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Excerpt 3 from Chogyam Trungpa's "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior"

The following excerpt is from Chogyam Trungpa's classic and masterful text Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior.  From the chapter on "Authentic Presence", Trungpa defines for us exactly what authentic presence is -- how it comes to be and how it affects ourselves and the world around us.

Achieving the realization of the universal monarch, which we discussed in the last chapter, is the fruition of developing what is called “the warrior’s authentic presence.” In Tibetan, authentic presence is "wong tong," which literally means a field of power. However, since this term refers to a human quality, we have loosely translated it here as authentic presence. The basic idea of authentic presence is that because you achieve some merit or virtue, therefore that virtue begins to be reflected in your being, your presence.

Excerpt 2 from Henry David Thoreau's Classic Book "Walden"

This transcribed excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's Walden exquisitely captures his experiences with fishing in profound and gorgeous detail.  Who knew that a seemingly straightforward pasttime could be imbued with such beauty?  Once again, Thoreau teaches us to see the world with fresh eyes.

Occasionally, after my hoeing was done for the day, I joined some impatient companion who had been fishing on the pond since morning, as silent and motionless as a duck or a floating leaf, and, after practicing various kinds of philosophy, had concluded commonly, by the time I arrived, that he belonged to the ancient sect of Cenobites. There was one older man, an excellent fisher and skilled in all kinds of woodcraft, who was pleased to look upon my house as a building erected for the convenience of fishermen; and I was equally pleased when he sat in my doorway to arrange his lines. Once in a while we sat together on the pond, he at one end of the boat, and I at the other; but not many words passed between us, for he had grown deaf in his later years, but he occasionally hummed a psalm, which harmonized well enough with my philosophy. When, as was commonly the case, I had none to commune with, I used to raise the echoes by striking with a paddle on the side of my boat, filling the surrounding woods with circling and dilating sound, stirring them up as the keeper of a menagerie his wild beasts, until I elicited a growl from every wooded vale and hillside. 

In warm evenings, I frequently sat in the boat playing the flute, and saw the perch, which I seem to have charmed, hovering around me, and the moon travelling over the ribbed bottom, which was strewed with the wrecks of the forest. Sometimes, after staying in a village parlor till the family had all retired, I have returned to the woods, and, partly with a view to the next day's dinner, spent the hours of midnight fishing from a boat by moonlight, serenaded by owls and foxes, and hearing, from time to time, the creaking note of some unknown bird close at hand. 

These experiences were very memorable and valuable to me – anchored in forty feet of water, and twenty or thirty rods from the shore, surrounded sometimes by thousands of small perch and shiners, dimpling the surface with their tails in the moonlight, and communicating by a long flaxen line with mysterious nocturnal fishes which had their dwelling forty feet below, or sometimes dragging sixty feet of line about the pond as I drifted in the gentle night breeze, now and then feeling a slight vibration along it, indicative of some life prowling about its extremity, of dull uncertain blundering purpose there, and slow to make up its mind. At length you slowly raise, pulling hand over hand, some horned pout squeaking and squirming to the upper air. It was very queer, especially in dark nights, when your thoughts had wandered to vast and cosmogonal themes in other spheres, to feel this faint jerk, which came to interrupt your dreams and link you to nature again. 

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Shambhala Audio Collection

 

 

Excerpt 1 from Miyamoto Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings"

The Book of Five Rings composed in 1643 by the famed duelist and undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most influential texts on the subtle arts of confrontation and victory ever to emerge from Asia. This excerpt from the introduction sets up the history behind this fascinating text still relevant today.

The Book of Five Rings is one of the most important texts on conflict and strategy emerging from the Japanese warrior culture. Originally written on only four men at arms, it is explicitly intended to symbolize processes of struggle and mastery in all concerns and walks of life. The Book of Five Rings was written in 1643 by Miyamoto Musashi -- undefeated dueler, masterless samurai, and independent teacher. Musashi was a professional man at arms born into a long tradition of martial culture that had ultimately come to dominate the entire body of Japanese polity and society. His insights are relevant not only to members of the ruling military cast, but also to leaders in other professions as well as people in search of individual mastery in whatever their chosen path.
 
The Book of Five Rings is written in Japanese rather than the literary Chinese customary in the elite bureaucratic religious and intellectual circles in Japan at that time. The Japanese in which it is written furthermore is relatively uncomplicated and quite free of the subtle complexities of classical high court Japanese. Although, the crudity of Musashi’s syntax and morphology make for clumsy reading. Nevertheless, the basic simplicity and deliberate clarity of the work makes it accessible to a wide and varied audience. The rise and empowerment of the samurai class in Japan may be seen in the two terms used to refer to its members: samurai and bushi. The word samurai comes from the Japanese verb "saburau" which means to serve as an attendant. The word bushi is Sino Japanese and means “armed gentry.” The word samurai was used by other social classes while the warriors referred to themselves by the more dignified term “bushi.”

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The Shambhala Audio Collection

Wikipedia on "The Book of Five Rings"

 

Excerpt 1 from Morihei Ueshiba's "The Art of Peace"

In The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba -- the founder of the popular Japanese martial art aikido -- shares a collection of teachings that illustrate the real way of the warrior based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature. Spirituality and Practice has called Morihei Ueshiba's The Art of Peace “poetic and profound".  We're delighted to share an excerpt with you here. 

The art of peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the art of peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment, foster peace in your own life, and then apply the art to all that you encounter. One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the art of peace. Heaven is right where you are standing and that is the place to train. All things material and spiritual originate from one source and are related as if they were one family. The present, past, and future are all contained in the life force. The universe emerged and developed from one source and we evolved through the optimal process of unification and harmonization.
 
This is how the universe came into being. There was no heaven, no earth, no universe -- just empty space. In this vast emptiness, a single point suddenly manifested itself. From that point, steam, smoke, and mist spiraled forth an aluminous sphere and the sacred sound of soo was born. As soo expanded circularly up and down, left and right, major and breath began, clear and uncontaminated. Breath developed life and sound appeared. Soo is the word mentioned in many world religions. All sounds and vibrations emanate from that word. Your voice is a very powerful weapon.
 
When you are in tune with the cosmic breath of heaven and earth, your voice produces true sounds. Unify body, mind, and speech and real techniques will emerge.   The art of peace emanated from the divine form and the divine heart of existence. It reflects the true, good, beautiful, and absolute nature of creation and the essence of its ultimate grand design. The purpose of the art of peace is to fashion sincere human beings. A sincere human being is one who has unified body and spirit, one who is free of hesitation or doubt, and one who understands the power of words.

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The Shamabhala Audio Collection

Morihei Ueshiba Bio

Wired.com's Interview of Douglas Rushkoff, Author of "Program or Be Programmed"

 

One of our favorite audiobooks is Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff.  Rushkoff has been hailed as one of the most cutting edge thinkers of our time, and was recently interviewed by Wired.com.  Check out the interview by clicking here.

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Excerpt 1 from Henry David Thoreau's "Walden"

We are extremely delighted to bring you the audio recording of Henry David Thoreau's classic work, Walden -- a chronicle of his communion with nature that became one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.  The following excerpt illustrates Thoreau's profound observations on the meaning of work -- and how not all work serves the one doing it.

When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house, which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present, I am a sojourner in civilized life again.
 
I would fain say something, not so much concerning the Chinese and Sandwich Islanders as you who read these pages, who are said to live in New England; something about your condition, especially your outward condition or circumstances in this world, in this town, what it is, whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is, whether it cannot be improved as well as not. I have traveled a good deal in Concord; and everywhere, in shops, and offices, and fields, the inhabitants have appeared to me to be doing penance in a thousand remarkable ways.

Excerpt 1 from Chogyam Trungpa's "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior"

This fascinating excerpt from Chogyam Trungpa's seminal work Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior explores the possibility of the actual existence of the legendary Himalayan kingdon called Shambhala -- a place where prosperity, happiness and enlightenment reign. 

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According to the legends, this was a place of peace and prosperity governed by wise and compassionate rulers. The citizens were equally kind and learned so that in general the kingdom was a model society. This place was called Shambhala. It is said that Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Shambhala society. The legends tell us that Shakyamuni Buddha gave advanced tantric teachings to the first king of Shambhala, Dawa Sangpo. These teachings, which are preserved as a Kalacakra tantra, are considered to be among the most profound wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism. After the king had received this instruction, the stories say that all of the people of Shambhala began to practice meditation and to follow the Buddhist path of loving kindness and concern for all beings. In this way, not just the rulers, but all of the subjects of the kingdom became highly developed people.
 
Among the Tibetan people, there is a popular belief that the kingdom of Shambhala can still be found hidden in a remote valley somewhere in the Himalayas. There are as well a number of Buddhists texts that give detailed but obscure directions for reaching Shambhala. But there are mixed opinions as to whether these should be taken literally or metaphorically.