Free eBook

Do you want a free Buddhist meditation book?

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a world-famous Buddhist master who has written 22 highly acclaimed books, wants to give away a free electronic version of his new book, Modern Buddhism ~ The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, to everyone in the world who wants one! (It is now the most downloaded Buddhist eBook).

If you are interested in practicing meditation, I think you will find something you like in this book. Just click on this link for your copy: Free Modern Buddhism eBook.

(If you are new to meditation, and are interested in simple easy getting-started instructions, you might like one of these articles.)

Geshe Kelsang says:

“Through reading and practicing the instructions given in this book, people can solve their daily problems and maintain a happy mind all the time.”

I cannot help but feel rather happy about this cosmic no-holds-barred act of giving Buddha’s teachings, especially as I think Modern Buddhism is a spiritual masterpiece. It contains every Buddhist meditation and is a wealth of practical advice for living a happy, positive, and meaningful life.

So what can I do to help give it away? I can help to spread the word amongst family, friends and others. I also feel I can join in helping this come about by the sheer mental act of wanting it enough! Aspiration is the source of joyful effort and of all good results.

I have been doing this special tailor-made visualization on giving Modern Buddhism to everyone for some time now. It only takes a minute or so. I base it on the meditation on giving that Geshe Kelsang explains in Modern Buddhism itself, in a fabulous section called “Training in Giving in Conjunction with the Practice of the Six Perfections” (search for it in Volume One of your brand new eBook!!)

“How do we meditate on giving? In Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Shantideva says:

… to accomplish the welfare of all living beings
I will transform my body into an enlightened wishfulfilling jewel.

We should regard our continuously residing body, our very subtle body, as the real wishfulfilling jewel; this is our Buddha nature through which the wishes of ourself and all other living beings will be fulfilled.”

If you prefer, you can visualize your regular body as the wishfulfilling jewel. (Just so you know, any words you are not familiar with are explained clearly in the book. For example, according to Buddha’s Tantric teachings given in Volume 2, our very subtle body or subtle energy wind is our actual body, as opposed to this gross meaty body with a limited shelf life. Our very subtle mind and body travel never-endingly from life to life and, once fully purified through the practice of meditation, will become the mind and body of an enlightened being.)

With love wishing everyone to be happy, we then believe that from this wishfulfilling jewel we emanate infinite rays of light which reach all living beings, giving them whatever they want. They experience the pure and everlasting happiness of enlightenment.

At this point, I imagine that at the end of each infinite ray of light is a copy of the Modern Buddhism, and that as soon as the living beings receive it they experience pure and lasting happiness. Then I make a dedication, such as the one by Geshe Kelsang below.

This meditation feels great! It creates enormous good karma (the mental potential for good fortune) and the cause to give spiritual teachings directly to everyone. And there is no reason you cannot adapt it to other things too.

This gift feels to me like one of Geshe Kelsang‘s auspicious deeds, in a whole lifetime spent in the service of others. He is starting by giving away the UK English version of Modern Buddhism eBook, but who knows where he may go with this next… And there are New Kadampa Tradition teachers he has trained in countries all over the world who are giving oral commentaries to this book to bring it even more alive. The idea of everyone in the world, whoever they are, and however much money they do or don’t possess, having access to this treasury of exquisite practical liberating advice in their own language sounds almost too good to be true! Almost.

If you like Buddhist meditation, do help spread the word by sharing the link to eModernBuddhism.com everywhere. The sooner people have the choice to download and read this book, the sooner Geshe Kelsang’s dedication can come true:

“May everyone who reads this book experience deep peace of mind, and accomplish the real meaning of human life.”

If you have had good experiences of this book or if you have any questions about it, please use the comments. (There are also more comments here, where the article first appeared.)

Here is a new article about the book, In praise of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s presentation of modern Buddhism.