Everyday Buddhism

Book title: What’s in your backpack?

Author: Franz Metcalf

ISBN10 1-56975-321-0

ISBN13 978-1-56975-321-7

Publication: Ulysses Press

When mind is original, the world is original,
Neither form nor openness.
As for form, - pay no attention to it.
As for openness – don’t hang on to it.
You’re not a saint
Or a sage,
Jus an everyday person,
Doing everything things.

Layman Pang

You know the saying ‘Been there, done that.’ But when it comes to situations of conflict or confusion, we’re more likely to look back and wonder, ‘Been there, why’d I do that?’ The aim of this central part of the book is to show how Buddhist ideas can guide you from ‘why’d I do that?’ to ‘did the right thing.’ My conversations with teens revealed a whole range of situations where Buddhism can help. They fall naturally into a few basic categories: Homelife, Your Body, School Issues, The Opposite Sex and You, finding Yourself, and Big Questions.

Real-life situations don’t always fall neatly into one category. In fact, life is pretty insistent on throwing everything together at once. Not to worry. Principles and practices that work in one simple situation will work in other, more complex ones. Buddhism is a surprisingly simple way of life. Unless you get into its amazingly complicated philosophy, Buddhist wisdom comes down to a handful of really practical ideas and techniques that we can learn to use everyday.

This book is available for sale in
Buddhist Philosophy Bookshop, Hong Kong.