The Certified Dharma Practitioner: A Fifty-Two-Week Comparative Course in the Contemplative Traditions (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798185251089)

There is no shortage of books on Hindu and Buddhist thought. What has been missing is a single, serious, self-guided course - comparative rather than sectarian, precise rather than watered down, built so that a year of steady attention adds up to something lasting.

The Certified Dharma Practitioner is that course. Across twelve monthly modules it sets Hindu dharma beside Buddhist dhamma, the one Self of Advaita beside the teaching of no-self, the world as maya beside the world as divine play. It refuses to dissolve those differences into a comfortable haze of oneness. You are trusted to sit with real disagreements, named plainly, rather than have them resolved for you.

Every week brings cited passages from the primary texts (the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, the Upanishads, the great Mahayana sutras) in fresh renderings, each followed by questions for reflection and a contemplative practice with room to write.

• Twelve modules of four lessons each, with four integration weeks at the quarter turns
• Primary sources in fresh translation, each with commentary
• "Where the traditions diverge" the honest differences most introductions smooth over
• Weekly reflection prompts and guided practice, with journaling space throughout
• A complete master glossary, annotated bibliography, and index

No teacher down the hall. No enrollment. No group to keep pace with. Only the book, something to write with, and a year to let it change you.

About the author: Zachary A. Perlman has spent more than two decades in the comparative study of the world's contemplative traditions, trained in the Vedanta lineage of Swami Vivekananda and in the Tibetan traditions of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. He directed the interfaith initiatives like Monks Without Borders and founded Moksha Sangha, a contemplative order for those who want real depth without a single sectarian home.