Good Karma: How to Create the Causes of Happiness and Avoid the Causes of Suffering

by Thubten Chodron

Overview

Why do things happen the way they do in our lives? How do we create the causes for a happy life? The Buddhist practice of mind training gives us the answer to these questions: it involves overcoming our self-centered attitude and replacing it with an attitude that cherishes others. This, in turn, leads us to act in ways that naturally lead away from suffering and toward happiness—in short, to create good karma. Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great Tibetan Buddhist poems, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, which shows, clearly and practically, how to eliminate the causes of anxiety, fear, and depression and to create the causes of joyful liberation for oneself and all others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834840263
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	08/09/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Venerable THUBTEN CHODRON taught in Los Angeles city schools before she became a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977. She has studied closely under the Dalai Lama and many other illustrious teachers in India and Nepal. She is founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Newport, Washington, one of the few Buddhist monasteries in the United States. Active in interfaith dialogue and prison work, she is the author of numerous books.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Sick as a Dog: Generating Our Motivation 1

2 The World We Swim In: The Buddhist Worldview 7

3 Brave Peacocks and Cowardly Crows: Assessing Our Worldview 23

4 The Wheel of Destructive Karma: Understanding and Transforming Difficulties 43

5 Woe Is Me: Dealing with Sickness, Laziness, and Distraction 69

6 Don't Create Problems for Yourself: Overcoming Spiritual Obstacles 83

7 Seize the Enemy: Identifying Self-Grasping Ignorance and the Self-Centered Attitude 111

8 Dance and Trample: Overcoming the Internal Enemies 119

9 Integrity and Responsibility: Banishing - Self-Centeredness 143

10 Pain in the Neck: Overcoming Attachment to Praise and Reputation 165

11 Safe at Last: Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels and Cultivating Strong Resolve 185

12 Compassionate Action: Becoming the Person We Want to Be 197

13 Growing Our Wisdom: Emptiness and Dependent Arising 217

14 Colophon and Conclusion: Expressing Our Gratitude 251

Recommended Reading 255

Editorial Reviews

“Good Karma opens up for us the liberating insights of karma and bodhicitta. With the support of ancient masters, together with her own deep wisdom and compassion, Thubten Chodron lovingly shares the essence of understanding she has gained through many years of study and practice.”—Sharon Salzberg 

"Thubten Chodron’s commentary on Dharmarakshita’s Wheel of Sharp Weapons is a crash course on transforming pain and suffering into power tools for liberation.”—Chade-Meng Tan, bestselling author of Search Inside Yourself

“Thubten Chodron beautifully illustrates the importance of karma, its intricacies and details, using her own personal experience. Her detailed explanation of the important Tibetan text known as The Wheel of Sharp Weapons will be tremendously beneficial to anyone interested in a spiritual path.”—Gelek Rimpoche, author of Good Life, Good Death

From the Publisher