Have you ever wondered how you can make decisions every day that make for the most meaningful life for you? That was the main reason Lama Tsomo "bothered" with meditation in the first place. Indeed she and millions of others have found it to help in that very way, and much more.

In this book, the first in the series Ancient Wisdom for Our Times: Tibetan Buddhist Practice, she shares a bit of her story and her teacher's story, and a brief overview of the life of the Buddha.

Previously published as part of the award-winning Why Is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling (2016), Lama Tsomo offers background so that you can understand some Tibetan Buddhist basics, essential context for the rest of the series. In future books she takes you on the journey of the real practices just as they were taught to her by her Tibetan teacher--but presented Westerner to Westerner, in a witty and conversational style. This progression builds and deepens your understanding and your happiness.

You could decide to meditate and just watch your breath every day, and not read this book and the series. But that would be like getting a cookbook and maybe even leafing through the pages but never making it into the kitchen, never learning how to make those recipes and nourish yourself. This book gives you the context, and the series gives you the understanding of how to use the practices so that you can gain the full benefit, as Buddhists say, for yourself and others.
Why Bother?: An Introduction (Ancient Wisdom for Our Times Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series), Lama Tsomo, Namchak Publishing, Paperback, 160 pp, $14.95

Lama Tsomo is an American lama, author, and co-founder of the Namchak Foundation and Namchak Retreat Ranch. Born Linda Pritzker, Lama Tsomo followed a path of spiritual inquiry and study that ultimately led to her ordination as one of the few American lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, under the tutelage of Tulku Sangak Rinpoche, international holder of the Namchak lineage. Today, she is dedicated to sharing the teachings of the Namchak lineage with Western students. She is especially passionate about reaching young people and supporting those working for positive social change. Lama Tsomo holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Jungian studies. She is the author of The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity.

While she mainly resides just outside Missoula, Montana, Lama Tsomo also spends time in New York City and the East Bay area of California.

CONTENTS: Why Bother?: An Introduction
		Homage	ix
		Foreword: His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV	xiii
		Foreword: Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Ling	xv
WHO IS LAMA TSOMO?			xvii
PROLOGUE			xix
INTRODUCTION			1
	Using This Book		3
	Are You as Happy as You Want to Be?		6
WHY I BOTHERED			11
	The Early Years: Even Then, I was on a Path		11
	No Longer a Child, Not Yet a Buddhist		19
	I Meet the Buddha on the Path		22
	My Root Lama: Tulku Sangak Rinpoche		23
WHY TULKU SANGAK RINPOCHE BOTHERED			45
	Background		45
	In Prison, but Not Imprisoned		49
	Coming to America		53
	Science Tidbit: Prayer Changing Water		56
WHY THE BUDDHA BOTHERED			61
	From Prince to Buddha		61
	Some of What the Buddha Saw		69
	The Two Truths		75
	Tibetan Use of Imagery--Bringing It All onto the Path		76
WHAT'S SAMSARA, AND HOW DID WE GET HERE, ANYWAY?			79
	The Slippery Slope		80
	A Bit More about Karma		86
	How We Stay Stuck		88
THE GOOD NEWS			95
	The Three Kayas		97
	Science Tidbit: A Modern Physics Take--Holomovement		99
	The Five Timeless Awarenesses (Yeshes)		104
	The Five Dhyani Buddhas		106
	The Three Yanas		108
	Science Tidbit		108
CONCLUSION			113
	Appendix A: Glossary		115
		Working Definitions of Buddhist (& Other) Terms	115
	Appendix B: Recommended Reading		119
		For Practice & General Reading	119
		Three Books by Thubten Chodron	120
		Brain Science	120
		On Cosmology	120
		Fun & Inspiring Reading	120
		Websites	121
	Appendix C: Credits & Permissions		122
		Photos & Images	122
		Quotes	122
	Index		123
	Lama Sangak Yeshe Tsomo: Curriculum Vitae		127
	Acknowledgments		131