Why do things happen the way they do in our lives? How do we create the causes for a happy life? The Buddhist practice of mind training gives us the answer to these questions: it involves overcoming our self-centered attitude and replacing it with an attitude that cherishes others. This, in turn, leads us to act in ways that naturally lead away from suffering and toward happiness--in short, to create good karma. Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great Tibetan Buddhist poems, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, which shows, clearly and practically, how to eliminate the causes of anxiety, fear, and depression and to create the causes of joyful liberation for oneself and all others.

Good Karma : How to Create Causes of Happiness and Avoid the Causes of Suffering , Thubten Chodron, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 253 pages, $16.95

Venerable Thubten Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the US. She graduated from UCLA, and did graduate work in education at USC. Ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977, she has studied extensively with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. Ven. Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her practical (and humorous!) explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She is also involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, and has co-authored a book with His Holiness the Dalai Lama�Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions. Visit thubtenchodron.org for a media library of her teachings, and sravasti.org to learn more about the Abbey. Thubten Chodron featured in Tricycle: �Tibetan Buddhist Nun Blazes Trail for Others to Follow.�

Contents: Good Karma: How to Create the Causes of Happiness and Avoid the Causes of Suffering
Preface	ix
1. Sick as a Dog: Generating Our Motivation	1
2. The World We Swim In: The Buddhist Worldview	7
3. Brave Peacocks and Cowardly Crows: Assessing Our Worldview	23
4. The Wheel of Destructive Karma: Understanding and Transforming Difficulties	43
5. Woe Is Me: Dealing with Sickness, Laziness, and Distraction	69
6. Don't Create Problems for Yourself: Overcoming Spiritual Obstacles	83
7. Seize the Enemy: Identifying Self-Grasping Ignorance and the Self-Centered Attitude	111
8. Dance and Trample: Overcoming the Internal Enemies	119
9. Integrity and Responsibility: Banishing - Self-Centeredness	143
10. Pain in the Neck: Overcoming Attachment to Praise and Reputation	165
11. Safe at Last: Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels and Cultivating Strong Resolve	185
12. Compassionate Action: Becoming the Person We Want to Be	197
13. Growing Our Wisdom: Emptiness and Dependent Arising	217
14. Colophon and Conclusion: Expressing Our Gratitude	251
Recommended Reading	255