Ji Hyang Padma believes that we are hungry for a direct experience of the sacred in this culture. We try to fill the void with technology, and its 'quick fix' of images and information. This leaves us hungry for true connectivity. We don't need more information. We need more appreciation. Gratitude opens the heart, and gives our life meaning; it becomes a form of spiritual experience that gives us strength. Field of Blessings explores how meaning-making can be approached by deep examination of the stories of our lives, which bridge the gap between the inner world and the outer world, giving shape to our experience. How can these narratives be spoken, written, or embodied? Ritual is the story brought-to-life, and a powerful vehicle for spiritual transformation, for reconnecting people with an embodied wholeness. Ji Hyang Padma shows that Chod, Medicine Buddha practices, and other Tibetan rituals are used by healers to evoke sacred energies, radical empathy, and to contact deep archetypal realms of the psyche.
Field of Blessings: Ritual & Consciousness in the Work of Buddhist Healers, Ji Hyang Padma, Mantra Books, Paperback, 216 pp, $18.95

Ji Hyang Padma holds a doctorate in psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology/Sofia University. Her dissertation research focused on consciousness and healing, through the lens of traditional Buddhist healing practices. She currently serves as Director of the Comparative Religion & Philosophy Program at the California Institute for Human Science. She has also taught Zen at Wellesley College, Harvard University and Omega Institute. She lives in Encinitas, CA.

CONTENTS: Field of Blessings
PART II: BUDDHIST HEALING		1
Chapter 1: Introduction		3
Chapter 2: Buddhist Healing--A History		7
	Early Historical References. Paticca Samupadda: Interdependence. Early Buddhist Healing Practices. Mahayana Developments: Emptiness and Skillful Means. Mahayana Healing Narratives. Mahayana Healing Practices and the Perceptual States of the Trikaya--Ultimate and Relative Healing. Dharmakaya: Ultimate Healing. Nirmanakaya: Physical Healing. Sambhogakaya: Healing through the Subtle Body. Contemporary Approaches. Conclusion
Chapter 3: Introduction to Buddhist Ritual		43
	The Need for Ritual. Buddhist Definitions of Ritual. Cultural Narratives of Ritual. Buddhist Symbolic Language. Linguistic Differences. Characteristics of Healing Rituals.
Chapter 4: Embodied Wholeness--Healers' Stories		49
Chapter 5: Foundational Healing Rituals		55
	Setting Intention. Mindfulness. Creating Space. Mantra Practice. Returning the Mind to the Heart. Medicine Buddha Puja. Therapeutic Attunement. Evoking Sacred Power. Vajrasattva. Chod Practice. Bon Soul Retrieval. Changing Awareness. Reconnection with Relationships. Healing Rituals: Summary. Rituals and the Lens of Anthropology.
Chapter 6: The Five Elements in Healing (Lama Jinpa)		89
	Resting the Mind within the Heart. The Five Elements: A New Paradigm in Energy Healing. Introduction. The Breadth of the Five Element Concepts. The Five Buddha Families (rig nga). Mandala Iconography. Empowerment. Yidam Practice. The Four Activities. Long Life Rituals. Dakini: Female Wisdom Beings. Healing Rituals. Shangpa Style. Land Healing. Offerings. Directional Offerings. Demonic Entities. An Integrative Approach. The Cross-Cultural Matrix. The Tattvas. The Greco-European Line. Ayurveda. Homeopathy. But What Are Elements? Elemental Biology and Psychology. A Brief Elemental Primer. Working with the Elements. Physical Healing: Elements and Subelements. Healing Others. Psychological Healing. Conclusion: A Modern Take.
Chapter 7: Healing Rituals for Our Modern World		105
	Space-Creating Rituals. Rituals for Returning the Mind to the Heart. Rituals for Therapeutic Attunement. Rituals for Purification. Healing Rituals. Memorial Rituals.
Chapter 8: The Clients' Work, and Clients' Experiences		111
PART II: HEALERS' STORIES IN RELATION TO THEIR WORK		115
Chapter 9: Healer's Vision (Lama Jinpa)		117
Chapter 10: Buddhist Medicine, American Culture		121
	Healer's Cultural Adaptations to Diverse Client Communities
PART III: MAKING THE CONNECTIONS: CONSCIOUSNESS AND HEALING		125
Chapter 11: How Does It Work? Paticca Samupadda		127
	Tendrel. Logic. Subtle Energies. Karma. The Field of Blessing (Venerable Thubten)
Chapter 12: The Healer's Body as Initiation		135
	Spiritual Crisis as Healer's Initiation (Lama Jinpa)
Chapter 13: Paticca Samupadda and the New Neuroscience		139
	Interpersonal Neuropsychological Research and the Element of Space. Space. Meditation, Healing, and Healthy Attachment. Introduction to Attachment Theory. Interpersonal Neuropsychology. Integration. Empathy. Attachment Styles. Restoration of Healthy Attachment. Meditation and Physical Healing. Tibetan Tantric Buddhist Rituals: Integration of Primal Energy. Tibetan Buddhist Healing and Subtle Energy: Bioenergetic Research. Core Components of the Healing Process across Cultures.
Chapter 14: Looking Ahead: Creating Cultures of Healing		163
	Intention. Seeing the Connections. Healing across Cultures. Mind-Body Medicine and the Bioenergetic Field. Interpreting Chod: Practice and Research at a Cultural Crossroads. Transformation of the Author. Buddhist Traditional Healing Praxis: Theoretical and Practical Applications.
Endnotes		175
Acknowledgements		178
Permissions		180
References		181
Glossary of Terms		191
	Buddhist Terms. Neurobiology Terms