Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide

Ben Connelly

Sep 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Daniel Henning

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5 hr 4 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

In this book, Ben Connelly guides us through the intricacies of Yogacara and the richness of the "Thirty Verses." His warm and wise voice unpacks and contextualizes its wisdom, showing us how we can apply its ancient insights to our own modern lives, to create a life of engaged peace, harmony, compassion, and joy. In fourth-century India one of the great geniuses of Buddhism, Vasubandhu, sought to reconcile the diverse ideas and forms of Buddhism practiced at the time and demonstrate how they could be effectively integrated into a single system. This was the Yogacara movement, and it continues to have great influence in modern Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. Vasubandhu's "Thirty Verses" lay out a path of practice that integrates the most powerful of Buddhism's psychological and mystical possibilities. Although Yogacara has a reputation for being extremely complex, the "Thirty Verses" distills the principles of these traditions to their most practical forms, and this book follows that sense of focus; it goes to the heart of the matter-how do we alleviate suffering through shedding our emotional knots and our sense of alienation? This is a great introduction to a philosophy, a master, and a work whose influence reverberates throughout modern Buddhism.

About the author

Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He is the author of Inside the Grass Hut: Living Shitou's Classic Zen Poem, Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide, and Mindfulness and Intimacy.

Daniel Henning is a director, producer, actor, and writer. His work has been seen on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MTV, Comedy Central, and on stages throughout Southern California. He won a 2017 Telly Award for "Best Writer" for the film version of his play The Tragedy of JFK (as Told by Wm. Shakespeare).

Norman Fischer has been a Zen Buddhist priest for nearly thirty years, serving as abbot for the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995 to 2000. Founder and teacher of the Everyday Zen Foundation, he is one of the most highly respected Zen teachers in America, regularly leading Zen Buddhist retreats and events.

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