Three Steps to Awakening: A Practice for Bringing Mindfulness to Life

by Larry Rosenberg, Laura Zimmerman

A unique, adaptable model for meditation practice that ties together elements of the various Buddhist traditions

The deceptively simple three-phase method presented in  Three Steps to Awakening  is a meditation practice that can be worked with for a lifetime. Larry Rosenberg looks to Zen, Insight Meditation, and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti to find three kinds of meditation that anyone can do and that complement each other in a wonderful (1) breath awareness, (2) breath as anchor, and (3) choiceless awareness.

Having the three methods in one’s repertoire gives one meditation resources for any life situation. In a time of stress, for example, one might use breath awareness exclusively. Or on an extended retreat, one might find choiceless awareness more appropriate. The three-step method has been taught to Larry’s students at the Cambridge Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for many years.

After teaching the three-step method, Larry goes on to show how to bring the awareness gained in meditation to the world off the cushion, into relationships and into all areas of daily life.

Genres: Buddhism, Meditation, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Audiobook

156 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2013

Reviews

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate the direct and simple approach to mindfulness and deepening my practice, especially in my day to day life. As in the previous book I read by the author, that directed the attention on breath work, this covered much of the same ground though expands the teaching of choiceless awareness, a concept I find intriguing as it was something I was intuitively doing. Listened to this while reading Rupert Spira’s Being Myself and found some wonderfully serendipitous teachings in both that dovetailed beautifully with each other, though both writers are coming at it from different perspectives. I love when that happens. I did find his book Breath by Breath, to resonate more for me, and this one is not quite on the same level. If I were to recommend a book by this author I would definitely recommend reading Breath by Breath, though this is good too.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important contribution to the literature of meditation. I've read many meditation books, and this may be the very best. Rosenberg creates a kind of Buddha-meets-Krishnamurti approach that should be welcomed and explored by beginners as well as seasoned practitioners. I'm sure I'll be coming back to this small but major volume in the future.

PS. Just re-read (yet again). This really is a great and important little book!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful. I had been reading about mindfulness of breathing for a while, and reading about choiceless awareness gave me a new way to look at insight meditation. I find Larry Rosenberg so approachable and similar to me in his mindset. That makes his books particularly easy for me to apply.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a terrible book but hardly any time is spent explaining the "three steps" to any great degree. Mostly it's just essays on either the trials of meditation or waffling anecdotes about learned wisdom which is interesting, but not what was advertised.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in practice from the beginning to fruition, this book by master teacher, Larry Rosenberg, can get you from here to here.

[Stevie Ada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Rosenberg utilizes his personal experiences to express ways that we can begin to cultivate awareness within ourselves while also allowing for detachment. Three Steps to Awakening: A Practice for Bringing Mindfulness to Life allows for a reaffirmation that the breathe and meditation are parts of life and that they allow for people to remain present as we are propelled into the past an in to the future by thoughts.

This particular book didn't land with me as much as other writings by Larry Rosenberg. It could be where I am at right now, it I could be that I just am not interested in this text as much.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

"meditation can be a way of life, not simply a collection of techniques reserved for special postures and places designated as ‘spiritual’.” This book helped me to bring my practice into everyday life

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply excellent.

[Amit Talpade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always looking for a few tips to enhance my practice. This did not disappoint.

[Holly Socolow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a dharma student and contemporary mindfulness teacher, I appreciate how Larry synthesized the Buddha's suttas on 1. inquiry and 2. mindfulness into a "three steps" model, accessible for anyone willing to undertake the journey of self understanding and living life fully. I must admit I was skeptical at first on how he was going to accomplish this. Larry's method is not reductionist, as I had feared, but managed to address all the key points with clarity and his signature humor into a model that is doable in our attention challenged culture. As much as I admired his 3 Steps approach, I thought his chapters toward the end on daily life and relationships really made the practices come alive and relevant for our times. The final chapter on meeting Krishnamurti is what really set this book apart from other dharma books and illuminated the discourse from within.

[William Bookman III · Rating 4 out of 5]

A yearly re-read.