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Be an Island: The Buddhist Practice of Inner Peace
From the best-selling author of Being Nobody, Going Nowhere, Ayya Khema's Be an Island guides us along the path of Buddhist meditation with direct and practical advice, giving us contemplative tools to develop a healthy sense of personal being. Be an Island is at once an introduction to the teachings of Buddhism and a rich continuation of Ayya Khema's personal vision of Buddhist practice.
158 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 31, 2008
This book was more like a 4.5 for me. I enjoyed it enough and found the applications so practical and memorable that I got online and bought 2 other books of hers. She has also included a glossary at the back if you struggle with remembering what the different Buddhist terms mean.
This book deals with how to recognize how our thoughts can be the creation of the problem, how we need to be alert to these thoughts or they run rampant without our managing them and how we can let go and find that peace that we thought came by thinking our way through things. Having read a lot of Buddhist authors, she has found her way into one of my favorites. Clear. Insightful. Applicable.
April 10, 2016
I've enjoyed all of Ayya Khema's books so far, and at the moment this one might be my favourite. I feel like it's the simplest and most relevant for Buddhist noobs. Each chapter is quite short, so it would be easy to read one before a meditation session or in the morning to set the tone for your day.
Ayya's tone and writing is plain and direct. I get the impression she must have been like a stern, no-nonsense but caring grandmother :)
Ayya's tone and writing is plain and direct. I get the impression she must have been like a stern, no-nonsense but caring grandmother :)
April 23, 2011
Great book, probably only book one needs on the nuts and bolts of a spiritual practice. It will get you to square one, point in the right direction, though as some have said (and I agree) she is somewhat rigid in her thinking, probably a product of her discipline and the method of practice she inherited from her teacher. It is a clearly written book and an essential to the practitioner.
January 26, 2026
4.5 Ayya is my queen
July 11, 2026
"Full meditative absolutions are the means to an end, namely insight. If the mind cannot become one-pointed, insight will not arise. The mind will remain contracted, dull, hampered by obstructions. Our full potential arises when we can direct our minds at all times to wherever we wish. Only then does the totality of anicca, dukkha, and anattā become an inner reality. Until the reactions and obstructions have been removed from the mind there will be no room for new realizations" (105).
Anicca = impermanence
Dukkha = the unsatisfactory nature of existence / suffering
Anattā = non-self / non-ego / impersonality
To gain insight into these three precepts of Buddhism is the purpose of meditation. The reason there is dukkha in our lives is because we hold to the illusion that there is a self to experience suffering. The purpose of Theravada Buddhism, therefore, is to achieve non-self so as to free the mind from dukkha and to become an arahant (achieving deliverance of mind in this life). To achieve this non-self, one must practice the concentration of the mind so as to purify the mind from reactions, desires, thoughts, and cravings.
To achieve peace we must recognize that everything is fleeting and therefore cannot provide lasting satisfaction. Our thoughts, cravings, reactions, etcetera are all manifestations of dukkha, which keep us from the peace found in nothingness. This nothingness is not nihilistic nothingness, but rather the experience of not being weighed down by any mind movement. Meditation is not an act of adding to ourselves, but rather a stripping away. "We must not think that we need to add something to ourselves in order to become complete. We have to discard all our identifications. Then we become a whole person" (108). Khema continues, "Wanting nothing goes beyond not wanting, because one now accepts the reality that there is nothing worthwhile to be had" (129).
Realizing this 'nothing' comes from a strong effort of concentration not only during meditation, but in each waking moment—to notice thoughts and reactions, recognize the ephemeral nature of every moment, label thoughts and attitudes so as to decline ownership, and to let go of current clinging and future expectations.
Although I am not a Buddhist, I found this book to be incredibly interesting, as I had never read a book which laid out practical Buddhist doctrine so plainly (at least in the Theravada tradition). Despite not holding to doctrines such as reincarnation and the 31 planes of existence, I find the concepts of anicca, dukkha, and anattā to be self-evident. Furthermore, I find Ayya Khema's (or rather the Theravada tradition's) 'solution' to dukkha to be intuitive and practical. I believe more people would engage in effortful meditation if it weren't for skepticism of the practice's efficacy—people are justifiably suspicious of a practice which requires a lifetime of effort if they are not certain of the results. Nevertheless, I find enough in Khema's writing to recognize the remarkable impact of meditation in one's life, whether or not I believe all the doctrines laid out in this book. However, I believe Khema would say that is fine. In meditation we are meant to let go of our beliefs and opinions, so as to experience the truth of our existence.
Anicca = impermanence
Dukkha = the unsatisfactory nature of existence / suffering
Anattā = non-self / non-ego / impersonality
To gain insight into these three precepts of Buddhism is the purpose of meditation. The reason there is dukkha in our lives is because we hold to the illusion that there is a self to experience suffering. The purpose of Theravada Buddhism, therefore, is to achieve non-self so as to free the mind from dukkha and to become an arahant (achieving deliverance of mind in this life). To achieve this non-self, one must practice the concentration of the mind so as to purify the mind from reactions, desires, thoughts, and cravings.
To achieve peace we must recognize that everything is fleeting and therefore cannot provide lasting satisfaction. Our thoughts, cravings, reactions, etcetera are all manifestations of dukkha, which keep us from the peace found in nothingness. This nothingness is not nihilistic nothingness, but rather the experience of not being weighed down by any mind movement. Meditation is not an act of adding to ourselves, but rather a stripping away. "We must not think that we need to add something to ourselves in order to become complete. We have to discard all our identifications. Then we become a whole person" (108). Khema continues, "Wanting nothing goes beyond not wanting, because one now accepts the reality that there is nothing worthwhile to be had" (129).
Realizing this 'nothing' comes from a strong effort of concentration not only during meditation, but in each waking moment—to notice thoughts and reactions, recognize the ephemeral nature of every moment, label thoughts and attitudes so as to decline ownership, and to let go of current clinging and future expectations.
Although I am not a Buddhist, I found this book to be incredibly interesting, as I had never read a book which laid out practical Buddhist doctrine so plainly (at least in the Theravada tradition). Despite not holding to doctrines such as reincarnation and the 31 planes of existence, I find the concepts of anicca, dukkha, and anattā to be self-evident. Furthermore, I find Ayya Khema's (or rather the Theravada tradition's) 'solution' to dukkha to be intuitive and practical. I believe more people would engage in effortful meditation if it weren't for skepticism of the practice's efficacy—people are justifiably suspicious of a practice which requires a lifetime of effort if they are not certain of the results. Nevertheless, I find enough in Khema's writing to recognize the remarkable impact of meditation in one's life, whether or not I believe all the doctrines laid out in this book. However, I believe Khema would say that is fine. In meditation we are meant to let go of our beliefs and opinions, so as to experience the truth of our existence.
February 7, 2024
"Be an Island" is a collection of essays that capsulate those important teachings in Buddhism. Where among other things, the author emphasizes the importance of remaining in the present moment and becoming independent of one's practice through looking inward for spiritual guidance rather than searching elsewhere. The author has that rare facility of breaking down those important Buddhist precepts in simple and easy terms that one can easily understand. I would highly recommend this book.
December 23, 2010
It took me a while to get used to her jargon and her use of Pali rather than Sanskrit.
September 5, 2013
Life changing!!! Love <3 Ayya Khema
January 31, 2015
Love this little book. Such succinct teachings by one of the great teachers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews