, gossip, sex and other topics, Krishnamurti’s quest becomes the readers, an undertaking of tremendous significance.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Being Peace
by Mayumi Oda, Thich Nhat Hanh

"Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby...

This collection of teachings by noted Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh will be eagerly read by those concerned about world peace. Rev. Thich claims that world peace starts with the individual's acquiring inner peace. He challenges the reader in warm and anecdotal dialogues:"Have we wasted our hours and days? Are we wasting our lives? . . . Practicing Buddhism is to be alive to each moment." Meditation, says the author, is not an escape from the difficult present but an active form of service to society, directing us to understanding and compassion toward all suffering humanity. The author terms this "engaged Buddhism."

Peace Is Every Step : The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
by Thich Nhat Hanh

"Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brandnew hours to live..."

Thich Nhat Hanh's writing is deceptive in its subtlety. He'll go on and on with stories about tree-hugging or metaphors involving raw potatoes; he'll tell you how to eat mindfully, even how to breathe and walk; he'll suggest looking closely at a flower and to see the sun as your heart. As the Zen teacher Richard Baker commented, however, Nhat Hanh is "a cross between a cloud, a snail, and piece of heavy machinery." Sooner or later, it begins to sink in that Nhat Hanh is conveying a depth of psychology and a world outlook that require nothing less than a complete paradigm shift.

Anger
by Thich Nhat Hanh

"We all need to know how to handle and take care of our anger..."

Anger can be one of the most frustrating emotions, carrying us headlong away from ourselves and depositing us into separation and dismay. Vietnamese monk and world teacher Thich Nhat Hanh tackles this most difficult of emotions in Anger. A master at putting complex ideas into simple, colorful packages, Nhat Hanh tells us that, fundamentally, to be angry is to suffer, and that it is our responsibility to alleviate our own suffering. The way to do this is not to fight our emotions or to "let it all out" but to transform ourselves through mindfulness. Emphasizing our basic interdependence, he teaches us how to help others through deep listening and how to water the positive seeds in those around us while starving the negative seeds. Serious though lighthearted, Anger is a handbook not only for transforming anger but for living each moment beautifully.

Teachings on Love
by Thich Nhat Hanh

"HAPPINESS IS ONLY POSSIBLE WITH TRUE LOVE..." 

For venerated Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, love is more than an emotion. Drawing on millennia of Buddhist wisdom and his own therapeutic methods, Teachings on Love further develops his practical notion of interbeing in terms of love. If all things are interrelated, what could be more paramount to negotiating those relations than love? And more than just a way of relating, love is a way of living: "Love by the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you eat." Nhat Hanh supports his practical advice with numerous verses for enhancing mindfulness, prostrations for expressing reverence, and succinct formulas, such as the Five Awarenesses and the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The fifth mindfulness training exemplifies the broad scope of Nhat Hanh's love: "Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming." Thich Nhat Hanh forever writes with reassuring warmth, from which readers may derive insight as well as comfort.

The Miracle of Mindfulness
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Miracle of Mindfulness is a sly commentary on the Anapanasati Sutra, the Sutra on Breath to Maintain Mindfulness. "Sly" because it doesn't read like a dry commentary at all. One of Thich Nhat Hanh's most popular books, Miracle of Mindfulness is about how to take hold of your consciousness and keep it alive to the present reality, whether eating a tangerine, playing with your children, or washing the dishes. A world-renowned Zen master, Nhat Hanh weaves practical instruction with anecdotes and other stories to show how the meditative mind can be achieved at all times and how it can help us all "reveal and heal." Nhat Hanh is a master at helping us find a calm refuge within ourselves and teaching us how to reach out from there to the rest of the world.

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