informative, thorough, eye-openingAugust 15, 2008 I purchased this book because I was interested in learning about the concept of mindfulness. I wasn't exactly looking to develop a serious meditation habit, but during my reading of the book I began to embrace the idea. I read the book and wanted to re-read it fairly soon after finishing, but I loaned it out to someone. I'm eager to get it back and read it again, but I've told someone else they can borrow it! I may have to buy another copy. The book is well-laid-out, covers the subject matter very well, and opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. I'm trying to become a more regular meditator; currently I do it in ten-minute increments a couple of times a week at minimum, but I'm hoping to build from there. Also: I'm currently reading the "sequel" to this book, called "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path." I'm only in the beginning but I'm finding it on par with "Mindfulness in Plain English" -- informative and eye-opening, and teaching me things that I feel can impact my everyday thinking (and hopefully result in an overall healthier mind).
I LOVE THIS BOOKAugust 2, 2008 THIS BOOK ENGAGES THE READER. THERE IS ALSO HUMOR IN THE PART ON MEDITATION AND THE INTERFERENCES THAT COME DURING YOUR ATTEMPTS TO MEDITATE THAT MAKE THE BOOK EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE.
A need to own book.June 1, 2008 This Book is another must have. It is (in plain english) a insight meditation manual to help the beginner learn and the experienced meditator to review. There is real world advice and explainations that will greatly help you understand how to learn meditation. Though no book can replace a caring and experienced teacher this book can certainly improve your understanding. Also the Book Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness and The Four Foundations of Mindfullness go hand in hand with this one and I reccomend getting all there in order to have a much wider view of the practice. I am truly thankful to Bhante Henepola Gunaratana for writing such a life changing book.
Very good and very simple!May 20, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been practicing Vipassana meditation for about 10 years. During this period of time, I read a lot of books and went to a reasonable number of retreats. But I was still missing 'the small picture'. Really. OK, now we are going to get enlightened and all but what do I do during my daily meditation? Concentrate on the breath and that's it? C'mon!
This book takes a very pragmatic approach to meditation. It explains every little detail that you need to know when you sit on the meditation mat. And gives you very good understanding of how concentration and insight work together to get you going in the daily practice.
But to me, this book gave me much more than that. Probably like every practitioner, I've been frustrated by the fact that most of my time on the mat is spent bringing my attention back to the breath from God knows where it was before. But Bhante explains to us that this is exercising your mindfulness! It is the mindfulness that realized you were in the weeds and it is the same mindfulness that brought you back! This gave me a huge motivation to keep practicing at a time when I felt like I was going nowhere.
Then, there are lots of other gems:
- The most important moment of your meditation is when you get up off the mat after you are done meditating.
-Don't bother with the path. Meditation will find its own path.
To summarize, this is the best meditation book I ever read!
Enjoy!
The gold standardMarch 10, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you had to choose just one book to read on how to (and why for that matter) practice mindfulness meditation, this would be the one. Certainly read others, but start with and keep coming back to this book.
