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| Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living | 
 enlarge | Author: Lama Surya Das
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $6.48
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 115980
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3444
ASIN: B001KBZ6C0
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In 2006 His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who calls Lama Surya Das the American Lama, said to an American audience, "It is not enough just to meditate and pray, which are always good things to do, but we also must take positive action in this world." In the process of awakening, the Buddha realized that all of us, deep within, are inherently perfect and whole, with the capacity to overcome suffering and transform ourselves into forces for good. In this book national bestselling author Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost American Buddhist teachers, offers a thorough, tried-and-true map to the richest treasure a human being can find—Buddha's advice for living to your true potential. By following these guidelines, you will enter into a life of greater joy, clarity, peace, and wisdom than you ever thought possible. Whether you consider yourself a Buddhist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, atheist, or agnostic, Buddha Is as Buddha Does enables you to reflect more deeply upon how you think, speak, and behave in each moment and to explore more intently your relationships with others. Appropriate for new seekers as well as experienced practitioners, and accompanied by lively anecdotes and practical exercises, this is one of the most accessible books to date on the ancient and timeless wisdom of the Buddha. Buddha Is as Buddha Does is for everyone who seeks to become a better person and share in the bounty of true Buddha nature.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
The road to enlightenment August 17, 2008
The author Lama Surya Das has created a book that is truly the road to enlightenment. By presenting the ten Paramitas that Boddhisattvas follow in their practice he has given us the behaviors we must cultivate in our minds that will eventually lead to our own liberation from our ego.(Boddhisatvas are serious Buddhist practioners that take many vows, one of which is to liberate everyone from delusion).
The chapters of this book cover the following Paramitas:(Practices)generosity, self-discipline, patient forbearance, heroic effort, mindfulness and meditation, wisdom, skillful means, spiritual aspirations, higher accomplishments, along with awakened awareness. If you are able to successfully practice any of these Paramitas consistently they will radically change your life. You must change yourself and your motivations. To truly master the Paramitas it takes fearless courage and egoless wisdom. To comprehend the nature of reality the ego must die."Character is the root of action."
What this book will show you is that you need to start taking as much responsibility for thinking in a positive manner as you do for acting appropriately. "Practice and cultivate freedom from extremes in all things.""If you desire to enjoy happiness in this life and the next, don't keep talking about others' qualities, but watch yourself and examine your own path."
The author has produced a very understandable and practical book in which he gives you the information to begin the process of awakening to the fact that your self created ego is not you. You are the pure observing awareness that witnesses everthing through your senses. You are not a brain, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or a body. When you look for "YOU", you will end up with nothing but conscious awareness, all else is somthing you can observe. Please, do yourself a favor and start on your own path of awakening, either through this book or through a guided meditation practice.
"Enlightenment comes about primarily through nonattachment, wise awareness, and clear vision. The enlightened person is not ruled by external things."
A very helpful book for those who want to practice! March 24, 2008
Our meditation class is reading this book and we all think very highly of it. Lama Surya Das makes Buddhist practice practical for the common person. He gives clear and interesting examples and he does a great job of defining Buddhist terminology. The practices themselves are the best things we can do for ourselves and for all beings. I recommend diving into "Buddha is as Buddha Does" with gusto and giving the practices a try. Start small and see what happens!
Debra
www.mainstreetyoga.com
Buddhism is truly a miraculous tradition--thank God for it October 10, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is the first of Lama Surya Das's books that I have read and it will not be the last. Buddha Is as Buddha Does is the most practical and useful book I have read yet on Buddhism for the modern American mind. The wisdom within its pages can be appreciated and applied by Buddhists and non-Buddhists (such as myself) alike.
Lama Surya Das guides his readers along a ten-step path towards spiritual enlightenment utilizing the original six paramitas (perfections) of the Buddha: generosity, ethical behvaior, patience, heroic effort, mindfullness through meditation, and wisdom, and appends the four additional practices of Mahayana Buddhism: skillful means, spiritual aspirations, higher accomplishments, and awakened awareness. It is as if this book has two parts, the first encompassing the original six practices on how to live a life of selfless compassion. The second part outlining the latter four practices borders on the mystical or miraculous, but enlightnment itself is a miracle in our modern world.
For those like myself who wish to live a better, more fullfilled life while still adhering to the mundane necessities of contemporary life, such as meeting sales quotas to pay the mortgage, etc., this is a useful book. What I appreciate the most is that although Lama Surya Das is a lama trained in Tibetan Buddhism, he demonstrates a knowledge of all religions, including in this book inspirational passages from the Christian bible, Sufi mystics, and his own Jewish roots, as well as other schools of Buddhism such as Zen. It is this inclusiveness that has attracted me to Buddhist literature. Furthermore, Lama Surya Das is a rarity in that he is a Buddhist who openly seems to believe in God, although he describes the word "God" as a placeholder for an abstract higher consciousness or reality. The title of my review is an actual quote from the book. He also includes such messages as "Thank God for the Dharma," and "When you learn to give yourself, it may claim all of your energy, body, and soul, but you will receive in return God's heart, Buddha's mind." He even ruminates on the possibility of reuiniting with deceased relatives in Heaven. On the surface, these may seem like contradictions to the Buddhist faith, but on further investigation, it is not hard to see the value of such wisdom as a means of transcending this world of pain and suffering into an existence that is truly enlightened through compassionate living.
Incredible - Don't Let the Title Discourage You July 18, 2007
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I saw the title and thought to myself, "Is Lama Surya Das, beloved author of Awakening the Buddha Within" writing a Recipe Card style personal development book cloaked in the Buddhist tradition? Argh!"
Well - this is a book about personal development. It is a book that has a touch of that "recipe style" that American authors "eat up" - but in this case what is delivered to "the table" is so much more than I could have ever hoped for or expected it is challenging to put it succinctly into words.
Right from the beginning I knew there was something happening.
In the preface, Surya Das is teaching about the term "Bodhisattva" - as "an awakened being" or"helpful spiritual altruist, activist, service-oriented leader, seeker of wisdom, truth, unconditional love, deathless peace and ultimate enlightener."
Wow.
And that is what the book then goes to teach its readers.
How to be a Boddhisvatta - using wisdom not only from ancient Buddhist teachers but also the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dr. Seuss, Mother Teresa and lets not forget "backyard Bodhisattva" known to the reader as "Exxon Ken"... an owner of a service station who once helped out the young Surya Das through generosity and caring....
The entire book is filled with stories, lessons and examples and ends, quite fittingly, with a Spiritual Revolutin and Enlightenment Prayer.
This is a phenomenal title that needs to be experienced, not simply read.
An important and strongly recommended addition May 12, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Author, meditation teacher, and poet, Lama Surya Das is the founder of the Dzogchen Medition Center and one of the most learned and highly trained American-born lamas in the Tibetan tradition. In "Buddha Is As Buddha Does", he addresses just how to cultivate 'bodhicitta', the spirit-engine of enlightenment that allows human beings to embody and actively practice the Buddha's teaching while engaged in the real world. Lama Surya Das shows how to actively practice the ten 'paramitas' which are the transcendental virtues of daily life: Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Energetic Effort, meditation, Wisdom, Skillful Means, Higher Aspiration, Powers, and Pristine Awareness. An important and strongly recommended addition to personal and community library Buddhist Studies collections, this superbly recorded, five hour, 4 CD audiobook edition of "Buddha Is As Buddha Does" also provides contemporary examples of enlightened action based on the realization of the fundamental Buddhist tenet regarding the oneness of life.
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