I became Buddhist while I was working in Southeast Asia, in Thailand specifically. Here’s one of the great lessons I learned, or perhaps it’s merely a koan, and that is this, no true Buddhist is Buddhist. It’s my own saying and one that I live by because Zen, Tibetan or Theravada are all structured disciplines with ritual and even recognized leaders. And I think the Buddha would laugh one of his full bellied roars to learn that there were, in some cases, global organizations all named in his honor. That’s not to make light of the way of organized Buddhism, merely to say that it isn’t my way.
I wrote...
The Power of Awareness: And Other Secrets from the World's Foremost Spies, Detectives, and Special Operators on How to Stay Safe and Save Your Life
By
Dan Schilling
What is my book about?
A spy is suddenly aware she's being stalked through the streets of an overseas city. A special ops soldier intuitively recognizes something's "off" during a high-risk mission. In these life-threatening situations, experts know exactly how to use their senses and what actions to take. The Power of Awareness will make sure you will, too.
In his empowering book, Dan Schilling shares how to identify and avoid threats using situational awareness and intuition just like the pros. Told with wit and wisdom, this compelling guide uses harrowing stories from Dan's special operations career and those of other experts to outline six easily implemented rules you can apply anywhere to improve your personal safety. By the last page you'll know that your own Power of Awareness can save your life.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
The Books I Picked & Why
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
By
Eckhart Tolle
Why this book?
This book saved my life. That’s no exaggeration. When I was at my darkest, struggling with things I’d done in the military and in a destructive relationship with no perceived way out, Eckhart’s nondiscipline-specific approach to non-suffering (the essence of Buddhist philosophy) reached down and pulled me up from a black well of despair. I would not be here but for this amazing guide. My own book is titled partially in homage to his.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
By
Sogyal Rinpoche
Why this book?
Rinpoche’s tome on life and, most importantly for those of us in the western hemisphere, death is the essential classic. It transformed my relationship with death into the positive acceptance I now embrace. This isn’t merely theoretical, it served as a guide when I helped my own father pass away. Biggest takeaway: consider and explore death when you’re in a good place, not while in the process of losing someone you love or your own demise.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
What the Buddha Taught
By
Walpola Rahula
Why this book?
Looking for the vehicle to understand Siddhartha Gautama’s journey to enlightenment and teachings but worried you’ll never remember the four noble truths or eight-fold path? Search no more, my friends. Of all the books on Buddhism ever written this simple and compact distillation delivers what Siddhartha (the Buddha) taught which is really nothing more complex than, “You must figure it out for yourself, but here’s how I did it.”
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
The Essential David Bohm
By
Lee Nichol
Why this book?
I first encountered the philosophy of physicist Bohm in another book by the philosopher Renée Weber (Dialogues with Scientists and Sages) in which she, the Dalai Lama, and Bohm (among others) explore, well, everything. But Bohm’s own exploration blends Buddhist concepts with physics. One of the many reasons I am Buddhist myself is its architecture and allowance for new concepts including physics theory and the reality of light itself. His implicate order for the universe explains more about its reality than accepted current theory. I’m no physicist nor towering intellectual, but I am following the Buddha’s advice to figure it out for myself. This book helped immensely. Sadly his work is overlooked by the scientific community.
When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
By
Richard Bach
Why this book?
One of the greatest books for finding liberation through seeing the universe and reality for what they are, merely our own perceptions. How we choose to do that determines whether we’re happy or not. To quote the character Chiang who vanishes and then returns in an instant by way of demonstrating to Jonathan that any number (including speed) is merely a limit, “It’s kind of fun.” While not a Buddhist book per se, it is one of the most timeless guides one can find. And it’s kind of fun.
