-
The Fruitful Darkness
- A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom
- Narrated by: Judith West
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 05-06-15
- Language: English
- Publisher: Audible Studios
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $19.95
People who bought this also bought...
-
Being with Dying
- Contemplative Practices and Teachings
- By: Joan Halifax
- Narrated by: Joan Halifax
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
On his deathbed Plato was asked to summarize his life's work. He replied, "Practice dying." In the 2,000 years since Plato offered this wise admonition, we have developed many practices associated with living. But what of the practices associated with dying? Being with Dying is a response to this question: an approach to death that is kind, open, and dignified and that allows us to explore the meaning of death in the experience of our own lives and through the lives of others.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
a must for hospice workers
- By Niall W. Paterson on 05-10-17
-
Start Where You Are
- A Guide to Compassionate Living
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can "start where we are" - embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives.
-
Comfortable with Uncertainty
- 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
This audiobook by Pema Chödrön, the renowned American Buddhist nun, offers short, stand-alone sections designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than a collection of thoughts for the day, Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study, leading the listener through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Life-changing content.
- By Amber Williams on 03-01-18
-
The Path Is The Goal
- A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation
- By: Chögyam Trungpa, Sherab Chödzin (editor)
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
According to the Buddha, no one can attain basic sanity or enlightenment without practicing meditation. The teachings given here on the outlook and technique of meditation provide the foundation that every practitioner needs to awaken as the Buddha did. Trungpa teaches us to let go of the urge to make meditation serve our ambition; thus we can relax into openness.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to understand in content. Narrator was perfect.
- By AnthroGal on 03-31-16
-
The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation
- By: Chögyam Trungpa, Pema Chödrön (foreword), John Baker (editor), and others
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 249
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 244
ChgyamTrungpa's unique ability to express the essence of Buddhist teachings in the language and imagery of modern American culture makes his books among the most accessible works of Buddhist philosophy. Here Trungpa explores the true meaning of freedom, showing us how our preconceptions, attitudes, and even our spiritual practices can become chains that bind us to repetitive patterns of frustration and despair.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Buddhist Teachings for Americans Living in 1970
- By Sara on 01-03-15
-
No Time to Lose
- A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5
Over the years, Pema Chödrön's books have offered an exciting new way of living: developing fearlessness, generosity, and compassion in all aspects of their lives. In No Time to Lose Pema invites listeners to venture further along the path of the "bodhisattva warrior", explaining in depth how we can awaken the softness of our hearts and develop true confidence amid the challenges of daily living.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
pema is the best!
- By Mary INN BURDETTE on 03-19-18
-
Being with Dying
- Contemplative Practices and Teachings
- By: Joan Halifax
- Narrated by: Joan Halifax
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
On his deathbed Plato was asked to summarize his life's work. He replied, "Practice dying." In the 2,000 years since Plato offered this wise admonition, we have developed many practices associated with living. But what of the practices associated with dying? Being with Dying is a response to this question: an approach to death that is kind, open, and dignified and that allows us to explore the meaning of death in the experience of our own lives and through the lives of others.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
a must for hospice workers
- By Niall W. Paterson on 05-10-17
-
Start Where You Are
- A Guide to Compassionate Living
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can "start where we are" - embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives.
-
Comfortable with Uncertainty
- 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
This audiobook by Pema Chödrön, the renowned American Buddhist nun, offers short, stand-alone sections designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than a collection of thoughts for the day, Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study, leading the listener through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Life-changing content.
- By Amber Williams on 03-01-18
-
The Path Is The Goal
- A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation
- By: Chögyam Trungpa, Sherab Chödzin (editor)
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
According to the Buddha, no one can attain basic sanity or enlightenment without practicing meditation. The teachings given here on the outlook and technique of meditation provide the foundation that every practitioner needs to awaken as the Buddha did. Trungpa teaches us to let go of the urge to make meditation serve our ambition; thus we can relax into openness.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to understand in content. Narrator was perfect.
- By AnthroGal on 03-31-16
-
The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation
- By: Chögyam Trungpa, Pema Chödrön (foreword), John Baker (editor), and others
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 249
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 244
ChgyamTrungpa's unique ability to express the essence of Buddhist teachings in the language and imagery of modern American culture makes his books among the most accessible works of Buddhist philosophy. Here Trungpa explores the true meaning of freedom, showing us how our preconceptions, attitudes, and even our spiritual practices can become chains that bind us to repetitive patterns of frustration and despair.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Buddhist Teachings for Americans Living in 1970
- By Sara on 01-03-15
-
No Time to Lose
- A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5
Over the years, Pema Chödrön's books have offered an exciting new way of living: developing fearlessness, generosity, and compassion in all aspects of their lives. In No Time to Lose Pema invites listeners to venture further along the path of the "bodhisattva warrior", explaining in depth how we can awaken the softness of our hearts and develop true confidence amid the challenges of daily living.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
pema is the best!
- By Mary INN BURDETTE on 03-19-18
-
Advice Not Given
- A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein MD
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Insight
- By Russell O Christenson on 01-25-18
-
Body and Mind Are One
- A Training in Mindfulness
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
When your body and mind work together as one, you are fully and naturally present in the moment. This is the essence of mindfulness practice - allowing us to touch the wonders of life in the here and now. Body and Mind Are One is at once a practical teaching series covering fundamental Buddhist principles for a joyful life and a living transmission of insight from beloved Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who has practiced, shared, and lived this profound wisdom for over seven decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a tremendous book!
- By Tara on 07-07-15
-
Training the Mind
- & Cultivating Loving-Kindness
- By: Chögyam Trungpa, Judith L. Lief (editor), Pema Chödrön (foreword)
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 300
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 292
The 59 provocative slogans presented here - each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chgyam Trungpa - have been used by Tibetan Buddhists for eight centuries to help meditation students remember and focus on important principles and practices of mind training. They emphasize meeting the ordinary situations of life with intelligence and compassion under all circumstances. Slogans include, "Don't be swayed by external circumstances," "Be grateful to everyone," and "Always maintain only a joyful mind."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Slow but informative
- By Tom on 02-05-15
-
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
- By: Marvin Casper - editor, John Baker - editor, Chögyam Trungpa, and others
- Narrated by: Jim Gimian
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 287
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights the commonest pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement - the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. "The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use," he said, "even spirituality."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By Mary J. Murphy on 07-25-15
-
What Is Zen?
- Plain Talk for a Beginner's Mind
- By: Norman Fischer, Susan Moon
- Narrated by: Norman Fischer, Susan Moon
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
The question-and-answer format makes this introduction to Zen especially easy to understand - and also to use as a reference, as you can easily look up just the question you had in mind. The esteemed Zen teacher Norman Fischer and his old friend and teaching colleague Susan Moon (both of them in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind) give this collaborative effort a playful tone: Susan asks a question on our behalf, Norman answers it, and then Sue challenges him.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Zen; An Introduction
- By Michael on 08-15-16
-
The Places That Scare You
- A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Joanna Rotte
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33
Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This audiobook teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-18
-
It's Up to You
- The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path
- By: Dzigar Kongtrul
- Narrated by: Pema Chödrön
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 5
On the spiritual path we speak of enlightenment. But how do we reconcile the idea of enlightenment with what we see when we look in the mirror - when insecurities, doubts, and self-centered tendencies arise in our minds? Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel "doomed" when these experiences surface. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning. This approach to experience is what Kongtrül calls self-reflection.
-
Braving the Wilderness
- The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Brené Brown
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,663
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,325
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,244
"True belonging doesn't require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are." Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives - experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Actual Step-By-Step To Authenticity!
- By Gillian on 09-14-17
-
Making Friends with Your Mind
- The Key to Contentment
- By: Pema Chödrön
- Narrated by: Pema Chödrön
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 352
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 303
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 298
Have you ever found yourself thinking your way into a tangle of fret, frustration, or gloom? And then something small - a few kind words, the sun glancing through the clouds, a warm cup of tea - gave you a welcome pause from all your inner chatter? With Making Friends with Your Mind, that's what Pema Chödrön helps us to do, not by chance but with our full intention: to stop fighting with our thoughts and reopen ourselves to wonder as naturally as we breathe.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Love Pema but....
- By Cenandra on 05-11-17
-
No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Ken McLeod
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
"Our biggest fear," says poet and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, "is that we will become nothing when we die. If we think that we cease to exist when we die, we have not looked very deeply at ourselves." It is possible to live every day without being afraid of what happens when we die. Through a close examination of who we are, how we exist, and how we live, we can conquer our fear to live a freer and happier life. Through stories and lucid teachings, Thich Naht Hanh brings peace of mind to a difficult subject, and shows is how to live a happier life, free of fear.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mesmerizing, Insightful. I am in Awe!
- By C Leone on 03-29-17
-
Noble Heart
- A Self-Guided Retreat on Befriending Your Obstacles
- By: Pema Chodron
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 366
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 353
You can't get away from suffering. That's the good news, teaches Pema Chodron. For at the core of your most painful experiences, you will find the seeds of your awakening. On Noble Heart, this best-selling author and Tibetan Buddhist nun shows you how vulnerability is our greatest spiritual resource amid life's difficulties. Using special meditations and teachings, she shows how to cultivate your own noble heart, one that sheds its armor, and opens fearlessly to both heartache and delight.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful, like a personal retreat
- By Jim on 06-29-09
-
Going to Pieces without Falling Apart
- A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 210
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 184
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 177
Weaving together the accumulated wisdom of his two worlds - Buddhism and Western psychotherapy - Mark Epstein shows how "the happiness that we seek depends on our ability to balance the ego's need to do with our inherent capacity to be." He encourages us to relax the ever-vigilant mind in order to experience the freedom that comes only from relinquishing control.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
beautiful and insightful
- By MossyFernForest on 10-21-15
Publisher's Summary
In this masterwork of an authentic spirit person (Thomas Berry), Buddhist teacher and anthropologist Joan Halifax Roshi delves into the fruitful darkness - the shadow side of being, found in the root truths of Native religions, the fecundity of nature, and the stillness of meditation. In this highly personal and insightful odyssey of the heart and mind, she encounters Tibetan Buddhist meditators, Mexican shamans, and Native American elders, among others. In rapt prose, she recounts her explorations from Japanese Zen meditation to hallucinogenic plants, from the Dogon people of Mali to the Mayan rain forest, all the while creating "an adventure of the spirit and a feast of wisdom old and new" (Peter Matthiessen). Halifax believes that deep ecology (which attempts to fuse environmental awareness with spiritual values) works in tandem with Buddhism and shamanism to discover the interconnectedness of all life", and to regain life's sacredness.
Grove Press is proud to reissue this important work by one of Buddhism's leading contemporary teachers.
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars3
-
4 Stars2
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars1
Performance
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars3
-
4 Stars0
-
3 Stars2
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars1
Story
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars3
-
4 Stars2
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars1
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- John
- 09-06-15
Another bore
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
I keep buying books with interesting titles. Unfortunately too many of them have little to no content. Just endless ramblings about life that are completely personal and of no value to the listener and absent of any wisdom or even objective reality. This seems to be a pattern by middle aged white/western writers who think themselves so fascinating they must share every thought with us rather than some actual insight. Reggie Ray, Robert Thurman, Shenzhen young are a few others I've purchased recently who have the same long winded rambling and incredibly dull lacking in depth, self glorifying style. I never have this come up when I listen to thich nhat Hahn or jack kornfield.
What do you think your next listen will be?
I have TNH ULTIMATE DEMENSION next.
Would you be willing to try another one of Judith West’s performances?
No. She made the content even less appealing although I think her voice captured the writers grandiosity.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Fruitful Darkness?
When a writer uses the word "I" over and over it becomes clear what the book is about. Has nothing to do with the reader. Narcissism gone wild. Very common these days. Amazing how many enlightened people have no awareness of how self absorbed they really are. The opposite of enlightened.
Any additional comments?
A book should teach the reader. Otherwise it is just another fiction.
3 of 7 people found this review helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- zenja
- 06-13-16
unlisted able to
This sounds like it is narrated by a computerised device the tone and expression of the reading is so wooden and incongruous. I tried to say with it and thought I may get accustomed to the voice but it became unbearable for me.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful