Lama Surya Das author of the bestselling Awakening the Buddha Within is the most highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition. In this elegant inspiring book he integrates essential Buddhist practices with a variety of other spiritual philosophies and wisdom traditions to show you how to create a personalized spiritual practice based on your own individual beliefs aspirations and needs. Through reflections on his own life quest thoughtful essays and entertaining stories Surya Das examines the common themes at the heart of any spiritual path including faith doubt love compassion creativity self-inquiry and transformation. He then explores prayer yoga chanting guided meditations breathing exercises and myriad other rituals providing practical examples of each that we can use day-to-day to nurture our inner spirit.