Books about Bodhisattvas from Amazon.com

Over the years, Pema Chödrön's books have offered readers an exciting new way of living: developing fearlessness, generosity, and compassion in all aspects of their lives. In No Time to Lose Pema invites readers 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.

Pema reveals the traditional Buddhist teachings that guide her own life: those of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara), a text written by the eighth-century sage Shantideva. This treasured Buddhist work is remarkably relevant for our times, describing the steps we can take to cultivate courage, caring, and joy—the keys to healing ourselves and our troubled world. Pema offers us a highly practical and engaging commentary on this essential text, explaining how its profound teachings can be applied to our daily lives..
Price: $9.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Treasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment, and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas—those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings and to attain buddhahood for their sake. 

This version, translated from the Tibetan, is a revision by the translators of the 1997 edition. Included are a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a new translator's preface, a thorough introduction, a note on the translation, and three appendices of commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden.  .
Price: $8.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Compassion is the guiding principle of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to attain enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings from the suffering and confusion of imperfect existence. To this end, they must renounce all self-centered goals and consider only the well-being of others. The bodhisattvas' enemies are the ego, passion, and hatred; their weapons are generosity, patience, perseverance, and wisdom. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is considered to be a living embodiment of this spiritual ideal. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama presents here a detailed manual of practical philosophy, based on The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara), a well-known text of Mahayana Buddhism written by Shantideva. The Dalai Lama explains and amplifies the text, alluding throughout to the experience of daily life and showing how anyone can develop bodhichitta, the wish for perfect enlightenment for the sake of others. This book will surely become a standard manual for all those who wish to make the bodhisattva ideal a living experience..
Price: $7.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The author evokes the charming presence of the Goddess of Compassion through colorful anecdotes and descriptions of rituals and legends..
Price: $9.43 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Bodhicharyavatara, or Way of the Bodhisattva, composed by the eighth-century Indian master Shantideva, has occupied an important place in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition almost from its inception One of the great classics of Mahayana Buddhism, it describes the path of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to become enlightened in order to help all beings awaken into the state of freedom and fulfillment. It is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment through generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience.

Patrul Rinpoche, the celebrated nineteenth-century master and author of The Words of My Perfect Teacher, devoted his whole life to the practice and teachings of the Bodhicharyavatara. Although he never composed an extensive commentary on this great work, it is said that, when traveling all over the east of Tibet, he expounded it more than one hundred times, sometimes in detailed courses lasting many months. Kunzang Pelden spent most of his early life with Patrul Rinpoche and was one of his close disciples. This commentary is a compilation of the extensive notes he took during a six-month teaching given by Patrul Rinpoche at Dzogchen Monastery. It is thanks to Kunzang Pelden's labors that Patrul Rinpoche's teachings on the Bodhicharyavatara have been preserved. It could perhaps be said that The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech is the commentary that Patrul Rinpoche so often presented to students, but never actually wrote..
Price: $21.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the whole of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition there is no single treatise more deeply revered or widely practiced than A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Composed in the eighth century by the Indian Bodhisattva Santideva, it became an instant classic in the curricula of the Buddhist monastic universities of India, and its renown has grown ever since. Santideva presents methods to harmonize one's life with the Bodhisattva ideal and inspires the reader to cultivate the perfections of the Bodhisattva--generosity, ethics, patience, zeal, meditative concentration and wisdom..
Price: $8.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A masterwork of Tibetan Buddhism--providing the complete foundation for study and practice--from beginning to Buddhahood Includes teachings on Buddha-nature, finding the spiritual master, impermanence, karma, cultivation of bodhicitta, development of the six perfections, the ten bodhisattva bhumis, Buddhahood, and the activities of the Buddha..
Price: $13.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What would be the practical implications of caring more about others than about yourself? This is the radical theme of this extraordinary set of instructions, a training manual composed in the fourteenth century by the Buddhist hermit Ngulchu Thogme, here explained in detail by one of the great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century, Dilgo Khyentse. In the Mahayana tradition, those who have the courage to undertake the profound change of attitude required to develop true compassion are called bodhisattvas. Their great resolve—to consider others’ needs as paramount, and thus to attain enlightenment for the sake of all living creatures—carries them beyond the limits imposed by the illusions of “I” and “mine,” culminating in the direct realization of reality, transcending dualistic notions of self and other. This classic text presents ways that we can work with our own hearts and minds, starting wherever we find ourselves now, to unravel our small-minded preoccupations and discover our own potential for compassion, love, and wisdom. Many generations of Buddhist practitioners have been inspired by these teachings, and the great masters of all traditions have written numerous commentaries. Dilgo Khyentse’s commentary is probably his most extensive recorded teaching on Mahayana practice.

For more information about the author, Dilgo Khyentse, visit his website at www.shechen.org..
Price: $9.83 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What if you could cultivate the mind of a bodhisattva—one who has dedicated one’s life to the benefit of others? According to Pema Chödrön—best-selling author and American-born Buddhist nun—you can. On Bodhisattva Mind, she examines sheshin, or "guarding alertness," and the other qualities of mind we need to develop on the path to enlightenment. "We all have a consciousness that knows what helps and what causes harm," teaches Ani Pema. "With this same ability, we can ‘tame our minds,’ and extricate ourselves from suffering." A practicum of insights and meditations from this cherished teacher, Bodhisattva Mind shows us how to connect with the spacious, clear, unbiased nature of our minds, and experience the joy of complete freedom..
Price: $42.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Jizo is an important bodhisattva or "saint" of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Most prominent today in Japanese Zen, Jizo is understood to be the protector of those journeying through the physical and spiritual realms. This bodhisattva is closely associated with children, believed to be their guardian before birth, throughout childhood, and after death. Here, an American Zen master offers an engaging and informative overview of the history of this important figure and conveys the practices and rituals connected with him, including a simple ceremony for remembering children who have died. Inspired by her own personal experience with Jizo practice, Bays explains how the Buddhist teachings on Jizo can bring peace to those confronted with suffering and loss..
Price: $3.45 [Notify me when price goes down.]