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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 05 2009 : 04:10:24 AM
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This is a super book about mindfulness and the fundamentals of Buddhism in general. Here is a small excerpt from the intro.
It can be viewed or downloaded free here:
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html
Buddhism as a whole is quite different from the theological religions with which Westerners are most familiar. It is a direct entrance to a spiritual or divine realm without addressing deities or other 'agents'. Its flavor is intensely clinical, much more akin to what we would call psychology than to what we would usually call religion. It is an ever-ongoing investigation of reality, a microscopic examination of the very process of perception. Its intention is to pick apart the screen of lies and delusions through which we normally view the world, and thus to reveal the face of ultimate reality. Vipassana meditation is an ancient and elegant technique for doing just that.
Theravada Buddhism presents us with an effective system for exploring the deeper levels of the mind, down to the very root of consciousness itself. It also offers a considerable system of reverence and rituals in which those techniques are contained. This beautiful tradition is the natural result of its 2,500-year development within the highly traditional cultures of South and Southeast Asia.
In this volume, we will make every effort to separate the ornamental and the fundamental and to present only the naked plain truth itself. Those readers who are of a ritual bent may investigate the Theravada practice in other books, and will find there a vast wealth of customs and ceremony, a rich tradition full of beauty and significance. Those of a more clinical bent may use just the techniques themselves, applying them within whichever philosophical and emotional context they wish. The practice is the thing. |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 05 2009 : 06:06:24 AM
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hi Sparkle, thank you very much for the text will give it a read at the appropriate time.
like the guy in the pic "the author"
namaste |
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Mindfulness in Plain English
