Ben Connelly

A Soto Zen teacher explores the core teachings of the ancient Flower Garland school of Buddhism through an innovative and engaging narrative showing how to put these teachings into practice. Huayan Buddhism arose in the sixth century in China rooted in the Mahayana Flower Garland Sutra. The teachings of Huayan and the sutra that inspired it had a profound influence on Chan and Zen. Huayan is relational, practical, and positive. Its emphasis on interdependence, celebration of the sensual world, and diversity of people and practices provides inspiration for what Thich Nhat Hanh called "engaged Buddhism". With Inside the Flower Garland Sutra Zen teacher Ben Connelly explains the significance of Huayan teachings for Buddhist practice. Each chapter is a commentary on one of the thirty lines of Uisang's "Song of Dharma Nature"--a seminal Korean text that summarizes key aspects of Huayan thought--thus providing a broad overview of Huayan teachings and their practical implications for contemporary life, with a mix of testimonies from real-life situations and references to influential Buddhist texts. Arising fifteen hundred years ago, Huayan has made a deep impact on East Asian Buddhism, and has much to offer during this era when many folks see ever-deepening divisions. Connelly explores how Huayan offers particular wisdom for those concerned about how to care for their own lives as they work to end harms such as ecological devastation, poverty, militarism, addiction, marginalization, and exploitation.

A plain-English commentary on Vasubandhu's classic Treatise on the Three Natures that shows us an integrative path of personal and social healing and liberation. In this book, Ben Connelly shows the power of integrating early Buddhist psychology with the Mahayana emphasis on collective liberation. You'll discover how wisdom from fourth-century India can be harnessed to heal and transform systems of harm within ourselves and our communities. The three natures (svabhavas)--the imaginary, dependent, and complete, realized natures--are inherent aspects of all phenomena. The imaginary nature of things is what we think they are. Their dependent nature is that they appear to arise from countless conditions. The complete, realized nature is that they aren't as we imagine them to be: things that can be grasped or pushed away. The three natures form the backbone of Yogacara philosophy, and by showing us how to see beyond our preconceived notions of ourselves and others, beyond the things that we're convinced are "true," they open up a path to personal and communal healing. Dive into this empowering approach to freedom from suffering, from harmful personal and social patterns, and to finding peace and joyfulness in the present.

Don't keep asking God for forgiveness. Do judge one another. And you're not going to heaven for all eternity How have we misunderstood the teachings of Jesus? Often His message to the leaders and disciples was: You're getting this wrong Somewhere along the way you got confused, lost, way off track. Would He have the same assessment of us today?In Reading the Bible, Missing the Gospel, pastor and author Ben Connelly shows us how to recover God's original intentions in light of the story of redemption. Connelly helps us celebrate and understand how Jesus' life, death, and resurrection are truly good news for the tangible situations in our everyday lives. Biblical misunderstandings can lead to a small view of God--but truth overturns that. It expands our hearts for God and enables us to truly love others Using theology, humor, and practical examples the author reveals shockingly common ways we get the Bible wrong. Connelly invites Christians to see themes and teachings with new eyes--or, rather, with old eyes--on topics like confession and forgiveness . . . what it means to be blessed or happy . . . whether we're commanded to or prohibited from passing judgement. How does the gospel inform our understanding and answer these questions? Connelly gives readers a new gospel-focused lens that addresses common frustrations and helps them see with renewed hope, clarity, and courage.

What do you do when you find out the train you're on is going the wrong way? If you're Mrs. Picklebottom, you simply jump onto the roof of a train passing in the other direction Nine-year-old Charlotte Connelly (and her dad) invite you into the whimsical world of Mrs. Picklebottom and her fanciful friends -- the loyal Mr. Conductor and the British Lord and Lady Tomatotop -- who inspire imagination and joy in these four delightful short stories. The Adventures of Mrs. Picklebottom combines the values of deep friendship and problem-solving, with quirky characters and fanciful settings - passenger trains and their various stops. Adults and children alike will laugh out loud and turn pages with anticipation, waiting to see how Mrs. Picklebottom gets out of each story's unique predicament.Look for more Mrs. Picklebottom coming soon... Learn more and follow along with Mrs. Picklebottom: picklebottom.net==="I enjoyed these stories so much. They read beautifully aloud which is particularly great It was comforting for me as a kid to have characters you can grow to love and rely on while the circumstances change. I still love that "--Alison Whitehurst, Broadway actress and star of "Beautiful: The Carole King" US Tour"These stories are delightful and I like how they work together... By the time you're done you want to go back and read them again now that you know more about these friends."--Ben & Bethany Fort, director of Four Day Weekend Sketch Comedy Training, & children's librarian

Go beyond mere mindfulness--and deepen your connection to your self, the people in your life, and the world around you. Mindfulness is an ancient and powerful practice of awareness and nonjudgmental discernment that can help us ground ourselves in the present moment, with the world and our lives just as they are. But there's a risk: by focusing our attention on something (or someone), we might always see it as something other, as separate from ourselves. To close up this distance, mindfulness has traditionally been paired with a focus on intimacy, community, and interdependence. In this book, Ben Connelly shows us how to bring these two practices together--bringing warm hearts to our clear seeing. Helpful meditations and exercises show how mindfulness and intimacy can together enrich our empathetic engagement with ourselves and the word around us--with our values, with the environment, and with the people in our lives, in all their distinct manifestations of race and religion, sexuality and gender, culture and class--and lead to a truly engaged, compassionate, and joy-filled life.

"I'm an unbeliever. So are you," We slip in and out of believing God's word about us and trusting in his work on our behalf. We forget who He is, what's He's done and in light of that who we are. Do these statements resonate with you? Then the Gospel Fluency Handbook was written for you. For those who've realized there are areas of life-your normal, everyday, busy life-where you disbelieve God, His goodness and His gospel. And, it's for those who are keenly aware and weighted down by a failure to connect the way gospel truths actually matter to everyday life. The Gospel Fluency Handbook is designed to help you and your group become fluent in the gospel-in other words, to help you move from unbelief to belief. The discussions and exercises in this 8-week interactive handbook provide a step-by-step immersion of your mind, heart, soul, and life in the gospel. Each week follows a simple format: three sets of personal Readings and Reflections, a weekly guide for Group Discussion and Exercises that will lead to becoming a more gospel-fluent people. People who are learning to see and then speak the truths of Jesus into the everyday stuff of life. INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT A *COMPANION VIDEO SERIES*

A practical guide to Vasubandhu's classic work "Thirty Verses of Consciousness Only" that can transform modern life and change how you see the world. In this down-to-earth book, Ben Connelly sure-handedly guides us through the intricacies of Yogacara and the richness of the "Thirty Verses." Dedicating a chapter of the book to each line of the poem, he lets us thoroughly lose ourselves in its depths. His warm and wise voice unpacks and contextualizes its wisdom, showing us how we can apply its ancient insights to our own modern lives, to create a life of engaged peace, harmony, compassion, and joy. In fourth-century India one of the great geniuses of Buddhism, Vasubandhu, sought to reconcile the diverse ideas and forms of Buddhism practiced at the time and demonstrate how they could be effectively integrated into a single system. This was the Yogacara movement, and it continues to have great influence in modern Tibetan and Zen Buddhism. "Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only," or "Trimshika," is the most concise, comprehensive, and accessible work by this revered figure. Vasubandhu's "Thirty Verses" lay out a path of practice that integrates the most powerful of Buddhism's psychological and mystical possibilities: Early Buddhism's practices for shedding afflictive emotional habit and the Mahayana emphasis on shedding divisive concepts, the path of individual liberation and the path of freeing all beings, the path to nirvana and the path of enlightenment as the very ground of being right now. Although Yogacara has a reputation for being extremely complex, the "Thirty Verses" distills the principles of these traditions to their most practical forms, and this book follows that sense of focus; it goes to the heart of the matter--how do we alleviate suffering through shedding our emotional knots and our sense of alienation? This is a great introduction to a philosophy, a master, and a work whose influence reverberates throughout modern Buddhism.