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Books & Video

The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret & Science of Happiness

Tergar InstituteIn his first book, Mingyur Rinpoche combines Tibetan Buddhist wisdom with the latest breakthroughs in Western medicine to reveal the scientific basis for how we can achieve enlightenment, relaxation, and happiness through meditation. With a foreward by bestselling author Daniel Goleman.

THE JOY OF LIVING is currently the #10 bestselling Religion title at Borders!
Harmony Books | ISBN: 978-0-307-34625-4 | $24.00 | 288 pages

Available wherever books are sold.
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"Here we have that most marvelous spiritual flower: an authentic Tibetan meditation master telling us how it is inside his mind and heart during meditation, backed up by cutting-edge scientific evaluation of those same phenomena. Mingyur Rinoche's unique contribution to this emerging field is an early flowering of the interface of neuroscience and Buddhism, which I believe will keep producing invaluable fruit in the decades to come, helping us to better understand ourselves and reality, and particularly our innate capacity for developing happiness, inner peace and deep wisdom. I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in the healing arts, consciousness studies, and genuine contemplative practice today."

--Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, founder of the Dzogchen Center in America.

"This is an extraordinarily clear book on the whys and the hows of cultivating mindfulness effectively in our lives. At the same time, it makes use of the idiom and exciting discoveries of modern science in ways that are easy to understand and entirely relevant to the meditation practices themselves and to how our minds and bodies and health are related to the activity of the brain. That it comes from a young Tibetan Rinpoche with the lineage that Mingyur carries defies all understanding, and is strong evidence for the power inherent in the conversation and collaboration between contemplative and Western scientific traditions, of which he is an intimate part "

--Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses, Vice-Chair, Mind and Life Institute

"I rejoice in this book, the first of its kind, a truly compelling and infinitely practical fusion of Tibetan Buddhism and scientific ideas. Raised by the greatest masters of Buddhist meditation, Mingyur Rinpoche embodies the wisdom of the ancient sages, yet with a brilliant and compassionate understanding of the modern mind. Inspired by a genuine fascination for how the meeting of Buddhism and science can revolutionize our lives, he has himself been a subject of scientific research, with remarkable results. He is a teacher for our time, uniquely gifted to bridge these two worlds."

--Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

"It is extraordinary to see the words lineage, compassion, spacetime foam and limbic resonance all in the same book, all cogently explained and skillfully used to deepen our own happiness and the happiness of others. The Buddha, the Brain and the Science of happiness is a personal, readable and wonderfully warm and clear guide to changing the way we see ourselves and the world."

--Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness;the Revolutionary art of Happiness

"A beautiful tapestry of Buddhist insight woven together with modern science, this book is a landmark in the development of a contemplative neuroscience. Written by a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master with a deep and abiding interest in science, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the causes and consequences of happiness."

--Richard J. Davidson, William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry Director, W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Wisconsin Center for Affective Science, and Center for Mind-Body Interaction, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"There is real wisdom here. Fresh and clear. Rinpoche has offered us what may well be an essential link between the Buddha and contemporary neuroscience and physics. He effortlessly makes connections between seemingly disparate and complex disciplines, and makes the journey sparkle. His voice is generous, intimate and refreshingly personal. As he repeatedly reminds us, our experience of ourselves and our world is none other than an interactive projection of our mind. And most importantly, that our minds can change. Our neurons can change structure and function, merely by observing the flow of our mental activity. Through repeated familiarity with positive mind states, such as love and compassion, and by transforming our limiting mental conceptualizing into vast freedom, we can achieve the already present basic mind of clarity and knowing - true happiness. Read this book."

--Richard Gere