An amazingly succinct and accessible answer to the question “What is enlightenment?”—from one of America's most prominent teachers of Insight Meditation Former Buddhist monk and highly regarded Insight Meditation teacher Rodney Smith describes the process of enlightenment in a way anyone can understand—demonstrating in clear language why we operate with the illusion of separation, how we can move out of it to the realization of emptiness and no-self, and how we can live from that state of awakening. He provides brief, powerful exercises that enable us to challenge the reality of our thoughts in order to free ourselves from the illusion they keep us bound to—all the while steering us away from the temptation to regard spiritual practice as a process of self-improvement or a goal to be obtained. “With systematic precision, and with subtle wisdom born of a lifetime of practice, Rodney Smith uses science, psychology, and traditional Buddhism to explain the unexplainable: the how and why of authentic spiritual awakening . . . an original work by a contemporary spiritual master at the height of his powers.” —Norman Fischer, author of Training in Compassion

Are a person's perceptions and values altered when facing the end of life? Are a person's perceptions and values altered when facing the end of life? Do the dying see the world in a way that could help the rest of us learn how to live? This book takes us into the lessons of the dying. Through the words and circumstances of the terminally ill, we become immersed in their wisdom and in our own mortality. The dying speak to us in direct and personal ways, pointing toward a wise and sane way to live. In everyday language we can all understand, Rodney Smith extends the conversation about death to people of all ages and states of health. Through exercises and guided meditative reflections at the end of each chapter, the lessons of the dying become a blueprint for our own growth.

Accounting Information Systems 2e covers the four roles for accountants with respect to information technology: users of technology and information systems, managers of users of technology, designers of information systems, and evaluators of information systems. Accountants must understand the organization and how organizational processes generate information important to management.The focus of Accounting Information Systems, 2/e is on the accountant's role as business analyst in solving business problems by database modeling, database design, and business process modeling. Unlike other texts that provide a broad survey of AIS related topics, this text concentrates on developing practical, real-world business analysis skills. Whether you are developing a new course for AIS or incorporating AIS materials into your existing curriculum, Accounting Information Systems, 2/e will help prepare your students for their future careers.

An Insight Meditation teacher explores the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, an essential teaching that transcends all Buddhist traditions and provides a path to true liberation Awakening manifests through the application of mindfulness to four areas: body, feelings, mind, and dharmas. Buddhists of all the traditions share this foundational principle, which is defined in the Satipatthana Sutta and has been expounded upon since the time of the Buddha himself. In Touching the Infinite, Rodney Smith guides readers through the Four Foundations to provide a solid understanding of the teaching. He goes on to challenge us to hold this teaching up against our own experience—and in doing so, to discover the inherent interconnection of all Four Foundations. They are a sequential path that reveal the true nature of things, leading the practitioner to the perception of the formless and then back to daily life infused with that great freedom. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness thus serve as a road map for any genuine spiritual path.

Extensive reading improves fluency and there is a real need in the ELT classroom for motivating, contemporary graded material that will instantly appeal to students. Based on the internationally acclaimed book by Joe Simpson,Touching the Void is the compelling true story of a mountaineering expedition which goes dreadfully wrong.

A prominent Insight Meditation teacher presents the Buddhist concept of “no-self” in an easy-to-understand way that will radically change your perspective on life Anatta is the Buddhist teaching on the nonexistence of a permanent, independent self. It’s a notoriously puzzling and elusive concept, usually leading to such questions as, “If I don’t have a self, who’s reading this sentence?” It’s not that there’s no self there, says Rodney Smith. It’s just that the self that is reading this sentence is a configuration of elements that at one time did not exist and which at some point in the future will disperse. Even in its present existence, it’s more a temporary arrangement of components rather than something solid. Anatta is a truth the Buddha considered to be absolutely essential to his teaching. Smith shows that understanding this truth can change the way you relate to the world, and that the perspective of selflessness is critically important for anyone involved in spiritual practice. Seeing it can be the key to getting past the idea that spirituality has something to do with self-improvement, and to accessing the joy of deep insight into reality.

An amazingly succinct and accessible answer to the question “What is enlightenment?”—from one of America's most prominent teachers of Insight Meditation Former Buddhist monk and highly regarded Insight Meditation teacher Rodney Smith describes the process of enlightenment in a way anyone can understand—demonstrating in clear language why we operate with the illusion of separation, how we can move out of it to the realization of emptiness and no-self, and how we can live from that state of awakening. He provides brief, powerful exercises that enable us to challenge the reality of our thoughts in order to free ourselves from the illusion they keep us bound to—all the while steering us away from the temptation to regard spiritual practice as a process of self-improvement or a goal to be obtained. “With systematic precision, and with subtle wisdom born of a lifetime of practice, Rodney Smith uses science, psychology, and traditional Buddhism to explain the unexplainable: the how and why of authentic spiritual awakening . . . an original work by a contemporary spiritual master at the height of his powers.” —Norman Fischer, author of Training in Compassion