Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Why I love Cocaine

Anonymous, Ashley Wells, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Dennis Romero, laweekly.com

Sia (and/or her tiny alter ego) is the Girl You Lost to Cocaine

Hi, my name is Minsky. And I'm a coke fiend...

Hi, Minsky!

...Not the toxic corn-byproduct and fizzy flavorant-laced poison. I mean the Columbian plant extract. Can'ts get me enough of that powdered goodness. It is the s!

Nina Sia-khali Moradi it too hot.

It all started in the Lab, you see? These dealers in fancy coats were just giving it away. Know what I'm talking about? They would force it on me and the other mice. We were going A-1 loco in those cages. Now I know why.

But back then, I was chasing the dragon with the devil in me and I didn't need to eat, sleep, or worry about acting like vermin in the nesting area. It was great. I'd still be on the stuff, but then things got tight. My heart was racing, supplies were low, and I looked like some kind of snake, my hair falling out in patches, and breath like the devil. Can you feel me on that one?

The best way to rob a bank is to own one, and the best way to deal drugs is work for the pharmaceutical industry selling addictive toxins as "medicine." How to Make Money

It got so bad I was stealing pellets to survive, peeing in the water dish, fighting over nothing, and keeping everyone up with my rodent drama. It was a mess. Think I'm going to go kill myself, or become a born again Christian mouse, or take out a loan, and get a job in the military or at WalMart and really make something of myself. And now it all comes out in the news:

Love at first Snort?

Dennis Romero (laweekly.com, 8-27-13, "Cocaine Takes Over Your Brain After First Snort?")

Life in the mirror (Irina Slutsky/flickr)

If you ever wondered why Lindsay Lohan repeatedly returned to her nightlife haunts despite warnings from judges and others to tone it down, this might explain it. Allegedly.

SoCal is Tops For Socially Conscious Universities

Socially-conscious SoCal

New research from UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco for the first time documents immediate physiological effects from a first dose of cocaine use, at least on mice.

Not only that, but researchers found that the little rodents in question seem to want to go back to the place from where they got their Bolivian marching powder. Strong stuff, that.

The study was published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

H&M, Brandy Melville Sued Over Estevan Oriol's Gang-Style Photograph

L.A. (The Informer)

The academics measured the rodents' brains via "2-photon laser scanning microscopy" and found immediate growth of "dendritic spines" of the frontal lobes.

The researchers claim that's the first time this has been documented for initial doses of cocaine and that it shows how the drug affects immediate physiological changes that can predict addiction. More

British mom and lingerie model is ditching her life of posing for one of modesty and obedience as a Muslim wife (Thanks Allah and Islam).

Egyptian monasticism at Wadi Natrun

OHIO - Dr. Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom of Wittenberg University will present a lecture on the monastic residence at Wadi Natrun. The Desert Fathers of Egypt were the first Christian monks to establish a community on the fringes of the desert. Wadi Natrun, ancient Scetis, was home to thousands of monks from 500-1100 CE. Archaeological work in the region at the Monastery of John the Little demonstrates monastic life in multi-roomed homes with spectacular wall paintings and complex kitchen facilities. Dr. Brooks Hedstrom will present Egyptian monasticism under the Islamic caliphate in the tenth century CE. The lecture is free and open to the public.

[Editor's note: All such monasticism is a direct result of Buddhist influence, where monasticism was a novel concept to Jewish and Christian conceptions of spirituality imported from the East and its most successful shramanic tradition.]

Entangled in Darkness, Seeking the Light

Dhr. Seven and CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Deborah King

Deborah King is a friend of Wisdom Quarterly and was once a regular feature with her online Hay House radio show and frequent appearances around the country.

She has just come out with a new book Entangled in Darkness, Seeking the Light and was recently interviewed by GAIAM TV's Lisa Garr, hostess of Pacifica Radio's Los Angeles affiliate, KPFK FM, on TheAwareShow.com).

Entangled in Darkness: How to Find the Light

Lisa Garr (theawareshow.com)

Deborah King

Master healer and urban shaman, [and sexual abuse survivor], Deborah King (DeborahKingCenter.com), was a successful attorney in her 20s when a diagnosis of cancer sent her on a search for truth.

It radically changed her life. Unwilling to undergo invasive (and harmful) surgery, she turned to alternative medicine. She had an amazing remission at the hands of a healer. Leaving the corporate arena for the mysterious world of healers, sages, and shamans, King mastered ancient and modern healing systems, ultimately developing a powerful healing technique of her own.

Her latest book, Entangled in Darkness: Seeking the Light, explores the purpose of the age-old battle between light and dark that is waged within us.

INTERVIEW (9-12-13) The Aware Show’s special guest this week is spiritual teacher, health-and-wellness expert, and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Deborah King. Take an excursion into the inner sanctum of the "soul," our deepest sense of self, to help us understand why we are here.

What is the purpose of the age-old battle between light and dark? It is being waged within us all. She will help deepen our insight into how and why we might be entangled in darkness and provide us with practical tools to infuse our lives with light. King talks about techniques to clear negative energies, dark entities, cordings, and intentional and unintentional attacks. More

Off the Cushion: Against the Stream

Seth Auberon, Gary Sanders, Wisdom Quarterly; Against the Stream, "Off the Cushion"

Against the Stream: 4300 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029, (323) 665-4300

Dharma Punx centers (nationwide)

A commitment to social action and service is an integral part of Against the Stream's ethos (and Articles of Incorporation) as is the case with Wisdom Quarterly. Quietly, many members, facilitators, and teachers volunteer in many different ways.

An amazing amount of generosity and compassion inspires us and others to participate. This year ATS wants to make it easier for members of our spiritual community (sangha) to get involved. Because when we get Off the Cushion, we Step into the World.

Insight on the Inside: Prison Pen Pal Program
Volunteer at Against the Stream, Buddhist Meditation Society
One Earth Sangha and Earth Care Week, October 1-7, 2013

Insight on the Inside is ATS's pen pal program. It connects ATS members with prisoners around the country who are seeking support with their practice. This program has been going strong for two years and we are currently seeking more pen pals. If interested, visit the IOTI Information Page. This program has led to two of our facilitators (Gary and Corey) bringing meditation classes into Tehachapi State Prison in California on a regular basis.

Volunteer

Against the Stream depends on visitors and members to keep going. It is a non-profit and dependent on generosity to survive. But "generosity" does not just come in the form of monetary donations; it comes as time and energy as well. ATS is always in need of people to help edit talks, host classes, clean the centers, work on the Website, and more. Looking for a way to connect with the community? Visit the ATS volunteer page. It does not happen without you!

One Earth Sangha, Earth Care Week

Save our planet, save countless beings!

Last summer all of those attending the International Vipassana Teachers' meeting at Spirit Rock (including founder Noah Levine) responded to a request for teachings on climate change by making it a topic for concentrated discussion and action. One outcome was the creation of Earth Care Week, which will take place the first week in October each year. ATS teachers will offer teachings together with InsightLA and the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA (marc.ucla.edu).

The ATS community has already begun to get Off the Cushion to raise awareness and make a difference in this area. And after a successful Clinton Street Cleanup, ATS is keeping it up with the Melrose Neighborhood clean up, which takes place on the second Sunday of each month after the 11:00 am class. Join ATS for a quick clean up starting on Sept. 7, 2013. And stay tuned for another round of The Sock Project (collecting socks for the homeless).

ATS has a broad and diverse community with different interests and skills. All are invited to join in the commitment to ease suffering and bring compassion wherever it can be brought. ATS and WQ would also love to hear about other doings and ideas. Let's build a network to help everyone. More

Friday, September 13, 2013

Nepal: "Light of the Valley" (LA screening)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Roberto Ayala (Public Engagement, LACMA)

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) is holding a FREE screening (advance tickets required) of the Nepalese Buddhist documentary Light of the Valley: Renewing the Sacred Art and Traditions of Svayambhu on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 at 7:00 pm.

With a running time of 32 minutes, "Light of the Valley" documents the 15th renovation of one of the most important Nepalese temple monuments (stupas) in the Buddhist world. It has been worshiped continuously for centuries. Following the screening at LACMA, on the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Spaulding Ave., the film's producer and the assistant art director and coeditor of the accompanying book will discuss the topic in a Q&A session.

LACMA's Bing Theatre (not named after Chandler)
Call (323) 857-6010 or reserve online
Free, includes complimentary parking

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Macklemore, Ryan Lewis on Buddhism (video)

Seven and Boo, Wisdom Quarterly; Macklemore featuring Ryan Lewis; RapGenius.com

Fans of Macklemore show the artists love (soundonthesound.com)

Macklemore strikes a meditation pose in his Batman PJs (blog.designedgood.com)

Neo-hippies (elelphantjournal.com)

Vipassana is a Buddhist term. It means "insight" and implies insight meditation. It has been further popularized by S.N. Goenka, an Indian-American teacher from Burma. He and his Burmese teacher, U Ba Khin, conceived of free 10-day retreats to teach Westerners and others a powerful Buddhist practice -- available to all regardless of faith, tradition, or belief system. People are so moved by the experience that they often begin to quote the Buddha, Theravada texts, and Goenka talks (all taped for students) as they suddenly experience more calm and life-transformations than they ever imagined.

Mrs. and Mr. S.N. Goenka (Dhamma.org)

Curt Cobain was so interested in Buddhism and "the end of all suffering," translated from Sanskrit as nirvana, that he named his band after the goal. The path to enlightenment often strikes artists. Apparently, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were similarly moved by their experience of the first blush of insight that ultimately leads to nirvana. In 2009 they released the song Vipassana or "Insight." They would later become famous for such hits as "Thrift Shop," "Same Love," and their second-best song ever, "Can't Hold Us," their very best song being:

Vipassana
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis

[Tape recording of Goenka:] "Vipassana is science of mind and matter: how the mind is influencing the body and later how the body is influencing the mind, the mind, the mind..."

Business insight? (executive.dhamma.org)

Yesterday? Forget it. Tomorrow is? Nada. The present is? Right here, through the breath. Watch it. Atheist Jesus peace, hangin' on a cross. We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs about how we got here: What it is, what it isn't, sh-t. Fate versus faith, scrimmaging with coincidence. Leave out the marketing; hold up on the business end. Focus on the genuine. With everything else, you can shed the skin. I was a couple moves away from being dead -- in that ER overdosing, eyes bleeding red. I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz, lost it all, sobered up, and guess what?

Macklemore surfs the crowd as Ryan Lewis works the stage (flickr com)

Now we meet again. And I'm back, finally just laughing. Expectations are resentments waiting to happen. Studying the Dharma, karma of vipassana [meditation] practice, Bah'u'llah, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop, and I'm traveling, learning, yes, reflecting on what matters: People, impermanence, lack of attachments. It's space and time, a couple man-made distractions, the measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture. Church, ha, this booth is my Vatican. I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it. Student of the breath, break beats, and balancing. Desire versus Truth until I finally find happiness [the ultimate, the highest happiness, being nirvana].

Prof. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

CHORUS: I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. Passing through space and time, passing through space and time, oh, passing through space and time, space and time, space and time...

I was put here to do something before I'm lying in that casket. I'd be lying on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is. The world's a stage, and we play a character. I found him. It took me 20 something years and a bunch of sh-tty sound checks. I'm not going to be content until I find gratitude regardless of my sales or the record deals that they're handing you. If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you, we'll have a bunch of MP3s and misled kids to pass them to.

I use my veins to create the color I paint from. Delve into something till my heart becomes my paint brush. I told my mama, "I'm not stopping till my name's up." Thinking those comments on that blog is gonna save us. Searching for everything but Gods and validation. Get insecure and then we start blaming the haters. Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant. Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation.

So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle. Take all ugly sh-t inside and try to make it beautiful. Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical so the people can relate to where I've been, where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard. From the guts, f-ck the glory, just a person on a porch putting it all into recording. Many in my past and many that came before me. I just keep walking my path and blessed to share my story.

More on insight (vipassana) in the Art of Living (Dhamma.org)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Buddhism and the 12 Steps (Kevin Griffin)

Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; Kevin Griffin, Heather Sundberg, Vajrapani Institute

Laughing Buddha: music steeped in African, Latin, and reggae rhythms, with versatile guitar and lyrics with Buddhist themes recorded by Kevin Griffin, portion of proceeds support American Abhayagiri and British Amaravati Buddhist monasteries (kickstarter.com)

We did drugs, we devolved, and we daily strive to come back -- here's how. Intoxicated, one becomes as much a brute as reality show "cave people" shown here.

The Buddha said that craving is the [proximate] cause of suffering. Twelve-Step programs work with the deepest forms of craving, our addictions. How can these two traditions, one secular the other spiritual, work together?

A unique meditation retreat combining Buddhist practices with 12-Step work is in the offing. There is still time to join. It is a four-day intensive with author Kevin Griffin (One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, 2004, and A Burning Desire: Dharma God and the Path of Recovery, 2010) and (Jack Kornfield's Spirit Rock/Joseph Goldstein's Insight Meditation Society) teacher Heather Sundberg.

A Burning Desire (kevingriffin.net)

Using silent insight meditation, interactive exercises, lecture, and discussion, the weekend will explore the ways that Buddhism and the Steps complement one another. Such topics as powerlessness, higher power, inventory, amends, and spiritual awakening. All recovery programs and paths are welcome.

The emphasis will be on bringing mindfulness to all our activities, whether in formal sitting meditation, walking, speaking, listening, or eating. Participants will practice Noble Silence outside of the interactive exercises and discussion periods.

Kevin Griffin is one of the leaders of the mindful recovery movement and one of the founders of the Buddhist Recovery Network. A longtime Buddhist practitioner and 12-Step participant, he teaches nationally on the synthesis of these two traditions.

(heathersundberg.com)

Heather Sundberg has combined her personal experience with meditation and 12-Step work for 20 years. She completed the four-year Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training and is also a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders program. She has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation (vipassana) and Tibetan (Vajrayana) traditions and has sat 1-3 month of retreat a year for over a decade. She is a teacher for Mountain Stream Meditation Center in the Sierra Foothills and also teaches classes, daylongs, and retreats nationally.

Vegetarian meals and dorm-style room included in $350 cost
Camping is also available for a slightly lower rate.
Small number of single rooms and cabins are also available.

Teachers and retreat manager/registrar may be offered donations for their efforts at the end of the retreat. They receive no other financial compensation. For registration and information contact Quilley: quilley@yahoo.com or (510) 682-6873.

Kevin Griffin (Berkeley, August 2013) treats us to a soulful, tasty guitar solo as he wraps up a truly wonderful gathering with friends, which included song, dance, and sweet treats in celebration of the release of his newest CD, "Laughing Buddha."

Why was J.D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye) a recluse?

9/11: US plan to invade seven countries (video)

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; DemocracyNow.org, 9-11-13

False flag operation that made US wars easy

According to General Wesley Clark, the US/military-industrial complex (MIC) has a plan. First invade, conquer, and occupy Iraq -- even if that means completely destroying it, sending it back to the Stone Age, killing everyone there, in what was once called Mesopotamia, a seat of human civilization of biblical significance. Check. Next go into (under a convenient pretext of our own making; thank you, CIA, that's what you're there for) Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan... and ultimately Iran. See video below.

Ignored (in US) American scholar

"The United States is a rogue state; it doesn't pay any attention to international law" (Noam Chomsky). The United Nation's Charter bans violence and the threat of violence, but the US/MIC just keeps threatening Iran, Syria, and other sovereign states without regard to international norms or treaties. In fact, it has self-authorized permission to commit genocide, a fact ratified by the International Court, unlike any other country in the world. We (or at least our leaders and their blindly "patriotic" boosters) are the super power, the police state bar none, the greatest source of violence on the planet.

NSA admits 1000's of phone records illegally monitored
Noam Chomsky: Instead of "illegal" threat to Syria, U.S. should back a Chemical Weapons Ban for all nations
Chomsky on 9/11, Syria’s "Bloody Partition" and why U.S. role ensures failure of Mideast Peace Talks MIT Prof. Emeritus Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned political dissident, linguist, and author, weighs in on today’s 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks and how the civil war in Syria appears destined...
Glenn Greenwald: Is Obama fulfilling the Neocon dream of mass regime change in the Muslim world? Journalist Glenn Greenwald recently wrote about retired General Wesley Clark’s recollection of an officer telling him in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks that the then-US Secretary...
MUST WATCH: 2008 debate as U.N. Ambassador Nominee Samantha Power vs. Jeremy Scahill Reckless Pres. Obama is set to nominate former White House aide Samantha Power to replace Susan Rice as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In 2008, she debated investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill...
VIDEO: Scahill grills lawmakers on War, Obama, Corporate Money

Gen. Wesley Clark on the Seven War Plan

Insight Meditation Society (East Coast)

Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, Insight Meditation Society (Dharma.org); BCBSdharma.org

Insight Meditation Society (IMS) is a Buddhist meditation center (open to all people of all traditions).

On Valentines Day in 1976 a small group of young Buddhist meditation teachers (including Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield (West Coast), and Sharon Salzberg, all friends back from Asia) and dedicated staff opened a retreat center outside of Boston.

They found an ideal place in an old, stately mansion in idyllic Barre, Massachusetts. Armed with few resources and imperfect operational knowledge, but passionate about the Buddha’s teachings, they set about creating an environment where the Dharma could flourish and take root in the West.

Teachers at IMS like Myoshin Kelly, Sharon Salzberg, and Leigh Brasington (Dharma.org)

And so began IMS, now a large and successful short-term Retreat Center with a Forest Refuge center for instensives.

Over its history, IMS has become a spiritual home to thousands of practitioners. It is now regarded as one of the Western world’s most respected centers for learning and deepening meditation practice.

The organization operates two meditation retreat facilities and also promotes a growing school, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Two are set on about 200 secluded acres in the quiet woods of central Massachusetts, and the third is right next door. More

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Obama: War begins on 9/11; Twerking (video)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; D-Now

Mainstream media mogul Babs Walters interviews despotic dictator Assad (ABC News)

Puppet dictator, useful tool for US/MIC

With the focus on the US/MIC's newest war, there is a global failure to meet Syria’s humanitarian crisis. And even as the U.S. and its massive military industrial complex (MIC) push for attack on Syria, questions loom over Obama and Kerry's claims about Assad's chemical attack, which was actually another false flag operation meant to serve as yet another pretext for war.

America is the great moral actor in the world: We go in to kill, control, and loot. Why? Because we will not stand for the immoral use of military force and corporate greed. But could this foreign military action turn Syria's civil conflict into a "widespread regional war"?

Recent interviews with Bassam Haddad, Phyllis Bennis, Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist in Syria who says "I haven’t seen such death in my whole life," and Patrick Cockburn, are available. Alert to Iran

Let's enslave another country and reduce it to rubble (democracynow.org)

Life During Wartime: Twerk

Jimmy Kimmel reveals conspiracy: "Worst Twerk Fail EVER - Girl Catches on Fire" prank

Representative Alan Grayson on Syria: congress should reject "warmongering" and focus on problems at home

Don't Attack Syria

(DontAttackSyria.com)

(DN) American Warlord Obama’s efforts, as the face of the US/MIC, to win legislative backing for military strikes against Syria passed. It was its first hurdle last Wednesday when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 10 to 7 in favor of bombing. Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson (DontAttackSyria.com), a leading opponent of the resolution in the House, is gathering signatures for a petition calling on Congress to deny permission to attack Syria. "I am very disturbed by this general idea that every time we see something bad in the world, we should bomb it," Grayson says. "The president has criticized that mindset, and now he has adopted it. It’s simply not our responsibility to act alone and punish this."

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The Chinese Buddhist Canon (lectures)

Wisdom Quarterly; ICBS, University of the West (uwest.edu)

Associate Prof. Jiang Wu from the Dept. of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona is the author of Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China.

"Truly a work of merit for the history of religious and intellectual thought, practice, and sociopolitics..."

"Jiang Wu's Enlightenment in Dispute succeeds in its bold claim that the revival of Chan Buddhism deserves to be seen as playing a significant role in 17th-century Chinese history.

"Among Wu's many important findings are his specific tracing of Chan in late Ming thought and factionalism, the significance of Chan 'textual spirituality' in the intellectual questing of the time, the surprising use of the law in the adjudication of disputed Dharma transmissions, the intersections of Chan with Ming loyalist sentiments and actions, and the central part played by Yongzheng (first as prince and then as emperor) in defining Chan doctrinal legitimacy and ultimately his own enlightenment.

"The book is a valuable addition to our studies of China's turbulent and formative 'long seventeenth century.'" --Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China and Return to Dragon Mountain

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body

Wisdom Quarterly, new Dharma book by Sayalay Susila edited by Dhr. Seven

The Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven set out the Buddha's "Higher Teaching"

(Aidan McRae Thomson)

Wisdom Quarterly is overjoyed to announce that Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma, the much awaited new book by the accomplished Buddhist monastic Sayalay Susila and Wisdom Quarterly editor Yogi Seven, is now available on Amazon.

We are pleased to see our efforts come to fruition and have the opportunity to share this work of Dharma, the culmination of Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's accessible teachings on this delicate and complex topic.

All proceeds from the book go to support the establishment of Appamada Vihari, Sayalay Susila's new meditation center, offering an opportunity for all to accumulate supportive merit to advance on the Buddhist path toward enlightenment in this very life.

Why would anyone go on a meditation retreat?

ABOUT

Ven. Sayalay Susila, Grand Canyon

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma was originally derived from a series of PowerPoint presentations and talks on the Abhidharma (Buddhism's "Higher" or "Ultimate Teachings").

It is based directly on instructions by famed Burmese Buddhist Meditation Master Pa Auk Sayadaw -- presented by the Chinese-Malaysian nun Ven. Sayalay Susila on her trips around the U.S. and Canada in 2002.

How much longer will the liberating Dharma survive in the world? (Mikecogh/flickr.com)

Repeatedly told how helpful these were, Sayalay developed them into a startlingly clear visual presentation and eventually a book, now in its second completely re-edited edition.

At first glance the Abhidharma can appear so complicated as to be impenetrable. It may, therefore, seem dull and irrelevant, a mere commentary to the sutras rather than a systematic treatment of what is needed to attain enlightenment -- the details, the explanations, the factors explained in extreme detail.

The Buddha among devas explaining the Abhidharma leading to final liberation

That it has been largely overlooked outside of Burma comes as no surprise. But the Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven have made Abhidharma accessible by employing direct and concrete language, clear analogies, and simple anecdotes primarily based on the experiences of real meditators in Asia, America, and Europe over many years.

The essence of Abhidharma is drawn out from its vast and complex matrix. Doing so makes it utterly practical, relating to everyday life in a way practitioners find meaningful for ordinary living. The way to realization is through concentration-and-insight meditation instruction to tie together theory and practice.

First edition (holybooks.com)

In this way analytical knowledge is made available for direct personal realization in meditation (bhavana, cultivation and development of various kinds). By providing clarity, this book helps practitioners come to a knowing-and-seeing, or knowledge and vision, of Abhidharma as a path revealed by the historical Buddha. It shows that its application, not its theoretical grasping, leads to happiness, mundane and supramundane.

May all beings -- humans, devas, and others -- share in the blessings of this offering of liberating wisdom.