Buddha shows the way: a collection of public talks and teachings

2022-05-22

James Low

(Simply Being, UK, May 2022)

It is being translated into Spanish by Mariana Orozco, 2023.

This book contains a selection of edited public talks given by James Low. They cover a wide range of topics yet share a common theme: how to apply Buddhist teachings in our complex engagement with the modern world. We are all faced with ever increasing tasks of life-maintenance as we struggle to cope with the profound impact climate change, conflict, economic chaos, environmental and political instabilities. Moreover, our own inner life is prey to habitual tendencies, impulses and blind spots so that our sense of the world is often more muddled than we imagine it to be.

The Buddhist view encourages us to see the ungraspable illusory nature of every situation in order that we might avoid being buffeted by samsara’s waves of hopes and fears. With this clarity our own potential can be turned towards the benefit of the many rather than towards individual selfish pursuits.

Buddha shows the way contains eighteen short chapters which can be read in any order so it is a book that can be dipped into according to your mood and time available.

List of Chapters

The basis of awakening is already present within us. Written by James Low in 2017.
Emptiness, equanimity and kindness. A public talk given on 9th April 2020 (online through Zoom platform) at the request of Kamalashila Institute, Langenfeld, Germany.
A Buddhist approach to staying relaxed & open in modern life. Compiled from two public talks: 1) Finding freedom in the midst of complexity, Geneva given on 1st Feb 2013, and 2) Living in the ungraspable moment, Vienna given on 2nd June 2011.
Openness and clarity. A public talk given on 29th November 2013 in Berlin, Germany.
The Experience of self-liberation. A public talk given on 7th June 2012 in Vienna, Austria.
Space is the greatest friend we have: working in an organisation. A talk given on 25th October 2017 for staff at a Buddhist residential care home in Germany.
Our transient roles in the drama of life. Written by James Low in 2017.
Ground, path and result. Compiled from two short writings: 1) Ground, path and result, and 2) View, meditation, activity and result. Both were written by James Low in 2017.
Relax and release reliance on illusions. Written by James Low in 2017.
The Wonder of being. A public talk given on 29th January 2016 in Berlin, Germany.
The Radiance of emptiness. A public talk given on 18th April 2018 in Cologne, Germany.
Healing and the five elements: dzogchen in daily life. A public talk given on 9th May 2013 at the Stadtraum, Vienna, Austria.
The Nature of self in Tibetan buddhism. A public talk given on 4th June 2015 in Freiburg, Germany.
Releasing attachment and confusion in the space of being. A public talk given on 6th September 2018 at the Zhi-Chang Li Academy, Vienna, Austria.
Love and attachment in the dzogchen view. A public talk given on 13th June 2013 in Freiburg, Germany.
Chöd: cutting free of the four demons. A short excerpt from a two-day teaching given over the weekend of 7th and 8th May 2011 in Berlin, Germany.
The Natural freedom of the mind. A public talk given on 18th March 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Finding ourselves in the river of life. A public talk given on 19th March 2010 in Berlin, Germany, and later revised again by James Low in November 2020.