Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Andrew Rooke (Theosophy Downunder); WisdomPubs.org
Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator’s Handbook (Wisdom Pubs, Somerville, MA) |
Ajahn Brahm handbook (wisdompubs.org) |
A companion volume to the popular Ajahn Brahm (a British Buddhist monk in Australia who trained and attained in Thailand) book of inspiring and funny stories,
Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?, this handbook is a very different and
more advanced treatment of Buddhist meditation techniques.
In our
fast-moving and stressful world, there is an increasing interest in
meditation. Moreover, Ajahn Brahm makes clear that knowledge of meditation
is fundamental for serious students of the Buddhist tradition.
This book
takes the student from basic meditation techniques through the vast
array of experience that awaits serious meditators through to heightened
states of awareness and blissful visions to full enlightenment itself!
The book has flashes of Ajahn Brahm’s famous good humor and colorful turn of
phrases, but basically it is a serious guidebook to the fascinating
journeys that await the dedicated meditator from a self-professed
meditation junkie.
The author summarizes the importance of meditation as a technique of
spiritual learning in his own unique way:
"The Buddhist Seinfeld" (santifm.org) |
“Meditation can well be
summarized as going to the centre of things. One goes first to the
centre of time, called the “now.” Then into the centre of the now that
is free of all thought. Then into the centre of the body with one’s
breath. Then into the centre of the breath, which is the beautiful
breath. Then into the centre of the beautiful breath, where one
experiences the nimitta [counterpart sign]. Then into the centre of the nimitta to enter
the first jhana [meditative absorption]. Then into the centre of the first jhana, which is the
second jhana, and so on. This is yoniso manisikara [wise reflection],
'work of the mind that goes to the source.’ As one goes deeper into the
source
of body and mind, one comes to the source of will, the seat of the doer,
the
citadel in which the potential doing abides. And one sees it all empty of a self.” (p. 199).
(johncurtin.curtin.edu.au) |
AJAHN
BRAHM grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in London, England. Scholarships
got him to Cambridge University where he graduated with a degree in theoretical physics. Eventually disillusioned with the world of
academics, he trained as a Theravada Buddhist monk in the jungles of northeast Thailand under the
highly esteemed master Ajahn Chah. A monk for over 30
years, Ajahn Brahm (Ven. Brahmavamso Mahathera) is a revered spiritual guide, a prominent advocate of female ordination, and the abbot of one of
the largest monasteries and nunneries in the southern hemisphere, regularly drawing
multinational audiences of thousands.
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