The true nature of our minds is enlightened and peaceful, as the depth of the ocean is calm and clear. But when we mentally grasp and emotionally cling to our wants and worries with all our energy, we lose our own enlightened freedom and healing power, only to gain stress and exhaustion, suffering and overexcitement, like the turbulent waves rolling on the surface of the ocean.

Our minds possess the power to heal pain and stress, and to blossom into peace and joy, by loosening the clinging attitudes that Buddhists call "grasping at self." If we apply the mind's healing power, we can heal not only our mental and emotional afflictions, but physical problems also.

This book is an invitation to awaken the healing power of mind through inspiring images and sounds, mindful movements, positive perceptions, soothing feelings, trusting confidence, and the realization of openness. The healing principle on which these exercises are based is the universal nature and omnipresent power envisioned in Mahayana Buddhism. Yet for healing, we don't have to be believers in any particular faith. We can heal body and mind simply by being what we truly are, and by allowing our own natural healing qualities to manifest: a peaceful and open mind, a loving and positive attitude, and warm, joyful energy in a state of balance and harmony.
The Healing Power of Mind: Simple Meditation Exercises for Health, Well-Being, and Enlightenment; Tulku Thondup; Shambhala Publications; Paperback; 207 pages; $19.95

Tulku Thondup, author and teacher, was born in East Tibet and studied at the famed Dodrupchen Monastery. In 1958 he settled in India, where he taught at Indian universties for many years. He came to the United States in 1980 as a visiting scholar at Harvard University. For the past two decades he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, engaging in translation and writing on Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the Nyingma teachings, under the auspices of the Buddhayana Foundation. Among his books are The Healing Power of Mind, which has been published in seventeen languages, and Boundless Healing, in twelve languages.

CONTENTS: The Healing Power of the Mind
Foreword by Daniel Goleman			xi
Acknowledgments			xiii
Introduction			1
Part One: THE HEALING PATH
1	FOUNDATIONS OF HEALING		11
The Benefits of Healing			12
Anyone Can Benefit			13
Meditation, Mind, and Body			14
Tibetan Medicine's Approach to Spiritual Healing			16
Why We Are Suffering			17
We Are All Buddha			19
The Path of Healing			22
2	THE HEALING POWER OF MIND		23
Mind Is the Main Factor			25
How to Live in the World			26
What Is Important for Human Life?
Setting Out on the Healing Path			32
3	GETTING STARTED		36
Choosing a Place			36
Choosing a Time			38
Posture			39
Relaxation			40
Creating Mental Space			40
Breathing			43
Visualization			44
Concentration			45
Opening			47
Merging in Oneness			47
Mindfulness			48
Enlightened Attitude			50
4	DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE		52
Looking at Your Progress			54
Magnifying Even Simple Progress			55
Pure Perception			56
Consistence and Endeavor			61
Balance			63
Feeling			66
Seeing or Feeling with Your Whole Body and Mind			66
The Power of Secrecy			67
Knowing Our Strengths and Weaknesses			67
5	HOW TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS		69
Avoidance			69
Recognition and Acceptance			70
Finding the Source			72
Releasing Problems through Feeling			73
Facing Problems Calmly			75
Seeing Problems as Positive			75
Seeing the Openness of Your Problems			80
Dealing with Fear			81
Releasing Strong Fears			83
6	HOW TO DEAL WITH PHYSICAL AILMENTS		85
7	HEALING ENERGIES		93
The Source of Power			93
Light as the Means of Healing			95
Visualizing Light			97
Awakening Healing Energy			98
Healing Light and Energy in Daily Life			100
Part Two: THE HEALING EXERCISES
8	HEALING MEDITATIONS		105
Introduction			105
Clearing Energy Blocks			108
	1.	Releasing the Shackles of Tension	108
	2.	Restoring the Energy of Peace and Joy	109
	3.	Nursing the Flower of Positive Energy	110
Healing Our Emotions			110
	1.	Letting Go of the Dark Cloud of Sadness	110
	2.	Illuminating the Darkness of Sadness	111
	3.	Drying the Tears of Sorrow	112
	4.	Clearing the Mirage of Fear	113
	5.	Clearing the Underbrush of Worries	114
	6.	Breaking the Self-Protective Shell of Sensitivity	114
	7.	Pacifying the Self-Criticizing Attitude	115
	8.	Focusing Scattered Mind	116
	9.	Grounding Floating Energies	116
	10.	Soothing Negative Memories	117
	11.	Cutting the Bonds of Unpleasant Relationships	117
	12.	Relating to Others in the Light of Healing and Love	118
	13.	Purifying Wrathful Dreams	119
	14.	Soothing Neurotic Symptoms	119
	15.	Extinguishing the Flame of Emotional Afflictions	121
	16.	Purifying Desires and Emotional Poisons	121
	17.	Releasing Troubles with Your Breathing	122
Healing through Sound			123
	1.	Soothing through the Sound of Openness	123
	2.	Healing through Blessed Sound	125
	3.	Purifying Our Emotions Silently	126
9	HEALING PHYSICAL DISHARMONY		128
Light That Heals Physical Ailments			129
Water That Heals Physical Ailments			131
Fire, Air, and Earth for Healing			132
Healing with the Help of Others			132
Healing Awareness of Physical and Energy Movements			136
10	HEALING WITH NATURE'S ENERGY		139
Earth			140
Water			141
Fire			141
Air			142
Space			143
Trees			143
11	DAILY LIVING AS HEALING		145
Awakening			147
Receiving Blessings			148
Washing and Cleaning			148
Breathing			149
Drinking and Eating			149
Walking			150
Sitting and Standing			151
Working			151
Looking			152
Talking			153
Sleep			153
Dreams as a Means to Awakening			154
A Simple Practice			155
Three Important Points to Focus On			156
Part Three: BUDDHIST MEDITATIONS: THE PATH TO OPENNESS
12	THE MEDITATIONS OF TRANQUILITY AND INSIGHT		159
Tranquility Meditation			161
Insight Meditation			162
13	THE HEALING MEDITATION OF DEVOTION		165
Invoking the Majestic Image of Padmasambhava			168
Calling upon the Strength and Compassion of Padmasambhava			170
Meditating in Openness
14	AWAKENING THE INFINITE INNER ENERGIES OF HEALING		174
15	THE HEALING MEDITATION OF COMPASSION		178
Invoking the Buddha of Compassion to Open Our Hearts			182
Appendix: Scriptural Sources for this Book			187
Glossary			197
Bibliography: Works Cited with Key to Abbreviations			203