Author: Leigh Brasington
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 083480302X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A practical guidebook for meditators interested in achieving the states of bliss and deep focus associated with the Buddhist jhānas One of the elements of the Eightfold Path is Right Concentration: the one-pointedness of mind that, together with ethics, livelihood, meditation, and more, leads to the ultimate freedom from suffering. So how does one achieve Right Concentration? According to the Buddha himself, the jhānas—a series of eight progressive altered states of consciousness—are an essential method. But because the jhānas can usually be achieved only through prolonged meditation retreat, they have been shrouded in mystery for years. Not anymore. In Right Concentration, Leigh Brasington takes away the mystique and gives instructions on how to achieve them in plain, accessible language. He notes the various pitfalls to avoid along the way and provides a wealth of material on the theory of jhāna practice—all geared toward the practitioner rather than the scholar. As Brasington proves, these states of bliss and concentration are attainable by anyone who devotes the time and sincerity of practice necessary to realize them.

Author: Stephen Snyder
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834822822
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Two experienced American meditators explain the stages and techniques of concentration meditation, as taught by the Buddhist master Pa Auk Sayadaw This is a clear and in-depth presentation of the traditional Theravadin concentration meditation known as jhāna practice, from two authors who have practiced the jhānas in retreat under the guidance of one of the great living meditation masters, Pa Auk Sayadaw. The authors describe the techniques and their results, based on their own experience.

Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458783642
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Now ordinary meditators (and non-meditators) can understand how to attain non-ordinary states with relative ease. Blended with contemporary examples, pragmatic exercises, and ''how to'' instructions that anyone can try, Focused and Fearless provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and on retreat. Shaila Catherine has a friendly, wise approach to the meditative states (jhanas) that lead to liberating insight. Focused and Fearless is about much more than merely meditation or concentration. It offers a complete path towards bliss, fearlessness, and true awakening.

Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718526
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
Wisdom Wide and Deep is a comprehensive guide to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention (jhana) to profound and liberating insight (vipassana). With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind. It was for this reason the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine's acclaimed first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Readers will learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering. This fully detailed manual for the mind sure to become a trusted companion to many inner explorers.

Author: Susan Piver
Publisher: Lionheart Press, a division of the Open Heart Project
ISBN: 1732277613
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
"Susan Piver consistently offers what so many of us seek: A generous, caring, loving teacher, someone with an open heart and a clear mind, eager to help us find our own way forward." —Seth Godin, author of Linchpin Broken hearts, resentment, affairs, divorce. Why is it so hard to make relationships work? New York Times bestselling author and mindfulness expert Susan Piver applies classic Buddhist wisdom to modern romance, including her own long-term relationship, to show that ancient philosophies have timeless—and unexpected—wisdom on how to love. The Four Noble Truths of Love will challenge the expectations you have about dating, sex, and romance, liberating you from the habits, traumas, and expectations that have been holding back your relationships. This mindful approach toward love will help you open your heart fearlessly, deepen communications with your partner, increase your compassion and resilience, and lead you toward a path of true happiness. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain: expansive, real love for yourself and others.

Author: Jack Kornfield
Publisher: Buddhist Publication Society
ISBN: 9552400422
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
This reprint of Living Buddhist Masters is one of the most valuable books in print on Theravada Buddhist practice, bringing to the reader the precise instructions of twelve great meditation masters, including Mahasi Sayadaw, Achaan Chah and U Ba Khin. With lucid introductory chapters and photos.

Author: Ernest Wood
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 0835630943
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
This perennial best-seller by a distinguished educator assembles 36 mental and physical exercises for taming the natural drifting of the mind. Newly designed edition of a practical manual for success.

Author: Culadasa
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 1781808791
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 675

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Book Description
The Mind Illuminated is a comprehensive, accessible and - above all - effective book on meditation, providing a nuts-and-bolts stage-based system that helps all levels of meditators establish and deepen their practice. Providing step-by-step guidance for every stage of the meditation path, this uniquely comprehensive guide for a Western audience combines the wisdom from the teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Clear and friendly, this in-depth practice manual builds on the nine-stage model of meditation originally articulated by the ancient Indian sage Asanga, crystallizing the entire meditative journey into 10 clearly-defined stages. The book also introduces a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, and uses illustrations and charts to help the reader work through each stage. This manual is an essential read for the beginner to the seasoned veteran of meditation.

Author: Stefan Van Der Stigchel
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262357844
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
A cognitive psychologist explores how smartphones, pop-up ads, and other distractions are impacting our attention spans—and what we can do to improve concentration. We are in the midst of an attention crisis—caused in large part by our smartphones. The a constant stream of information is making it harder and hard to concentrate. In this book, attention expert and cognitive psychologist Stefan Van der Stigchel explains how concentration works and offers advice on how to stay focused in a world of beeping smartphones, channel surfing, live-tweeting, pop-up ads, and other distractions. The good news is that we now know more about brain and behavior than ever before, and Van der Stigchel draws on the latest scientific findings to explain: • How the battle for our attention began long before the digital era • Why our phones are so addictive • The importance of working memory and how to increase its capacity • Why multitasking is bad for our concentration—as seen in the Best Picture debacle at the 2017 Oscars • The positive effects of taking “tech breaks”, meditation, and daydreaming • And much more! We can win the battle for our attention, Van der Stigchel argues, if we have the knowledge and the tools to do it.

Author: Keren Arbel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317383990
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
This book offers a new interpretation of the relationship between 'insight practice' (satipatthana) and the attainment of the four jhànas (i.e., right samàdhi), a key problem in the study of Buddhist meditation. The author challenges the traditional Buddhist understanding of the four jhànas as states of absorption, and shows how these states are the actualization and embodiment of insight (vipassanà). It proposes that the four jhànas and what we call 'vipassanà' are integral dimensions of a single process that leads to awakening. Current literature on the phenomenology of the four jhànas and their relationship with the 'practice of insight' has mostly repeated traditional Theravàda interpretations. No one to date has offered a comprehensive analysis of the fourfold jhàna model independently from traditional interpretations. This book offers such an analysis. It presents a model which speaks in the Nikàyas' distinct voice. It demonstrates that the distinction between the 'practice of serenity' (samatha-bhàvanà) and the 'practice of insight' (vipassanà-bhàvanà) – a fundamental distinction in Buddhist meditation theory – is not applicable to early Buddhist understanding of the meditative path. It seeks to show that the common interpretation of the jhànas as 'altered states of consciousness', absorptions that do not reveal anything about the nature of phenomena, is incompatible with the teachings of the Pàli Nikàyas. By carefully analyzing the descriptions of the four jhànas in the early Buddhist texts in Pàli, their contexts, associations and meanings within the conceptual framework of early Buddhism, the relationship between this central element in the Buddhist path and 'insight meditation' becomes revealed in all its power. Early Buddhist Meditation will be of interest to scholars of Buddhist studies, Asian philosophies and religions, as well as Buddhist practitioners with a serious interest in the process of insight meditation.