13 Delicious Reads from Kechara Media & Publications

As most of you all know by now, Kechara Media & Publications is the publishing arm of the Kechara Organization.

Kechara Media & Publications is also affectionately known as KMP.

Their mandate is simple – produce Dharma books that everyone can read and understand easily, and it is relevant to their everyday lives.

Buddha’s ancient wisdom is ageless and timeless. When it is adapted well, the mass global audience will be able to find its value and meaning. It may even begin to resonate within each person. Finding relevance is the key to higher understanding. With understanding, we can begin applying these precious teachings into our lives.

Here are some of the popular titles from KMP:-

1 ) If Not Now, When? – Peace Edition

“Stop looking for reasons not to practise. Stop looking for reasons to be unhappy. Where has that gotten you?”

This is a beautiful coffee table book with a collection of quotes extracted from my teachings. I say it is beautiful not because the quotes are from me. It is made beautiful because of the wonderful photographs that my students and friends have so kindly contributed to this book.

I had always wanted to publish a coffee table with just quotes because I would like the words to speak for themselves, to each reader – without getting too caught up and concerned with it being Buddhist.

Sometimes we have to package teachings in a way that does not deter people away or give them room for discrimination. These quotations are meant to transcend all boundaries of religion, culture, race and age. So, I hope that many will find this book visually pleasing and the words helpful. One does not have to be a Buddhist to appreciate words of wisdom, accompanied by lovely photographs.

2 ) Peace: A Compilation of Short Teachings

“The key to happiness is taking our strongest affliction, working on it and chipping away at it over time.”

These are compilations of short teachings that I have given to my students over the years – be it through the text messages or Dharma talks. It is my hope that this book will be able to help many people find happiness in their lives and overcome the challenges that they face.

It is not going to happen overnight, but when we do not give up, over time, we will win. And we do owe it to ourselves to win.

“Everyone has the right to be happy. Everyone.”

Peace begins with ourselves. With inner peace, outer peace is definitely achievable. Then we can create this sense of peace with everyone we meet, at every moment of our lives in everything that we do. It is with peace that happiness will arise.

In this book, we explore the beginnings of peace from within and trace it all the way to transforming this peace within to all around us. As we develop this inner and outer peace, not only our lives will change for the better, but those around us will also receive the benefits from this transforming peace.

3 ) Gurus for Hire, Enlightenment for Sale

“The Guru never teaches in a way that he expects things back from us. Our Gurus give out of compassion, with the motivation that we may be free.”

This book is a result of a three-day “marathon” teaching that I gave years ago.

I decided to share many insights as there were a lot of confusion about what is expected of a Guru, Dharma Center, etc. Different people have different definitions for such things, not to mention expectations.

Yes, there are many taboo subjects which I discussed in this book as I felt it was important for these matters to be brought into the light. Without bringing some of these subjects out into the open, many people may continue to hold onto their own wrong views.

I sincerely hope that this book truly promotes greater understanding, harmony and unity within a Dharma center as well as among all religious/spiritual organizations.

4 ) Compassion Conquers All

“If we practise these eight verses alone, we can gain enlightenment.”

Yes, that is precisely what I said and wrote in this book.

Compassion Conquers All is a special book dedicated to the “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation” written by an elite Lama, Geshe Langri Tangpa.

In this book, I gave detailed explanations and teachings on how practising these precious eight verses can help us achieve the ultimate state of happiness, enlightenment.

All of us are stuck in samsara because of our own karma. And until we get out of samsara completely, we will continue to suffer in various ways. Some more than others. Also, we will return life after life to suffer all over again. To end suffering, we must realise our own samsara and cut it.

“The very life we are living, with all its difficulties, failures and frustrations, can be the road to liberation. The world can be our school of transformation.”

5 ) Setrap The Protector: Secrets Revealed of a 1,000 year old Practice

“The main role of Dharma Protectors is to remove obstacles for practitioners aspiring to follow the Buddhist path of practising Dharma, which are the teachings of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, also known as ‘Right View’.”

Most people are more familiar with the peaceful images of the Buddha, and would be very startled to find wrathful representations of the Buddha. Thus, I wanted to publish an informative book on Lord Setrap so that many would come to understand what Dharma Protector is all about and why we would need them.

This is a complete box set. It includes a tsa tsa, prayer book and a book on Lord Setrap’s story.

In Tibetan Buddhism, we do value our Dharma Protectors a great deal. Due to our bad karma, accumulated from the beginning of time, we need a strong and powerful Dharma Protector to help us.

In short, we need all the help we can get in order to truly advance in our practice.

May everyone’s Dharma practice grow and continue to flourish. I pray that everyone’s obstacles be removed swiftly and completely.

6 ) Nothing Changes, Everything Changes

Everything changes within us when we change the way we look at life and people. Yet, externally, it may seem like nothing has changed. All the great shifts and leaps have taken place inside of us. That is what transformation is all about.

This book is actually a collection of teachings I gave to my students and friends.

Once our perception has changed, we will find that our world begins to expand. It is no longer limited by our pettiness, our selfish desires and expectations. It no longer operates from our self-centered point of view but from a real sincere concern for the people around us. Hence, our attitude towards life and people will also change BIG TIME.

“How we look at things changes everything around us.”

Here, the change does not come from doing more prayers, meditation or from reading more. It comes from putting effort into changing the way we look at things. However, at the same time, the essence and the beauty of it all do not change. Hence, nothing changes in that sense. Nothing at all.

7 ) Faces of Enlightenment

“Buddhas can’t take us completely out of our suffering and guide us by the hand to enlightenment; we can only do that for ourselves in our own practice. But opening our hearts and minds to the blessings of the Buddhas and letting them into our lives takes us up a step and does make the journey a whole lot easier.”

Many people often misunderstand that Buddhists are merely praying blindly to idols when they see us making offerings and prayers infront of our holy images or at our altars.

A Buddha statue holds an entire teaching within its form because of the symbolism that has been embedded into each expression, icon or gesture of the statue. And yes, there are different types of statues portraying the different meanings and teachings of the Buddha.

This is the reason why I published this book on the various iconography of the Buddha statues so that people may learn and understand.

It is vital to know that each holy image carries different meanings and qualities of the Buddha. They teach us different things and when we pray to these holy sacred images, we are praying for the blessings and divine qualities of the Buddhas.

Please do read this simple and easy to understand book so that you gain real knowledge and deepen your understanding about what we are praying to and for.

8 ) Why I Make Myself Unhappy?

“All experiences we have fade into a dream but the activities we do during those experiences do not fade….”

This book captures one teaching that I gave many years ago. It deals with how we allow our expectations and conditioning to assign blame or responsibility to others. Especially so, when things go wrong.

That is why the title is aptly named as such – we make ourselves unhappy. So, why do we continue to do that? Not only will we be unhappy, we will be the cause of others’ sadness and even, suffering.

This is short teaching about taking responsibility for our lives, for our very own happiness. In the process, we might even become the cause for others’ happiness. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

9 ) The Illustrated Life Story of Lama Tsongkhapa: A Graphic Novel

It has been a long dream of mine to publish a Lama Tsongkhapa comic book. Sometimes in our today’s hectic lives, it is hard to read and comprehend a Dharma text. Most of them are long and very deep. This offers a light-hearted version of Dharma as we document the life of  an extraordinary Great Master.

Lord Tsongkhapa is not just any great Master. He is the very Master who built Gaden and founded the Gelugpa School of Buddhism.

This comic book re-tells his life-story and his journey.

It is the very first of its kind – an illustrated biography of Lama Tsongkhapa’s lives and teachings. Even the kids can read it on their own or with their parents. This is definitely a book that the whole family can enjoy together.

” Discover the miracles, explore the enlightened adventures of this renowned Buddhist master and be inspired to start your own journey to Enlightenment.”

10 ) Pocket Prayers: A Concise Compilation of Prayers

It is not easy to carry all our prayer books everywhere we go. Some of them are really very thick. Such as our beautiful prayer book cum file, Essence of Bliss. However, to carry around the Essence of Bliss may not be as convenient as carrying a small and compact prayer book.

When I had KMP create a smaller prayer book, I had created it with hope that it would allow people the ease and convenience of having their main prayers with them all the time.

So, this small pocket prayer is perfect for those on the go, very mobile individuals. With this pocket prayer book, one can do their prayers anywhere and at anytime that is convenient to him/her.

I truly thank KMP and those who sponsored this pocket prayer book to be published as they helped make Buddhism’s sacred prayers easily transportable for everyone. Now, no one needs to leave home without them.

11 ) Vajrayogini and Other Sacred Power Places in Nepal

“…sacred ‘power places’ are imbued with the blessed energy of the many enlightened Beings that have resided, practised and benefited countless other beings there.”

That is the brief description I gave on spiritual places in the book. These sacred holy sites have existed since ancient times. Hence, imagine the countless blessings each place exudes and holds.

This is the second coffee table book from KMP.

I felt that it would be good to capture beautiful holy sites of Varjayogini and other scared sites in Nepal so that people can start making a connection with these powerful places. Especially, with the Supreme Queen Vajrayogini.

Some of the sacred places in this book have never been photographed before as these holy sites belong to private families. They are the family’s private chapels. Hence, we do have the great honour of being the first to be able to capture these images. Please do enjoy every single picture. It has been brought to your eyes with love and kindness.

12 ) There’s No Way But Up

This is David’s second book. David also wrote the Vajrayogini coffee table book.

Unlike the coffee tabe book, David had to bare all for this one. This is his personal spiritual journey. His writing style is unique and honest. This is what I like about David. He tells his story as it is. No holds barred, no un-neccessary embellishments.

“David, everybody’s favourite boy next door, was born in suburban Petaling Jaya, Malaysia where he also grew up before going to Australia for his higher education. David’s life traversed a fantastic map that laid out everything just as it should be: wonderful parents, a great education, sound job offers and a buzzing social life. Still, he  wandered his way through the first few years of his working life, hopping from one job to another without realising his full potential. It seemed that no matter how good things seemed to be going on the outside, he still wasn’t happy enough.”

Well, as the famous saying goes – everything changed for David after he met me. And for the rest of the story, you just have to read it for yourself. Yes, please buy the book. Hehe

13 ) Call Me Paris

“I settled down onto a cushion and waited for something to happen: my job interview perhaps, or some serious discussion about the boring philosophies of Buddha, or a brainwashing hypnosis that would turn me into a Buddhist when I woke up.

Then, as always, when you least expected it, everything happened.”

There is no one like Paris – less popularly known as Jamie Khoo. Hehe.

Then again, there is no two people who are alike in real life. Therefore, everyone’s spiritual journey is unique and very personal.

This is all about Paris – from how she met me to the moment she began to commit herself to Dharma. This book is filled with her own brand of witty humour and reflections. Many people find it most easy to relate to as it mirrors a lot of people’s attitude towards spirituality.

Paris is a delightful addition and asset to KMP. She is another living testament that everyone can be yourself in spirituality. We do not lose ourselves at all. In fact, we gain everything and our true self as a result of it.

IN CLOSING

I sincerely hope you will find all these books just as delicious to read as I have. It is a pleasure to share them with all of you here.

Where there is no Dharma, let there be the Dharma.

Where there is Dharma, let it become stronger.

Where there is misunderstanding of Dharma, may we take the responsibility to make it clear.