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Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation
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What is meditation? For thousands of years, human beings have practiced refined techniques of mental focusing, designed to change the habitual conditioning of the mind. Central to many spiritual and philosophical traditions and known in English as "meditation," these practices are considered a major means for enhanced awareness and self-mastery.
In recent decades, modern science has dramatically confirmed what advanced meditators have long claimed—that meditation, correctly practiced, offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being.
What is meditation? For thousands of years, human beings have practiced refined techniques of mental focusing, designed to change the habitual conditioning of the mind. Central to many spiritual and philosophical traditions and known in English as "meditation," these practices are considered a major means for enhanced awareness and self-mastery.
In recent decades, modern science has dramatically confirmed what advanced meditators have long claimed—that meditation, correctly practiced, offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Mark W. Muesse
14 books20 followersMark William Muesse is an American philosopher, theologian, and teacher. Muesse was born in Waco, Texas and attended University High School. He received a B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Baylor University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
June 26, 2021
I am not what you would call a spiritual person. Quite the opposite. However, living, as I do, in a secular world, and trying my best to be rational, I have come to feel the gap in my life that would normally be occupied by religion.
When life presents us with a difficulty—anything from the death of a loved one to run-of-the-mill ennui—we have little recourse but to drink, spill our guts out to friends, or go to therapy if it gets bad enough. In other words, we must either try to improvise a solution or seek medical intervention. A spiritual or religious practice at least gives us a blueprint—beliefs to fall back on, or rituals to guide us through. The only problem is that, for many like me, those beliefs are not compelling, and those rituals are not meaningful.
The practice of mindfulness, then, attracts me because it is a kind of secular religion—one requiring no membership, no creed, and no voluntary donations. It is merely a method of regulating oneself, a technique that can be practiced anywhere at any time. This is essentially how Muesse presents it in this series of lectures. And he does quite an admirable job. Muesse explains the basic idea, takes the listener through a series of guided practices, and shows how mindfulness can be useful in many different contexts—from eating, to driving, and even to confronting one’s own mortality. By the end, I think he makes a convincing case that mindfulness practice is a valuable tool in dealing with life’s trials and tribulations.
For my part, I greatly appreciate how mindfulness can help with anxiety, sadness, or anger. But I sense the practice’s limitations when confronted when the more joyous parts of life—having fun, relaxing, or falling in love. Sometimes, it is desirable to put some mental space between oneself and one’s emotions. But being absolutely swept away in a passion is one of life’s great experiences; and though detachment is wise in many contexts, some things are worth getting attached to, even if that means enduring suffering in the future. But as Muesse does not present mindfulness as a complete life philosophy, I cannot really find fault with this course.
So if you are feeling a little sad, or anxious, or just experimental, you can do as Dr. Dre said, and “get straight and meditate like a Buddhist.” And this course would be a good place to start.
When life presents us with a difficulty—anything from the death of a loved one to run-of-the-mill ennui—we have little recourse but to drink, spill our guts out to friends, or go to therapy if it gets bad enough. In other words, we must either try to improvise a solution or seek medical intervention. A spiritual or religious practice at least gives us a blueprint—beliefs to fall back on, or rituals to guide us through. The only problem is that, for many like me, those beliefs are not compelling, and those rituals are not meaningful.
The practice of mindfulness, then, attracts me because it is a kind of secular religion—one requiring no membership, no creed, and no voluntary donations. It is merely a method of regulating oneself, a technique that can be practiced anywhere at any time. This is essentially how Muesse presents it in this series of lectures. And he does quite an admirable job. Muesse explains the basic idea, takes the listener through a series of guided practices, and shows how mindfulness can be useful in many different contexts—from eating, to driving, and even to confronting one’s own mortality. By the end, I think he makes a convincing case that mindfulness practice is a valuable tool in dealing with life’s trials and tribulations.
For my part, I greatly appreciate how mindfulness can help with anxiety, sadness, or anger. But I sense the practice’s limitations when confronted when the more joyous parts of life—having fun, relaxing, or falling in love. Sometimes, it is desirable to put some mental space between oneself and one’s emotions. But being absolutely swept away in a passion is one of life’s great experiences; and though detachment is wise in many contexts, some things are worth getting attached to, even if that means enduring suffering in the future. But as Muesse does not present mindfulness as a complete life philosophy, I cannot really find fault with this course.
So if you are feeling a little sad, or anxious, or just experimental, you can do as Dr. Dre said, and “get straight and meditate like a Buddhist.” And this course would be a good place to start.
September 15, 2015
This was a fantastic audiobook on mindfulness. I feel like several areas in my life are benefiting from these practices -- work, hobbies, relationships, sleeping, eating more slowly, and most importantly, dealing with anxiety. I highly recommend this audiobook. With one warning. In the last couple of chapters, he gets into more serious stuff like meditating on pain and illness, culminating in a chapter about meditating on death. Oh man, those were depressing. I don't think I've ever done something as grim as follow his guided meditation contemplating my own death. I nearly had a panic attack. But I applied what I learned and was mindfully attentive to the sensations of my panic, and got through it calmly. I do feel a bit more confident that I can handle panic and anxiety now in everyday life. It's quite a therapeutic book. Time to keep practicing.
January 27, 2012
This was an impressive course on mindfulness that covers a wide range of techniques and basics on how to lead a wholesome life. Initially I thought the course would focus only on how to practice meditation, but it offered more than that. It is a complete package that teaches you techniques and skills that can aid you on how to lead a wholesome life.
November 21, 2018
August-November 2018: This past August seemed like a good time to give meditation yet another try. Major angst was just part of my daily life and had been for an awfully long time, with no relief in sight, having tried every blessed thing, seemingly. Kind of annoying, that. I wanted to try Mindful meditation, I should specify, which according for Professor Mark W. Muesse has nothing to do with what my preconceived notions of meditation were (thought at this point I couldn't exactly say what those were). I went sort of unwillingly towards this lecture series, the way I would approach eating mounds of raw kale, say. It was available as a downloadable audio via the library, though I later purchased it on Audible so I could refer to it later, and here we are.
As of today November 21st, I've been keeping up a daily meditation practice, only skipping out less than a handful of days in three months, which I consider to be in the order of miracles considering I grew up with hippie parents and a father who meditated at least twice a day and here I was, never able to maintain my own practice once every decade or so for more than a week at a time because THOUGHTS and because GUILT and because WTF?!?! and because BORING and FIDGETING! and CRAMPS and all the other reason probably YOU right now reading this (is anyone actually reading this??) find as a reason for NOT meditating... until Prof Mark W. Muesse said, not exactly in these words, but he said: Meditation is fucking hard, folks, and you will fail time and time again but guess what? every time you just fucking SIT there and just breathe and think of your breath, even though your thoughts are annoying as fuck and will intrude, and you remember to just breathe anyway, you still win. And every time you do it again and again, go back to breathing, and then do it the next day, and the day after that, even though you're sure it's a total waste of your time and you hate it and you see no result and even though you're sure you're fucking it up, then you're getting it right. And I thought: Right: Fucking things up, I know how to do. Only he didn't actually use the f-word—I did, because using the f-word makes me feel liberated and cool and like I can OWN things somehow because I'm really immature that way and if it makes me wanna try meditation, then f-word it all the way. Also, I'm totally paraphrasing what he said because I have a terrible memory, but I think that's the essence of it.
Since then I've downloaded a couple of apps, including 10% Happier which was started by a news anchor you might be familiar with called Dan Harris who is NOT a likely candidate for woo woo anything and which has a bunch of really good guided meditations which start from 1 minute to... well as long as you like and for every situation and mood you happen to be in including: "I Don't Want To Meditate" (an actual 5-15 minute meditation), and I found another English one I also love called Headspace (and there are countless others of course) and sometimes I use the apps sitting or lying down or somewhere in between on the couch or the yoga mat or in bed... or I meditate all on my own of course if I feel up to it, and is meditation miraculous? No it's not. But it is the most sane thing I can do for myself and I can say this as a Bipolar person who has very serious anxiety issues and for whom medication can only be so much help and who is seriously suffering in a Trump world and who took up mediation again precisely to cope with non-stop Trump-related coverage with basically causes me PTSD symptoms. So just saying.
Don't try meditation if you think it's crap. But then again, you might try it for 3 minutes a day. Because even if you have 10 kids, and a 100-hour-a-week job (think Dan Harris the news anchor here) you still have 3 minutes to spare, say, when you're picking your kids up from school and waiting in the car, or going for a potty break, and really, what do you have to lose? That insane part of your brain that keeps spewing obsessive and annoying thoughts you have no control over??? Just sayin'... Or... you can do like I did... ignore meditation for the best part of 4 decades and one day wake up and think you're going to die if the stress gets any worse and decide you're willing to try ANYTHING, and lo and behold... there's a simple thing called... meditation. Huh!
As of today November 21st, I've been keeping up a daily meditation practice, only skipping out less than a handful of days in three months, which I consider to be in the order of miracles considering I grew up with hippie parents and a father who meditated at least twice a day and here I was, never able to maintain my own practice once every decade or so for more than a week at a time because THOUGHTS and because GUILT and because WTF?!?! and because BORING and FIDGETING! and CRAMPS and all the other reason probably YOU right now reading this (is anyone actually reading this??) find as a reason for NOT meditating... until Prof Mark W. Muesse said, not exactly in these words, but he said: Meditation is fucking hard, folks, and you will fail time and time again but guess what? every time you just fucking SIT there and just breathe and think of your breath, even though your thoughts are annoying as fuck and will intrude, and you remember to just breathe anyway, you still win. And every time you do it again and again, go back to breathing, and then do it the next day, and the day after that, even though you're sure it's a total waste of your time and you hate it and you see no result and even though you're sure you're fucking it up, then you're getting it right. And I thought: Right: Fucking things up, I know how to do. Only he didn't actually use the f-word—I did, because using the f-word makes me feel liberated and cool and like I can OWN things somehow because I'm really immature that way and if it makes me wanna try meditation, then f-word it all the way. Also, I'm totally paraphrasing what he said because I have a terrible memory, but I think that's the essence of it.
Since then I've downloaded a couple of apps, including 10% Happier which was started by a news anchor you might be familiar with called Dan Harris who is NOT a likely candidate for woo woo anything and which has a bunch of really good guided meditations which start from 1 minute to... well as long as you like and for every situation and mood you happen to be in including: "I Don't Want To Meditate" (an actual 5-15 minute meditation), and I found another English one I also love called Headspace (and there are countless others of course) and sometimes I use the apps sitting or lying down or somewhere in between on the couch or the yoga mat or in bed... or I meditate all on my own of course if I feel up to it, and is meditation miraculous? No it's not. But it is the most sane thing I can do for myself and I can say this as a Bipolar person who has very serious anxiety issues and for whom medication can only be so much help and who is seriously suffering in a Trump world and who took up mediation again precisely to cope with non-stop Trump-related coverage with basically causes me PTSD symptoms. So just saying.
Don't try meditation if you think it's crap. But then again, you might try it for 3 minutes a day. Because even if you have 10 kids, and a 100-hour-a-week job (think Dan Harris the news anchor here) you still have 3 minutes to spare, say, when you're picking your kids up from school and waiting in the car, or going for a potty break, and really, what do you have to lose? That insane part of your brain that keeps spewing obsessive and annoying thoughts you have no control over??? Just sayin'... Or... you can do like I did... ignore meditation for the best part of 4 decades and one day wake up and think you're going to die if the stress gets any worse and decide you're willing to try ANYTHING, and lo and behold... there's a simple thing called... meditation. Huh!
July 5, 2016
This was my second Great Courses series and I loved it much more than the first. Each lecture is about 30 mins long and is basically a meditation in itself. I loved the professor's slow southern voice—it inadvertently encouraged me to slow down as well. Bookmarked several points in the course and plan to refer back to them in the future.
February 16, 2018
I didn't do every mindfulness practice while listening to this Audbile course, but I went back and re-listened (and will do so again, I'm sure, as needed) when I felt I wasn't concentrating as much as I could have in the moment. Iwas traveling during the last few chapters and listening while not fully mindful (while flying, etc.) and so know these are the chapters most important to re-visit (e.g. the mindful walking and eating chapters). Most of these courses were enlightening and those I found difficult or came away from feeling disconnected from or at odds against are ones I'll want to listen to again when I have more ability to concentrate on the message the speaker/author was trying to convey. I understand and acknowledge that the message, in these parts, flew against my learned belief system, so were immediately and in the moment disregarded due to this. It's worth another listen to see if I still disagree or if I discarded them out of hand without fully understanding what the speaker was trying to convey.
July 23, 2018
So much of this resonated with me and helped me gain a deeper understanding of incorporating mindfulness into much more than just meditation.
The lecture on death was probably my favorite. Muesse asserts that mentally comprehending our impermanence isn’t enough - one must be able to really embrace death in order to live a more fulfilling life. He makes a great many points about the discomfort our (western) society has with the idea of death and the inability to embrace it - as demonstrated by our completely hands off funeral traditions (especially when compared to funeral traditions in other areas of the world).
Muesse also does an amazing job of incorporating exercises throughout the lectures to demonstrate streams of both mindless and mindful thought. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture on mindful eating and the exercise of eating a clementine mindfully. It opened my eyes to the frequency with which I eat mindlessly (or drive mindlessly, or do most things mindlessly).
The body scan technique is something that I learned from one of the first yoga classes I took back in high school and I have been using it ever since. It helps create a stronger connection between the mind and the body and the mind’s awareness of the body. The section on pain versus suffering embodies this idea as well - pain is simply a bodily sensation - but the label we attribute to the sensation and the suffering we endure is simply a creation of the mind. Muesse also makes a good point that suffering (in general) comes from our lack of acceptance of things we cannot change - and thus suffering is a choice that can be avoided.
He also talks about masculinity and how it relates to mindfulness/compassion/acceptance. Even as a female, these are useful lessons to hear because there exists a stigma about meditation and mental strength.
Overall, an extremely useful set of lectures which helped to deepen my understanding of mindfulness and meditation. I learned a great deal about different mechanisms to employ to remind myself to be more present. An extremely enriching course!!!!
The lecture on death was probably my favorite. Muesse asserts that mentally comprehending our impermanence isn’t enough - one must be able to really embrace death in order to live a more fulfilling life. He makes a great many points about the discomfort our (western) society has with the idea of death and the inability to embrace it - as demonstrated by our completely hands off funeral traditions (especially when compared to funeral traditions in other areas of the world).
Muesse also does an amazing job of incorporating exercises throughout the lectures to demonstrate streams of both mindless and mindful thought. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture on mindful eating and the exercise of eating a clementine mindfully. It opened my eyes to the frequency with which I eat mindlessly (or drive mindlessly, or do most things mindlessly).
The body scan technique is something that I learned from one of the first yoga classes I took back in high school and I have been using it ever since. It helps create a stronger connection between the mind and the body and the mind’s awareness of the body. The section on pain versus suffering embodies this idea as well - pain is simply a bodily sensation - but the label we attribute to the sensation and the suffering we endure is simply a creation of the mind. Muesse also makes a good point that suffering (in general) comes from our lack of acceptance of things we cannot change - and thus suffering is a choice that can be avoided.
He also talks about masculinity and how it relates to mindfulness/compassion/acceptance. Even as a female, these are useful lessons to hear because there exists a stigma about meditation and mental strength.
Overall, an extremely useful set of lectures which helped to deepen my understanding of mindfulness and meditation. I learned a great deal about different mechanisms to employ to remind myself to be more present. An extremely enriching course!!!!
February 24, 2015
This probably should have had the word "Buddhist" in the title somewhere, since it was very much about Buddhist ideas. It did have a Buddha on the cover, so that should be a hint. While there were occasional nods to other traditions, there were also whole lectures on Buddhist ideals. That concern aside, this is a succinctly presented and helpful program on Buddhist meditation. It was an excellent introduction to Buddhist thought bundled with a good introduction to meditation. There are, of course, other kinds of meditation, but if you are interested, this is a good start.
August 15, 2021
TGC Practicing Mindfulness focusses on how to develop a mindfulness practice. The purpose of developing the practice is to see the nature of reality as it is, devoid of the overlay of preconceptions that clutter out view of it. Muesse is skilled at conversing in the nuances of mindfulness.
"As we think, so we become." Meditation is used as an exercise to train mindfulness. Several forms are introduced; sitting and walking meditation as well as guided body scans by Muesse. I personally will be sticking to vanilla sitting meditation. Muesse notes that one can find value beginning meditation with a variety of motives, including egoistical ones, though eventually the ego will have to be subsided to realise the true nature of self and reality. There is an emphasis on developing frequency of meditation, 6x5 minutes is more valuable than a 1x30 minute session, and guarding the time for practice to do so.
"This too shall pass." Beyond the commentary around developing a meditation routine, the value of the content is in Muesse's musings on avoiding mindlessness generally. Approaches to develop mindfulness include breaking down unskillful thoughts, redirecting obsessive and unwholesome thoughts and releasing attachment. I found these productive reflections for cultivating focus and attentiveness. A hindrance I found was Muesse's personal analogies not landing with much impact. While intended to reflect everyday life, I found most to be banal and drawn out. I also did not find much insight in sections such as, mindfulness in eating and driving.
A useful guidance for framing for beginning a mindfulness practice, though as Muesse correctly asserts; mindfulness is a practice to be exercised and reading can only go so far.
3 stars.
"As we think, so we become." Meditation is used as an exercise to train mindfulness. Several forms are introduced; sitting and walking meditation as well as guided body scans by Muesse. I personally will be sticking to vanilla sitting meditation. Muesse notes that one can find value beginning meditation with a variety of motives, including egoistical ones, though eventually the ego will have to be subsided to realise the true nature of self and reality. There is an emphasis on developing frequency of meditation, 6x5 minutes is more valuable than a 1x30 minute session, and guarding the time for practice to do so.
"This too shall pass." Beyond the commentary around developing a meditation routine, the value of the content is in Muesse's musings on avoiding mindlessness generally. Approaches to develop mindfulness include breaking down unskillful thoughts, redirecting obsessive and unwholesome thoughts and releasing attachment. I found these productive reflections for cultivating focus and attentiveness. A hindrance I found was Muesse's personal analogies not landing with much impact. While intended to reflect everyday life, I found most to be banal and drawn out. I also did not find much insight in sections such as, mindfulness in eating and driving.
A useful guidance for framing for beginning a mindfulness practice, though as Muesse correctly asserts; mindfulness is a practice to be exercised and reading can only go so far.
3 stars.
October 26, 2018
This is a course consists of 24 lectures, teach about a specific kind of meditation, that help us practicing mindfulness. There are other kinds of meditation too, which are not subject of this course. Also, it is not a book about religion, although there are insights we can get from religious quotes and practices, introduced from time to time.
This course teach about the what, why, who, when, where and how to use meditation to practice mindfulness while sitting, walking, eating, to pay more attention to the present, to have more compassion toward oneself and others, to deal with pain, grief and death. Some lessons may need to be listened again and again, at the right time and place, to have the full effect.
There are also some interesting analogies, such as living a mindlessness life is like watching a movie while listening to a bunch of people keep commenting about everything, relevant or not. You just can't enjoy the movie that way.
This course teach about the what, why, who, when, where and how to use meditation to practice mindfulness while sitting, walking, eating, to pay more attention to the present, to have more compassion toward oneself and others, to deal with pain, grief and death. Some lessons may need to be listened again and again, at the right time and place, to have the full effect.
There are also some interesting analogies, such as living a mindlessness life is like watching a movie while listening to a bunch of people keep commenting about everything, relevant or not. You just can't enjoy the movie that way.
March 16, 2022
I admit. I cheated once :-) I normally don't let unfinished audiobooks sit around, while I read others. This one is different. I stopped listening to it about halfway. It sat there for a long time. His lectures on grief/loss and death had to wait until after my wife passed away. It was to meaningful to hear this at this time in my life. Tears were running from my eyes while listening and waiting for software to build at work. I really like how he talked about practices in everything like eating, anger, pain & loss. Very well rounded practices that can help many people.
January 24, 2020
Got stuck at
"It's probably no coincidence that individuals who choose to end their lives by gunshot almost always put the bullet through their heads."
(The implication being that because they have reached a "mind-driven point of despair" they want to shoot where the mind is)
This lecture series is not for me
"It's probably no coincidence that individuals who choose to end their lives by gunshot almost always put the bullet through their heads."
(The implication being that because they have reached a "mind-driven point of despair" they want to shoot where the mind is)
This lecture series is not for me
June 3, 2024
My take away from this book: I’m not very mindful.
Do I want to do all the work to become mindful? I don’t think so.
The lectures were interesting and thought provoking and he had some good stories to tell - if you are interested in the topic I would recommend listening to this audiobook if you don’t really have an interest then obviously don’t listen to it.
Do I want to do all the work to become mindful? I don’t think so.
The lectures were interesting and thought provoking and he had some good stories to tell - if you are interested in the topic I would recommend listening to this audiobook if you don’t really have an interest then obviously don’t listen to it.
February 19, 2017
I've heard some good things about The Great Courses audiobooks that are offered at Audible and mention in the Audiobook group here at Goodreads. When I saw this audio, I thought I would enjoy it, but I really didn't. It reminded me of some of the boring lectures I had in college. The professor narrating this course droned on and on saying what he's going to cover in this course, which really annoyed me; why not just say what you have to say, not what you're going to say in a future chapter! The canned clapping at the beginning and ending of each chapter also annoyed me. I got up to the middle of chapter 11 (44% of the audio) and I'm still not sure If I understand what "mindfulness" means; it sounded rather mindless to me. Anyway, I guess this just isn't for me.
January 5, 2020
The one persistent take-away for me that Dr. Muesse mentioned in these lectures is that some people find meditation to be boring. That suggestion is an apt summation of my feelings toward these lectures.
September 10, 2019
Maybe I am getting old or something, but of late, it's been hard to handle all the clutter in my thought. It's not that the clutter did not exist before. It always did. It's just that my tolerance for it has steadily been decreasing. Or maybe the coping mechanisms - cigarettes, alcohol, general and endless media consumption - I used before are things I try to refrain from these days. I have been increasingly drawn to some of the meditative practices. It's not that I dedicate a chunk of my day towards them, but I have been actively seeking for an outlet that suits my psyche and outlook.
I have been dabbling in some spirituality/philosophy, and while these disciplines offer a great world view, they don't always reconcile with the fact that I am still a part of society that is getting increasingly Orwellian and I am expected to making a living and provide within the construct of a "normal" life.
Mindfulness is a short leap, once you are on that path then.
Besides, there's something innately Indian about mindfulness. We have the legends Rushi's of yore doing their "tapasya" and being rewarded by boons and wishes by our Hindu Gods. Gautam Buddha is always central to all concepts around meditation. Yoga practices have breathing, or pranayam, at its core. Still, I haven't really seen mindfulness, in the form it has absolutely exploded globally, very prevalent in India. We do have "Pravachans", where a spiritual leader/guide/guru holds these gatherings where he/she imparts wisdom and means and ways to conduct oneself in life. These, again, do not suit me. For one, they feel like doctrines, or at least instruction manuals, more than an approach to sorting out your thinking. Second, these are mass gatherings, a setting I am inherently not very fond of. And third, a lot of these end up having religious, or worst, mystical inclinations. Sure, religious pravachans serve the same purpose for a lot of folks that I am trying to achieve through meditations. But religion inherently has several trappings that I absolutely do not want to indulge in. Because of all this, mindfulness in India itself is not all that prevalent. Maybe because most people really don't have time to be mindful. Sadhguru put this very succinctly when he said, and I am paraphrasing here, that poor people in India (as compared to western way of life where people keep chasing stuff) do not worry, because they have nothing to worry about.
The background aside, meditation, mindfulness, was something I was keen on practicing. I just didn't quite know how. Then this course popped up on Audible. Nothing to lose, I thought and dove in.
Well, it didn't give insights that blew my mind away. But Mark Muesse did get me to sit and meditate for 5 minutes in a guided way. It helped. I have tried sitting still and meditating before. Sometimes I have been able to focus, and most times I have been distracted the way Muesse predicted I would be. But trying out meditation, perhaps in the middle of an audio book, when mentally I was fully committed to it, when there were a few "guided" exercises, really helped me commit to it. That little bit, made all the difference.
I have practiced even guided meditation before. I used go to a yoga center in my school days, when there was a guru who would guide the breathing exercises. But I was a young lad, and I used to challenge myself to holding my breath when instructions were given. So I would breathe in only every other time when the instruction to breathe-in was given. Then every third time. There is no mindfulness involved here. More of challenge accepted thing going on.
So there was definite value in this course. There's a fair amount of instruction as well, especially on how to be mindful in daily facets of life. There are anecdotes and stories to take the point home. That is distinctly "pravachan"-like. Without the wrapper of religion, thankfully. Depending on the mindset, some of these pointers might come across as inane, or illuminating, or as was the case with me, somewhere in between. I do acknowledge that I am not as "aware" of my thoughts as I ought to be. For e.g. just the other day, I was really fuming that my almost-4-year-old would not follow an instruction I had for her. It took an effort to step back and realize just how angry I was feeling. Something, which I might have realized maybe after two days, or not at all, if I hadn't been listening to this course in that period as well. Still, I can't imagine being mindful about every single thing we do in life. Sometimes you really do need to delegate your thinking to system 1, as Kahneman calls it.
I do wish the narration was a little faster. I generally listened to it at 1.25x the normal speed, except the exercise. Perhaps there's an insight about patience there... but really, the normal speed felt unnaturally slow, and, actually, uneven. Because Muesse would suddenly pick up speed for a couple of words and slow down again. Well, he is a professor, not an actor or something, so can't except narration to be flawless here.
In the end, after a couple of weeks of practicing breathing meditation, I certainly feel a lot more collected and calm. The trick is to keep doing it of course. Not take a break and wait for a tectonic upheaval to then meditate to try and magically remedy the ensuing anxiety. The idea is to be mindful, and prepare for that calamity, that eventually strikes everyone in some shape and form.
I have been dabbling in some spirituality/philosophy, and while these disciplines offer a great world view, they don't always reconcile with the fact that I am still a part of society that is getting increasingly Orwellian and I am expected to making a living and provide within the construct of a "normal" life.
Mindfulness is a short leap, once you are on that path then.
Besides, there's something innately Indian about mindfulness. We have the legends Rushi's of yore doing their "tapasya" and being rewarded by boons and wishes by our Hindu Gods. Gautam Buddha is always central to all concepts around meditation. Yoga practices have breathing, or pranayam, at its core. Still, I haven't really seen mindfulness, in the form it has absolutely exploded globally, very prevalent in India. We do have "Pravachans", where a spiritual leader/guide/guru holds these gatherings where he/she imparts wisdom and means and ways to conduct oneself in life. These, again, do not suit me. For one, they feel like doctrines, or at least instruction manuals, more than an approach to sorting out your thinking. Second, these are mass gatherings, a setting I am inherently not very fond of. And third, a lot of these end up having religious, or worst, mystical inclinations. Sure, religious pravachans serve the same purpose for a lot of folks that I am trying to achieve through meditations. But religion inherently has several trappings that I absolutely do not want to indulge in. Because of all this, mindfulness in India itself is not all that prevalent. Maybe because most people really don't have time to be mindful. Sadhguru put this very succinctly when he said, and I am paraphrasing here, that poor people in India (as compared to western way of life where people keep chasing stuff) do not worry, because they have nothing to worry about.
The background aside, meditation, mindfulness, was something I was keen on practicing. I just didn't quite know how. Then this course popped up on Audible. Nothing to lose, I thought and dove in.
Well, it didn't give insights that blew my mind away. But Mark Muesse did get me to sit and meditate for 5 minutes in a guided way. It helped. I have tried sitting still and meditating before. Sometimes I have been able to focus, and most times I have been distracted the way Muesse predicted I would be. But trying out meditation, perhaps in the middle of an audio book, when mentally I was fully committed to it, when there were a few "guided" exercises, really helped me commit to it. That little bit, made all the difference.
I have practiced even guided meditation before. I used go to a yoga center in my school days, when there was a guru who would guide the breathing exercises. But I was a young lad, and I used to challenge myself to holding my breath when instructions were given. So I would breathe in only every other time when the instruction to breathe-in was given. Then every third time. There is no mindfulness involved here. More of challenge accepted thing going on.
So there was definite value in this course. There's a fair amount of instruction as well, especially on how to be mindful in daily facets of life. There are anecdotes and stories to take the point home. That is distinctly "pravachan"-like. Without the wrapper of religion, thankfully. Depending on the mindset, some of these pointers might come across as inane, or illuminating, or as was the case with me, somewhere in between. I do acknowledge that I am not as "aware" of my thoughts as I ought to be. For e.g. just the other day, I was really fuming that my almost-4-year-old would not follow an instruction I had for her. It took an effort to step back and realize just how angry I was feeling. Something, which I might have realized maybe after two days, or not at all, if I hadn't been listening to this course in that period as well. Still, I can't imagine being mindful about every single thing we do in life. Sometimes you really do need to delegate your thinking to system 1, as Kahneman calls it.
I do wish the narration was a little faster. I generally listened to it at 1.25x the normal speed, except the exercise. Perhaps there's an insight about patience there... but really, the normal speed felt unnaturally slow, and, actually, uneven. Because Muesse would suddenly pick up speed for a couple of words and slow down again. Well, he is a professor, not an actor or something, so can't except narration to be flawless here.
In the end, after a couple of weeks of practicing breathing meditation, I certainly feel a lot more collected and calm. The trick is to keep doing it of course. Not take a break and wait for a tectonic upheaval to then meditate to try and magically remedy the ensuing anxiety. The idea is to be mindful, and prepare for that calamity, that eventually strikes everyone in some shape and form.
December 8, 2013
My personal favorite introduction to mindfulness. Although religion is mentioned in some chapters, it's not a religious book at all.
I know that the style of the author doesn't suit everyone. He's a university professor and therefore he might at times be perceived as pedantic. I'm still a big fan of his courses. I find them to be deep, yet simple to follow and very lively.
I know that the style of the author doesn't suit everyone. He's a university professor and therefore he might at times be perceived as pedantic. I'm still a big fan of his courses. I find them to be deep, yet simple to follow and very lively.
October 1, 2014
I don't think I could ask for a better introduction to Mindfulness. The narrator is captivating and mixes theory with exercises (included guided meditation). I'm going to let this sink in and then listen to it again.
September 6, 2020
A road to a different world, mindfulness reveals a way to balance your life through meditation and being aware of your surroundings. The author doesn't label himself with any religion because he wants to stay open. I agree with him when he says that once you take a religion and advocate for it, it's hard to switch sides. He does mention God and Budha but doesn't pressure the reader to believe in any of them, just to learn from their teachings.
I did mostly listen to this audio book while in the gym, calming me down after a day of work. It comes with a lot of life stories, which are sometimes pragmatic, sometimes exaggerated in order to show a truth. Most of the times, the stories are also funny. Two short stories follow, marked as spoilers.
1.
2.
I've learned about the 5 aspirations of Budha teachings, which I'd like to keep as a note for future:
This book covers a lot of life topics, out of which I will mention two examples.
1. Freud's Pleasure Principle: people tend to grasp the things that they enjoy and evade the things that don't enjoy. It's only human, but avoiding pain all through our life sounds like we're running from life rather than living. It is important to also deal with things we don't enjoy, so we can enjoy life.
2. Perfectionism: Perfectionism can hurt, but it can also help you through life. Rather than trying to eliminate perfectionism, just embrace it and use it for your benefit. Thinking more about it, trying to eliminate perfectionism may be just another form of perfectionism. This is one more reason to just embrace your perfectionism.
The book does also touch sensitive topics and treats them with care: it is generally accepted that Earth is a sphere, but it's inaccurate to say "I know Earth is a sphere" unless you have verified that yourself. If you din't verify the proof, it's better to say "I believe Earth is a sphere" because you trust the work of other people and it makes sense to you. Not knowing is ok. And the author does encourage practicing "not knowing", not in the sense of being ignorant, but being aware of your limitations.
Overall, I believe it is a very good read. What I like most is that it does teach how to be a good and kind human, without advocating for any religion.
I did mostly listen to this audio book while in the gym, calming me down after a day of work. It comes with a lot of life stories, which are sometimes pragmatic, sometimes exaggerated in order to show a truth. Most of the times, the stories are also funny. Two short stories follow, marked as spoilers.
1.
2.
I've learned about the 5 aspirations of Budha teachings, which I'd like to keep as a note for future:
1. I will endeavour not to harm sentient beings.
2. I will endeavour not to steal.
3. I will endeavour not to misuse sexuality.
4. I will endeavour not to use false speech.
5. I will endeavour not to consume toxins.
This book covers a lot of life topics, out of which I will mention two examples.
1. Freud's Pleasure Principle: people tend to grasp the things that they enjoy and evade the things that don't enjoy. It's only human, but avoiding pain all through our life sounds like we're running from life rather than living. It is important to also deal with things we don't enjoy, so we can enjoy life.
2. Perfectionism: Perfectionism can hurt, but it can also help you through life. Rather than trying to eliminate perfectionism, just embrace it and use it for your benefit. Thinking more about it, trying to eliminate perfectionism may be just another form of perfectionism. This is one more reason to just embrace your perfectionism.
The book does also touch sensitive topics and treats them with care: it is generally accepted that Earth is a sphere, but it's inaccurate to say "I know Earth is a sphere" unless you have verified that yourself. If you din't verify the proof, it's better to say "I believe Earth is a sphere" because you trust the work of other people and it makes sense to you. Not knowing is ok. And the author does encourage practicing "not knowing", not in the sense of being ignorant, but being aware of your limitations.
Overall, I believe it is a very good read. What I like most is that it does teach how to be a good and kind human, without advocating for any religion.
November 8, 2017
I enjoy much of what I read here. Regarding the structure of the text you could say their was a lot of redundancy since before every transcribed lecture was all organized something like bullet points from much of the main ideas from the lecture and then afterwards was a transcription of the lecture which the bullet points were taken from. This could get annoying for readers but I found it helpful that it would recommit to memory the bullet points as you breeze through the transcription. Also, the transcribed lecture includes anecdotes and quotations from important religious texts that aren't included often under the bullet points before the lecture's transcription which I thought were very neat areas of the influences from the canon of Buddhism and similar other religious texts and anecdotes.
Philosophically, there's a lot that's similar to stoicism so if you're familiar with it you'll certainly see certain family resemblances. However this book is a much more a practical guide and should be look at not as a philosophical text, though their is an obvious nod to its philosophical background, but mainly as a guide to the practice of mindful meditation.
In regards to the meditation practice, what you gather are small techniques which help realize certain 'insights' about ourselves and the world around us. Using very basic techniques first; smaller tasks carry bigger significance as you begin thinking about the practice of these techniques and regard them mindfully as you think of their significance to larger aspects of our life.
For example, sitting and meditating for 45minutes under very conscious circumstances to be thinking about only the way your breath is done in and out without interrupting thoughts or discomfort, boredom, etc isn't very natural or easy to accomplish. This is something you can 'will' yourself to do, mentally prepare yourself. However much of 'you' wont enjoy this task or schedule for it every day. In fact 'you' will be the main reason 'you' wont be able to easily preform it. Doesn't this encourage the thought that our minds don't always lead our bodies to follow our decisions?
This small example leads to some of the small 'insights' that much of our conscious choices aren't choices we make easily without other influences shaping how we rationalize our decisions, and thereafter its consequences. Meditation in practice is to set you up for mild difficulties of choice and to challenge our effort to realize the difficulties of these simple tasks and to release its tension. By focusing on each particular difficulty, Processing them mindfully as part of ourselves, accepting it but also maintaining our habits to return to our simple task, we continue our cultivation of a certain behavior and habituates us to the practice making it far less difficult then before.
This leads to a couple insights that we learn about ourselves and how easily we fall away from our own choices and conscious decisions due to other factors. Hopefully later leading one to be more mindful of those affect, accepting them, and releasing there tendency to change our original conscious decision and remain steadfast and unaffected. But also leading someone to recognize something about yourself.
There are also other subjective feeling produced which relates to a serene, or pleasantness in disposition which people might enjoy from this practice of meditation.
Overall it's a good introduction and practical guide. The act of reading it leads one to mindfully regard much of the slog to continue reading it past the redundancy, but by releasing the tension, and finishing the book you'll stand more mindful...hopefully?
Philosophically, there's a lot that's similar to stoicism so if you're familiar with it you'll certainly see certain family resemblances. However this book is a much more a practical guide and should be look at not as a philosophical text, though their is an obvious nod to its philosophical background, but mainly as a guide to the practice of mindful meditation.
In regards to the meditation practice, what you gather are small techniques which help realize certain 'insights' about ourselves and the world around us. Using very basic techniques first; smaller tasks carry bigger significance as you begin thinking about the practice of these techniques and regard them mindfully as you think of their significance to larger aspects of our life.
For example, sitting and meditating for 45minutes under very conscious circumstances to be thinking about only the way your breath is done in and out without interrupting thoughts or discomfort, boredom, etc isn't very natural or easy to accomplish. This is something you can 'will' yourself to do, mentally prepare yourself. However much of 'you' wont enjoy this task or schedule for it every day. In fact 'you' will be the main reason 'you' wont be able to easily preform it. Doesn't this encourage the thought that our minds don't always lead our bodies to follow our decisions?
This small example leads to some of the small 'insights' that much of our conscious choices aren't choices we make easily without other influences shaping how we rationalize our decisions, and thereafter its consequences. Meditation in practice is to set you up for mild difficulties of choice and to challenge our effort to realize the difficulties of these simple tasks and to release its tension. By focusing on each particular difficulty, Processing them mindfully as part of ourselves, accepting it but also maintaining our habits to return to our simple task, we continue our cultivation of a certain behavior and habituates us to the practice making it far less difficult then before.
This leads to a couple insights that we learn about ourselves and how easily we fall away from our own choices and conscious decisions due to other factors. Hopefully later leading one to be more mindful of those affect, accepting them, and releasing there tendency to change our original conscious decision and remain steadfast and unaffected. But also leading someone to recognize something about yourself.
There are also other subjective feeling produced which relates to a serene, or pleasantness in disposition which people might enjoy from this practice of meditation.
Overall it's a good introduction and practical guide. The act of reading it leads one to mindfully regard much of the slog to continue reading it past the redundancy, but by releasing the tension, and finishing the book you'll stand more mindful...hopefully?
March 18, 2023
I have been practicing mindfulness and meditation for years. I was introduced to the concepts mostly through the efforts of Sam Harris. I had practiced using his Waking Up app course and read his wonderful book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. Not to mention the other materials I have indulged in on the subject Being a big fan of The Great Courses and having taken some courses with Mark W. Muesse, a professor from Texas, I had to check this one out. Mark has some great lectures out there like Great World Religions: Hinduism and Religions Of The Axial Age: An Approach To The World's Religions, which I recommend. I look forward to getting to his course Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad also. In his course Professor Muesse covers many different aspects of Mindfulness practice and offers some exercises as well. I appreciate Mark's vulnerability in this as he highlights the compassion needed towards others and yourself. I recommend this if you are just learning mindfulness and meditation. There are many thing I have taken away from this course that will have utility in my life. NAMASTE!
October 28, 2017
I have read a lot of books, attended a lot of courses, seen a lot of doctors and can say that a great many of the authors/instructors/doctors have said that practicing medication is a very good thing to create a sense of calmness and even promote good health. None of these people ever gave instructions on HOW to meditate. I tried teaching myself but frankly was not very good at it.
When I saw this 24 lesson course offered on The Great Course web site it was like providence sent me to the site and caused my eyes to see this course out of the hundreds being offered. Or in other words, it was meant to be.
I listened and watched all 24 lessons. When a course or book causes you to periodically pause and just think about what you have just heard/watched, that in my opinion is a GREAT COURSE/BOOK/VIDEO! This is a GREAT COURSE/VIDEO. It is so much more than I had anticipated receiving and that is another measure of a good course/book/video. I can say without a doubt that I now know how to meditate and it is not what I thought it was going to be. The course offers so much more than just how to meditate - it is about life in general.
I could not write anything that would truly embody my strong recommendation that everyone should take the course if for no other reason than it gets you to think about life like you may never have before. My test of value is very simple. Would I recommend others taking the course? ABSOLUTELY! Would I take the course again? DEFINITELY and will. Would I buy it as a gift for others? DEFINITELY and probably will. It is definitely a path towards a greater peace of mind!
When I saw this 24 lesson course offered on The Great Course web site it was like providence sent me to the site and caused my eyes to see this course out of the hundreds being offered. Or in other words, it was meant to be.
I listened and watched all 24 lessons. When a course or book causes you to periodically pause and just think about what you have just heard/watched, that in my opinion is a GREAT COURSE/BOOK/VIDEO! This is a GREAT COURSE/VIDEO. It is so much more than I had anticipated receiving and that is another measure of a good course/book/video. I can say without a doubt that I now know how to meditate and it is not what I thought it was going to be. The course offers so much more than just how to meditate - it is about life in general.
I could not write anything that would truly embody my strong recommendation that everyone should take the course if for no other reason than it gets you to think about life like you may never have before. My test of value is very simple. Would I recommend others taking the course? ABSOLUTELY! Would I take the course again? DEFINITELY and will. Would I buy it as a gift for others? DEFINITELY and probably will. It is definitely a path towards a greater peace of mind!
August 26, 2024
I lost interest in this course early on, but didn't want to give up on it. So, I continued listening by sampling each of the remaining 23 lectures. Therefore, my review isn't complete and may in fact be unfair.
My main beef is that the material is intertwined with religious notions, often in indirect or subtle ways. The main message is that mindfulness requires much resolve and effort, whereas, counterintuitively, mindlessness, our default setting, entails a great deal of thinking, judging, and worrying. Our inner voices continuously comment on and judge everything we encounter, preventing us from focusing on our experiences and other important matters.
Left alone, the human mind tends to go to one of two places: The past or the future. We seldom focus on or engage with the present. We are often not in control of our minds and can't turn off the annoying inner voices. Aspects of mindfulness include awareness, relinquishing preconceptions, morality, focusing on breathing, wisdom, compassion, embracing our flaws & physical discomforts, giving, minding our language, cooling our anger, learning to accept loss, and living in the face of death.
Titles of the 24 lectures and a brief description of each lecture can be found at:
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/cours...
I enjoyed and recommend a previous read on meditation: Sam Harris's second book on the subject, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book, which I have reviewed on GoodReads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My main beef is that the material is intertwined with religious notions, often in indirect or subtle ways. The main message is that mindfulness requires much resolve and effort, whereas, counterintuitively, mindlessness, our default setting, entails a great deal of thinking, judging, and worrying. Our inner voices continuously comment on and judge everything we encounter, preventing us from focusing on our experiences and other important matters.
Left alone, the human mind tends to go to one of two places: The past or the future. We seldom focus on or engage with the present. We are often not in control of our minds and can't turn off the annoying inner voices. Aspects of mindfulness include awareness, relinquishing preconceptions, morality, focusing on breathing, wisdom, compassion, embracing our flaws & physical discomforts, giving, minding our language, cooling our anger, learning to accept loss, and living in the face of death.
Titles of the 24 lectures and a brief description of each lecture can be found at:
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/cours...
I enjoyed and recommend a previous read on meditation: Sam Harris's second book on the subject, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book, which I have reviewed on GoodReads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 30, 2020
This is a phenomenal introductory course to mindfulness and meditative practice.
Muesse produces a potent mixture of theory, wisdom, and practice that is accessible for all levels of those looking into mindfulness. I was inspired by his passion for the practice as well.
Well worth your time if you are interested in finding some serenity in this life or are just interested in what this whole "mindfulness" thing is all about.
My Key Takeaways
* The most important thing about practicing mindfulness is: Just do it. It’s difficult to get started sometimes, and it’s difficult to continue, but the rewards are immeasurable.
* Boredom is a problem of awareness, not the lack of external stimulation.
* Only the complete acceptance of suffering leads to its end. To accept suffering, rather than flee from it, requires courage—the determination to look at difficulty straight in the eye. Courage is the fundamental attitude for facing problems
* Most of us seek happiness in two basic ways: the first is by acquisition, which is the preferred method in the modern world, and the second is by aversion, which is trying to avoid unpleasant situations.
* Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, said: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
Muesse produces a potent mixture of theory, wisdom, and practice that is accessible for all levels of those looking into mindfulness. I was inspired by his passion for the practice as well.
Well worth your time if you are interested in finding some serenity in this life or are just interested in what this whole "mindfulness" thing is all about.
My Key Takeaways
* The most important thing about practicing mindfulness is: Just do it. It’s difficult to get started sometimes, and it’s difficult to continue, but the rewards are immeasurable.
* Boredom is a problem of awareness, not the lack of external stimulation.
* Only the complete acceptance of suffering leads to its end. To accept suffering, rather than flee from it, requires courage—the determination to look at difficulty straight in the eye. Courage is the fundamental attitude for facing problems
* Most of us seek happiness in two basic ways: the first is by acquisition, which is the preferred method in the modern world, and the second is by aversion, which is trying to avoid unpleasant situations.
* Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, said: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
March 13, 2021
I am so enjoying this book, learning a few things I didn't know or think about.
Meditation is helping.
I am between 4 and 5 stars on this book.
Will this book help all the time or everyone maybe not but it is helping me.
My meditation position is laying like a vampire.
I shower and have my comfy sleep clothes on
and I lay down breath in and sink into my bed and look at my bookshelves and then
I have this one book that I love love the cover and it's my focal point. (In case this may help you).
There's no wrong way to meditate just not meditating.
I felt lesson 8 really helped a lot being aware of the body and then the Tangerine
lesson that was great just helping me live in the moment and be aware of my being.
I also enjoyed learning the walking meditation this is really going to be helpful at work.
Lesson 17 Compassion and Wishing All People well. Good OUT Good In (obviously death is inevitable) but, we can strive for our best.
Fear of Death we all think thoughts and have fears of it. I have been struggling.
We can meditate on our death to become so familiar with
our death then we have less fear and can live. (Thankfulness for each breath).
1. I will age 2. I may have illness 3. I will die 4. I will be separated from all that I know and love. 5. Whatever I do for good or ill I will reap. (death is inevitable).
Meditation I find for me brings acceptance, peace, awareness and calm for me.
I do hope when I need the lessons in this book they will pop into my mind.
I will continue to meditate.
I believe I will have to purchase a copy of this book.
Meditation is helping.
I am between 4 and 5 stars on this book.
Will this book help all the time or everyone maybe not but it is helping me.
My meditation position is laying like a vampire.
I shower and have my comfy sleep clothes on
and I lay down breath in and sink into my bed and look at my bookshelves and then
I have this one book that I love love the cover and it's my focal point. (In case this may help you).
There's no wrong way to meditate just not meditating.
I felt lesson 8 really helped a lot being aware of the body and then the Tangerine
lesson that was great just helping me live in the moment and be aware of my being.
I also enjoyed learning the walking meditation this is really going to be helpful at work.
Lesson 17 Compassion and Wishing All People well. Good OUT Good In (obviously death is inevitable) but, we can strive for our best.
Fear of Death we all think thoughts and have fears of it. I have been struggling.
We can meditate on our death to become so familiar with
our death then we have less fear and can live. (Thankfulness for each breath).
1. I will age 2. I may have illness 3. I will die 4. I will be separated from all that I know and love. 5. Whatever I do for good or ill I will reap. (death is inevitable).
Meditation I find for me brings acceptance, peace, awareness and calm for me.
I do hope when I need the lessons in this book they will pop into my mind.
I will continue to meditate.
I believe I will have to purchase a copy of this book.
June 10, 2018
This audible book (not available as a book or kindle) deserves 5 stars as per my view.
This book works for a beginner & intermediate meditation practicer, it builds up your knowledge about the meditation tradition after convincing you why you might need it & answers many questions around it.
The writer has touched upon an important psychological, ethical & philosophical topics that helps you in the practice & ensuring your success in the journey.
The book is extremely rich; Meditation, Eating, driving, walking, perfectness, grief, death, knowledge, dealing with people are all connected if you want to live a mindful life, that’s what this book teaches you.
You feel the influence of Buddhism on the writer although there are a real keen to keep an equal distance from all other believes.
This book is one of the few books that tells you WHAT the constructive & wholesome practice is; then -and most importantly- HOW to achieve it with the exact details of the practice and sometimes with a suggested timeline, which I personally like
Those quotes are my favorites from this book:
"Meditation is the essential instrument to reach mindfulness"
"The only thing that does not change is change it self"
"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, In the expert's mind there are few"
This book works for a beginner & intermediate meditation practicer, it builds up your knowledge about the meditation tradition after convincing you why you might need it & answers many questions around it.
The writer has touched upon an important psychological, ethical & philosophical topics that helps you in the practice & ensuring your success in the journey.
The book is extremely rich; Meditation, Eating, driving, walking, perfectness, grief, death, knowledge, dealing with people are all connected if you want to live a mindful life, that’s what this book teaches you.
You feel the influence of Buddhism on the writer although there are a real keen to keep an equal distance from all other believes.
This book is one of the few books that tells you WHAT the constructive & wholesome practice is; then -and most importantly- HOW to achieve it with the exact details of the practice and sometimes with a suggested timeline, which I personally like
Those quotes are my favorites from this book:
"Meditation is the essential instrument to reach mindfulness"
"The only thing that does not change is change it self"
"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, In the expert's mind there are few"
August 19, 2023
If you've done meditation/mindfulness before, this book may be a bit basic. Such was the case with me, but the basics were primarily in the first third of the book. The author then gives some sound instruction around dealing with grief, anger, pain and other major topics and how mindfulness can help deal with these areas more effectively and positively. Compassion is a big theme throughout the book which I appreciate. The author mentions the Buddah in pretty much every chapter as well as quotes from other prominent thought leaders throughout history. I look forward to going back to specific chapters in this book as needed when confronted with various challenges which he addresses. That is one of the great takeaways from this book, a continual reference guide to which I can refer in the future practice of my mindfulness activities. Mindfulness is a lot more than meditating. Read this book and you will find out why.
May 7, 2020
I have listened to the Audible version of this course. Unfortunately, I could not get into this at all. It reminds me too much of extremely boring lectures taught by well-meaning yet extremely mundane professors at college. I do not think it is the content that is the issue. The lectures are delivered in a very monotonic fashion as if they are read directly off scripts (I'm sure they are). On the good side, the accompanying PDF provides a useful, extensive summary of the overall content, which might be more useful and quicker than listening to the whole content.
I might revisit this course when I have ample time and have exhausted the other meditation resources that I'm meaning to use, but the college-style lectures don't seem very effective to me. They literally put me to sleep, not to the state of meditation.
I might revisit this course when I have ample time and have exhausted the other meditation resources that I'm meaning to use, but the college-style lectures don't seem very effective to me. They literally put me to sleep, not to the state of meditation.
December 31, 2020
I wanted to learn a little about the catch-phrase of mindfulness. I did learn a little. In some ways, it makes sense and in other ways it does not make sense like many other religious ideas.
To start, non-falsifiability. The instructor alludes to certain benefits of meditation and mindfulness but also asserts that you have to let go of your expectations in order to realize them. Essentially, if you don't find a reduction in stress or whatever drew you to investigate mindfulness then it must be because you never let go of that expectation.
However, the instructor does go through at some length the philosophy of mindfulness and we must presume this is why people were interested in the course to begin with. In this way, it is informative and it must also be added that adopting some of these beliefs would probably be beneficial to people wishing to give it a go.
To start, non-falsifiability. The instructor alludes to certain benefits of meditation and mindfulness but also asserts that you have to let go of your expectations in order to realize them. Essentially, if you don't find a reduction in stress or whatever drew you to investigate mindfulness then it must be because you never let go of that expectation.
However, the instructor does go through at some length the philosophy of mindfulness and we must presume this is why people were interested in the course to begin with. In this way, it is informative and it must also be added that adopting some of these beliefs would probably be beneficial to people wishing to give it a go.
January 20, 2021
Disclaimer: Most of the course I listened at 2,5X speed.
To be honest - up until the very end I did not understand who was the target audience. It was definitely meant for middle or high class people grown up in the privileged west. However what was confusing was that it was meant as an introduction (and yes, the second part served more like an introduction), there were many parts where I felt it was more directed towards a person who's ready to become a monk.
What I did like about it was that there were examples from the religious texts but also of real life people and situations. It also did not try to push for one certain way of meditation but rather served different options of meditation.
To be honest - up until the very end I did not understand who was the target audience. It was definitely meant for middle or high class people grown up in the privileged west. However what was confusing was that it was meant as an introduction (and yes, the second part served more like an introduction), there were many parts where I felt it was more directed towards a person who's ready to become a monk.
What I did like about it was that there were examples from the religious texts but also of real life people and situations. It also did not try to push for one certain way of meditation but rather served different options of meditation.
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