Download or read book The Birth of Insight written by Erik Braun and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-11-19 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insight meditation, which claims to offer practitioners a chance to escape all suffering by perceiving the true nature of reality, is one of the most popular forms of meditation today. The Theravada Buddhist cultures of South and Southeast Asia often see it as the Buddha’s most important gift to humanity. In the first book to examine how this practice came to play such a dominant—and relatively recent—role in Buddhism, Erik Braun takes readers to Burma, revealing that Burmese Buddhists in the colonial period were pioneers in making insight meditation indispensable to modern Buddhism. Braun focuses on the Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw, a pivotal architect of modern insight meditation, and explores Ledi’s popularization of the study of crucial Buddhist philosophical texts in the early twentieth century. By promoting the study of such abstruse texts, Braun shows, Ledi was able to standardize and simplify meditation methods and make them widely accessible—in part to protect Buddhism in Burma after the British takeover in 1885. Braun also addresses the question of what really constitutes the “modern” in colonial and postcolonial forms of Buddhism, arguing that the emergence of this type of meditation was caused by precolonial factors in Burmese culture as well as the disruptive forces of the colonial era. Offering a readable narrative of the life and legacy of one of modern Buddhism’s most important figures, The Birth of Insight provides an original account of the development of mass meditation.

Download or read book Beyond the Breath written by Marshall Glickman and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2002-11-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beyond the Breath is one of the first books to give a complete overview and description of sensation based vipassana meditation, the form of mediation thought of as the original method of meditation as used by the Buddha 2,500 years ago. This form of meditation, brought to the West by S.N. Geoneka, provides a means to experience emotions directly and nonverbally--accessing the mind through the body. One of the main principles of this school of meditation is that meditation alone is not sufficient practice, but that it must be combined with a whole-life and ethical commitment. M.Glickman's approach is unique--he takes a mediation practice deeply rooted within a historic Buddhist framework, and gives it a modern-day, scientific spin--he presents sensation based viapassana meditaiton and Buddhist principles in 20th-century language, secularizing ideas that may sound exotic, off-putting, or out-dated. Glickman's passion for the topic, as well as his great understanding of Buddhist concepts, make this an inspiring read.

Download or read book MINDFULNESS IN PLAIN ENGLISH written by Gunaratana and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Radical Acceptance written by Tara Brach and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our current times of global crises and spiking collective anxiety, Tara Brach’s transformative practice of Radical Acceptance offers a pathway to inner freedom and a more compassionate world. This classic work now features an insightful new introduction, an exclusive bonus chapter, and additional guided meditations. “Radical Acceptance offers us an invitation to embrace ourselves with all our pain, fear, and anxieties, and to step lightly yet firmly on the path of understanding and compassion.”—Thich Nhat Hanh “Believing that something is wrong with us is a deep and tenacious suffering,” says Tara Brach at the start of this illuminating book. This suffering emerges in crippling self-judgments and conflicts in our relationships, in addictions and perfectionism, in loneliness and overwork—all the forces that keep our lives constricted and unfulfilled. Radical Acceptance offers a path to freedom, including the day-to-day practical guidance developed over Dr. Brach’s forty years of work with therapy clients and Buddhist students. Writing with great warmth and clarity, Tara Brach brings her teachings alive through personal stories and case histories, fresh interpretations of Buddhist tales, and guided meditations. Step by step, she shows us how we can stop being at war with ourselves and begin to live fully every precious moment of our lives.

Download or read book Mindfulness and Insight written by Mahasi Sayadaw and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clear, simple meditation method on practicing mindfulness for insight, which takes us to our goal of liberation, the end of all suffering. Discarding any striving or ambition to attain something, the refined guidance that Mahasi Sayadaw provides in this book will lead practitioners to systematically and gradually purify their minds of attachment, aversion, and delusion and to realize the successive stages of enlightenment, culminating in the attainment of enlightenment (nibbana). Mindfulness and Insight is an excerpt of two key chapters from the comprehensive, authoritative Manual of Insight, which expounds the doctrinal and practical aspects of mindfulness (satipatthana) and the development of insight knowledge (vipassana) up to and including nibbana. In Manual of Insight, Mahasi Sayadaw acknowledged that these two chapters alone offer suitable guidance on our own journey of awakening by realizing path knowledge, fruition knowledge, and nibbana, particularly for those with little or no knowledge of the Pali scriptures. Part 1, “The Development of Mindfulness,” offers comprehensive instructions for developing mindfulness based on the Buddha’s teachings on the four foundations of mindfulness, as outlined in the highly regarded Discourse on Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta). Part 2, “Practical Instructions,” provides guidance in both the practices preliminary to undertaking insight meditation and in developing insight knowledge, ranging from initial practices to advanced levels of practice.

Download or read book The Art of Living Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S N Goenka written by William Hart and published by Pariyatti. This book was released on 2020 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Ninth Karmapa s Ocean of Definitive Meaning written by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2011-05-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by the Ninth Karmapa (1556–1603) is the most profound and famous text on Mahamudra ever written and is of vital importance in the living Kagyu tradition. It offers a detailed, uniquely comprehensive presentation of instruction on both the view and the practice. In the teachings contained in this book, Thrangu Rinpoche has distilled the essence of the Ninth Karmapa's massive text into manageable proportions and has given pointed guidance on the implementation of its instruction. According to Thrangu Rinpoche, Mahamudra practice is especially appropriate for Westerners and contemporary practitioners because it can be realized in the context of virtually any lifestyle. Mahamudra dissolves the artificial separation between phenomena and emptiness, revealing the radiant display of mind. The Ninth Karmapa's text has traditionally been available only to advanced students. However, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche has kindly consented to the publication of these core teachings on the text, which he gave in the context of a retreat he led in 2001 in the mountains of British Columbia for 140 Western students. His compelling presentation provides teachers and students with a systematic approach to some of the highest practices in the Kagyu tradition. Thrangu Rinpoche's extraordinary wisdom and insight make this new commentary a peerless jewel in the canons of spiritual literature.

Download or read book Inward written by Michal Pagis and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-09-04 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western society has never been more interested in interiority. Indeed, it seems more and more people are deliberately looking inward—toward the mind, the body, or both. Michal Pagis’s Inward focuses on one increasingly popular channel for the introverted gaze: vipassana meditation, which has spread from Burma to more than forty countries and counting. Lacing her account with vivid anecdotes and personal stories, Pagis turns our attention not only to the practice of vipassana but to the communities that have sprung up around it. Inward is also a social history of the westward diffusion of Eastern religious practices spurred on by the lingering effects of the British colonial presence in India. At the same time Pagis asks knotty questions about what happens when we continually turn inward, as she investigates the complex relations between physical selves, emotional selves, and our larger social worlds. Her book sheds new light on evergreen topics such as globalization, social psychology, and the place of the human body in the enduring process of self-awareness.

Download or read book The World Could Be Otherwise written by Norman Fischer and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An imaginative approach to spiritual practice in difficult times, through the Buddhist teaching of the six paramitas or "perfections"—qualities that lead to kindness, wisdom, and an awakened life. In frightening times, we wish the world could be otherwise. With a touch of imagination, it can be. Imagination helps us see what’s hidden, and it shape-shifts reality’s roiling twisting waves. In this inspiring reframe of a classic Buddhist teaching, Zen teacher Norman Fischer writes that the paramitas, or “six perfections”—generosity, ethical conduct, patience, joyful effort, meditation, and understanding—can help us reconfigure the world we live in. Ranging from our everyday concerns about relationships, ethics, and consumption to our artistic inspirations and broadest human yearnings, Fischer depicts imaginative spiritual practice as a necessary resource for our troubled times.

Download or read book Waking Up written by Sam Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-06-16 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirituality.The search for happiness --Religion, East and West --Mindfulness --The truth of suffering --Enlightenment --The mystery of consciousness.The mind divided --Structure and function --Are our minds already split? --Conscious and unconscious processing in the brain --Consciousness is what matters --The riddle of the self.What are we calling "I"? --Consciousness without self --Lost in thought --The challenge of studying the self --Penetrating the illusion --Meditation.Gradual versus sudden realization --Dzogchen: taking the goal as the path --Having no head --The paradox of acceptance --Gurus, death, drugs, and other puzzles.Mind on the brink of death --The spiritual uses of pharmacology.

Download or read book Vipassan a Universal Buddhist Meditation Technique written by D. C. Ahir and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vipassana means to see things as they really are, not only as they seem to be. The technique of Vipassana is based on the Satipatthana Sutta. Satipatthana means the establishing of mindfulness. This is one of the most original teachings of the Buddha and through it one can cultivate mindfulness and develop awareness. Vipassana meditation aims at the total purification of human beings and at the overcoming of sorrow, lamentation, the destruction of grief and suffering and the reaching of the right path and the attainment of the Nibbanic state. One who practises Vipassana meditation with this aim in mind, even before he attains the final goal, can achieve peace of mind, happiness, calmness, relaxation, tranquility and the ability to face life's daily problems and enjoy a corresponding greater degree of happiness in this very life here and now. -- Publisher description.

Download or read book Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English written by Gunaratana and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-09-08 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gunaratana offers basic instruction on the meaning of insight meditation through concepts that can be applied to any tradition. His focus here is on the Jhanas, those meditative states of profound stillness in which the mind becomes fully immersed in the chosen object of attention.

Download or read book Zen Training written by Katsuki Sekida and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2005-09-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering guide to zazen—Zen-style seated meditation—provides practical instructions on how to begin or elevate your practice and progress along the Zen path Zen Training is a comprehensive handbook for zazen, seated meditation practice, and an authoritative presentation of the Zen path. The book marked a turning point in Zen literature in its critical reevaluation of the enlightenment experience, which the author believes has often been emphasized at the expense of other important aspects of Zen training. In addition, Zen Training goes beyond the first flashes of enlightenment to explore how one lives as well as trains in Zen. The author also draws many significant parallels between Zen and Western philosophy and psychology, comparing traditional Zen concepts with the theories of being and cognition of such thinkers as Heidegger and Husserl.

Download or read book A Study Guide for Samatha Vipassana Meditation Based on the Five Meditation Techniques written by Phra Thepyanmongkol and published by Wat Luang Phor Sodh. This book was released on 2012 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the most popular meditation techniques taught across Thailand.

Download or read book Breath by Breath written by Larry Rosenberg and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2004-11-09 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “wonderfully accessible” interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings on breathwork in meditation, from a leading insight meditation teacher (Joseph Goldstein, author of The Experience of Insight) Freedom from suffering is not only possible, but the means for achieving it are immediately within our grasp—literally as close to us as our own breath. This is the 2,500-year-old good news contained in the Anapanasati Sutra, the Buddha's own teaching on cultivating both tranquility and deep insight through the full awareness of breathing. In this book, Larry Rosenberg brings this timeless meditation method to modern practitioners, using the insights gained from his many years of practice and teaching. With wisdom, compassion, and humor, he shows how the practice of breath awareness is quietly, profoundly transformative—and supremely practical: if you're breathing, you've already got everything you need to start.

Download or read book Get Some Headspace written by Andy Puddicombe and published by Hodder Paperbacks. This book was released on 2012 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'If you're thinking about trying mindfulness, this is the perfect introduction....I'm grateful to Andy for helping me on this journey.' BILL GATES 'It's kind of genius' EMMA WATSON Feeling stressed about Christmas/Brexit/everthing? Try this... Demystifying meditation for the modern world: an accessible and practical route to improved health, happiness and well being, in as little as 10 minutes. Andy Puddicombe, founder of the celebrated Headspace, is on a mission: to get people to take 10 minutes out of their day to sit in the now. Here he shares his simple to learn, but highly effective techniques of meditation. * Rest an anxious, busy mind * Find greater ease when faced with difficult emotions, thoughts, circumstances * Improve focus and concentration * Sleep better * Achieve new levels of calm and fulfilment. The benefits of mindfulness and meditation are well documented and here Andy brings this ancient practice into the modern world, tailor made for the most time starved among us. First published as Get Some Headspace, this reissue shows you how just 10 minutes of mediation per day can bring about life changing results.

Download or read book Vipassana Meditation written by Rohit Sahu and published by Rohit Sahu. This book was released on 2021-09-24 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you looking to cultivate true unconditional love toward the creation and experience utter bliss? Do you wish to foster resilience, non-judgment, and detachment? Would you like to learn the ancient mindfulness technique that led Gautama Buddha to Enlightenment? Do you want to witness the joy of living in the present moment? If so, Vipassana Meditation is the answer. Vipassana, meaning "seeing things as they really are," is a meditation practice rooted in Indian and Buddhist traditions. It has been taught for over 2500 years as a universal remedy for common human struggles—an Art of Living. It offers a simple yet powerful way to understand and embrace reality as it unfolds. Unlike other forms of meditation, Vipassana focuses on awareness rather than concentration. While concentration practices involve directing the mind's energy towards a specific object or concept, Vipassana emphasizes perceiving reality as it is. It is a secular practice that transcends religious, cultural, and gender boundaries, making it accessible to people from all walks of life. In Vipassana, you begin by observing your breath and gradually expand your awareness to include the sensations and responses in your body. The more you practice, the more freedom from suffering you experience, bringing you closer to the ultimate goal of complete liberation. Even just a 10-day retreat can yield noticeable and beneficial effects in your daily life. This step-by-step Vipassana guide takes the reader through practices that may open new levels of awareness and understanding. This book's aim is to teach you how to live consciously so that you may ultimately be calm and joyful in your everyday life! It will explain what this method is and how it came to be. This book also demonstrates how to utilize Vipassana meditation to make our everyday lives more meaningful and, ultimately, to discover the real meaning of peace and tranquillity. Inside This Book, You'll Find: ✔️The historical context of Vipassana Meditation ✔️Explorations of the deeper aspects of Vipassana ✔️The purpose and benefits of Vipassana Meditation ✔️Cultivating the right attitude toward practice ✔️Creating a Vipassana retreat experience at home ✔️Step-by-step instructions for Vipassana Meditation ✔️Tips to enhance your progress ✔️Additional techniques to deepen your Vipassana sessions ✔️Common mistakes for beginners to avoid ✔️Addressing common myths and answering FAQs ✔️Insights and advice based on personal experience By following the guidance in this book, you will learn to cultivate stability, explore the intricacies of mind and matter, and unravel deeply ingrained patterns that perpetuate suffering. It delves into the various insights and spiritual fruits that arise from the practice, with Nirvana or enlightenment as the ultimate destination. So don't hesitate; claim your copy of this book and embrace the serene influence of Vipassana Meditation as it guides you on a transformative journey within your own body and mind.