The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin no Sho) is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi around 1645. Many translations have been made, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than other martial artists and people across East Asia. For instance, some foreign business leaders find its discussion of conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work in a business context....

"How mindfulness can restore the healthy relationship with food we were meant to have--with striking effects on disorders such as overeating, anorexia, and bulimia--an extensively revised edition of this bestseller that includes important new data. Apply mindfulness to your relationship with food and you may be surprised to find that eating becomes a source of joy--instead an angst-ridden activity haunted by nutritionally based guilt, calorie-counting,...

A collection of thirty-nine short essays in which Thomas Merton examines what true contemplation is and how it can impact one's spirituality.

Life has a way of provoking us with traffic jams and computer malfunctions, with emotionally distant partners and crying children—and before we know it, we're upset. We feel terrible, and then we end up saying and doing things that only make matters worse. But it doesn't have to be that way, says Pema Chödrön. It is possible to relate constructively to the inevitable shocks, losses, and frustrations of life so that we can find true...

An elegant and intellectual work, The Book of Tea was written in 1906 by Kakuzo Okakura, a brilliant Japanese man with an early education in English. Through his intimate knowledge of Japanese aesthetics and ability to effectively communicate them to a Western audience, Okakura is able to discuss Teaism and its impact on Japanese culture, thought, and life in an informative and profound way. He develops this theory by explaining the history and universality...

Balthasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) assumed his final vows of the Jesuits in 1635, having been raised by his uncle, a priest, and studying theology in Zaragoza, Spain. Gracián became quite famous as a preacher, and wrote a number of literary works concerning politics, practical advice for life, and philosophy. Today he is known as the most representative writer of the Spanish baroque style called Conceptismo (Conceptism), a literary style characterized...

Consists of a collection of stories and meditations on Zen practice that originated from a series of talks given by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki to a small group in California.

A portable collection of short inspirational readings by “one of the world's wisest women”—the American Buddhist teacher and author of When Things Fall Apart (O, the Oprah Magazine)
Pema Chödrön, beloved Buddhist nun and best-selling author, offers this treasury of 108 short selections from her more than four decades of study and writings. Here she presents teachings on breaking free of destructive...