Lar Short

Martin Lowenthal

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most revered of Mahayana sutras (sacred texts), sometimes called 'the king of sutras'. Opening The Heart Of The Cosmos is based on teaching given by Thich Nhat Hanh in which he highlights elements of the sutra as keys to compassion, love, and understanding. He explains how the possibility of everyone becoming a Buddha provides the basis from which we can take bodhisattva action, unselfish devotion to all beings.

Transform Suffering Through Buddhist Psychology and Practice

Opening the Heart of Compassion

In this powerful book Martin Lowenthal leads a journey to the very heart of spirituality, a journey of acceptance and aliveness through affirmation. By affirming what is in our hearts, writes Lowenthal, we embrace our aliveness and the reality of life in the moment. And only through acceptance, openness, and affirmation can we ever really be present and complete. Embrace Yes is divided into five parts, each presenting affirmations responding to a different aspect of spirituality, which Lowenthal calls the "Five Faces of God": Yes as Presence: God as Reality Yes as Openness and Wonder: God as Essence Yes as Celebration and Service: God as Creation Yes as Love: God as Beloved Yes as Learning and Dedication: God as Wisdom Poetry, fables, and religious teachings drawn from many different traditions are presented in short sections designed to give readers the opportunity to meditate and reflect on the wonderful aliveness of affirming reality as it is now, and living with an attitude of Yes.

The Power Of Spiritual Affirmation

Embrace Yes

Retreats in darkness have been used by all the great spiritual traditions for thousands of years as a method for tapping deep clarity, accessing sacred wisdom, connecting with the Divine, and training to transform the mind/body system into a manifestation of wisdom. In dark retreat, the practitioner lives in complete darkness--eating, sleeping, meditating, and simply existing in a world without external light. Traditionally, in Tibet, dark retreats were performed by monks as part of their training with the support of their monastery and their fellow monks. But dark retreats are of value to people from all walks of life, from the monastic to the busy householder--those with jobs, families, and all-too-many responsibilities. Martin Lowenthal has taken a practice little-known in the West and made it accessible by incorporating methods based in western psychology with traditional Tibetan Buddhism. There are many advantages of a retreat in the dark, one of which is rest for our eyes, weary from overstimulation in our visually oriented world, that then promotes overall relaxation of body and mind. This relaxation helps us cut through old mental and emotional habits, harmonizes the elements in the body, works with visions, and rests in the "Natural State." Retreats in the dark also improve the quality of our daily life. We can develop greater clarity and awareness in every aspect of living. When we improve the conditions of our lives, we provide an atmosphere more conducive to continued meditation practices. Dark retreat is also a powerful setting for practicing tantra. Tantra uses imagination, senses, and creativity to transform experience into food for the spirit. Dawning of Clear Light is a celebration, a joyous invitation to find the treasures that are hidden within your world and the world around you.

A Western Approach to Tibetan Dark Retreat Meditation

Dawning of Clear Light

Life without myth, the vital force of archetypal experiences, is life filled with maladies, neuroses, addictions, and disease. Alchemy of the Soul retells the myth of Eros and Psyche to help readers reconnect mind and relatedness to find wholeness and deep meaning. Author Martin Lowenthal describes how the story of Eros and Psyche illustrates the alchemical process of marrying soul and matter so that life can be lived with more joy, meaning, and a tangible sense of divine love. The book is divided into three parts: • Part 1 is a beautiful retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche. • Part 2 examines the power of myth and alchemy and shows how spiritual alchemy can restore and transform the soul. • Part 3 is an initiation into the alchemical mysteries using myth as mentor. Lowenthal writes, "The story assails the defenses of our mind and our reactive habits and seeks to wrest a victory for life and growth from the inertia of daily habits and confusion. It initiates us into a world far more vibrant, rich, and nourishing than the one we knew in childhood and naively, yet regressively, settle for. In this sense, story reveals what happens as we attempt to spread our emotional wings in the developmentally confining domain of our childhood home and community and what it takes to make something significant of ourselves in ways that feed the future. As guests of the story, we discover the larger sacred garden in which we emerge as a unique and beautiful flower in a bed of exquisite blossoms, each one unique and essential." Alchemy of the Soul takes alchemy from the realm of the esoteric and places it in practical terms of story—terms that anyone can understand, value, and use as a guide to life.

Martin Lowenthal

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