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Mindfulness and Madness: Money, Food, Sex And The Sacred
Mindfulness and Madness explains how to get spiritually sober through the practice of meditation integrated with straightforward psychological processes. It clarifies the fine line between presence and absence, between direct contact with our immediate situation as opposed to the 'madness', of being elsewhere, distracted and confused by a multiplicity of choices. The book shows how to approach our everyday life without armor, and how to meet the world's nakedness with our own.
Each chapter provides step-by-step instruction on how to make friends with our 'demons' by shining the light of awareness into our own darkness, our hidden fears of not being enough. Mindfulness and Madness explains the Buddhist alchemy of personality, and provides instruction for how to effectively transform neurosis into sanity, self-intoxication into sobriety.
Each chapter provides step-by-step instruction on how to make friends with our 'demons' by shining the light of awareness into our own darkness, our hidden fears of not being enough. Mindfulness and Madness explains the Buddhist alchemy of personality, and provides instruction for how to effectively transform neurosis into sanity, self-intoxication into sobriety.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 6, 2015
This deceptively slender volume fits in my purse, and has been a bit of a companion this month. In it I read--it is my very self that can be the solution to a hectic day: "To be fully present open, free of whirling thoughts and inner conversations, is to experience oneself as a clearing in a thicket of tangential thoughts." (p.3) How beautiful and true. One can pick virtually any paragraph, and it makes a point...not a lot of fat here. Using it like this, it is like a guide to wake up here-and-now; it has funny bits -- and like a novel in some parts--describing moments and people with narrative. But just to point to the larger truth; to not go crazy with our thoughts and habits, to illustrate wasting energy and feeling nuts; and the 3rd noble truth: we don't need to live that way if we practice mindful awareness. Dipping in to this book had brought me great joy this month and will, I believe, also provide balm as I practice in the future.
March 4, 2016
I love this book! "Because so many of us are challenged by our own fear of survival, we need to cultivate an attitude of courage. This means not being afraid of who we are. When we feel afraid of ourselves we also feel threatened by the world....It takes courage to sit and face our fears and our depressions, to discover the deepest elements of mind and body without trying to change them, in order to see the truth of 'what is'."
Thank you Ira, for sharing your brilliance and clarity. I am very grateful. With LOVE!!
Thank you Ira, for sharing your brilliance and clarity. I am very grateful. With LOVE!!
November 5, 2015
An American Buddhist teacher, meditator and psychologist finally clarifies the difference between mindfulness and awareness. Even better, In this remarkable and timely book, he translates concepts from the dharma into principles for
achieving emotional and spiritual health in Western society. If you are struggling to apply Buddhist teaching to yourself,
and your relationships, this long-overdue book will help.
achieving emotional and spiritual health in Western society. If you are struggling to apply Buddhist teaching to yourself,
and your relationships, this long-overdue book will help.
October 20, 2017
Wonderfully written. Clear. And inspiring. Want to hear this teacher in person. A combination of Eastern and Western Buddhism thoughts.
March 25, 2016
I started reading "Mindfulness and Madness" in December, and it took me this long to finish it -- not because of the number of pages (175) but because of its depth. This is not a book to be inhaled quickly and put on a shelf; it is a book to be imbibed slowly, as one would a hot cuppa Darjeeling tea, sitting in front of a fire -- in this case, the fire of wisdom and compassion that flows through these words.
Even before I opened to the first page, I sat admiring the look and smooth feel of the cover: a bronze gold work of art with this incredibly serene and tranquil face of the Buddha gazing inward. That the publishers took such artistic care with the cover told me they might also take great care with what they choose to put between the covers. I was not disappointed.
It is easy to see that Ira Rechtshaffer is a longtime practitioner of that which he writes. I've for a long time wanted to learn more about Buddhist practices, since my own spiritual path took a different turn. In his Introduction, he says, "The key to Buddhist mindfulness practice is to remember to let go of what we just noticed and to place our whole attention on what is arising in each succeeding moment." Isn't that beautiful, succinct and clear? Isn’t there so much to be learned just from that one sentence? This is how the whole book is written!
Even though it is written so the novice can easily follow it, it is also deep and meaningful enough for those who consider themselves to be "advanced." Often, I would close my eyes, ponder what I'd just read, and let the deeper meaning sink into my heart and enlighten me.
I am right now looking through the text, to choose a paragraph to include here. Problem is, which one? Now that I have "finished" the book, I find I am not finished. This is a text I want to carry with me as a Guide. I find I can open to any page and find just what I need in that moment. It helps my day go more smoothly, especially if I am feeling grumpy or irritable because life is not going the way I want it to go.
I enjoy also the humor -- the humor being that I see my own fragmented self written down in black and white, and I can only smile. The words so hit home that I find I am having the very experience I am reading about the very moment I am reading about it! This allows new awakenings to happen within me in the moment! It helps me see how meaningless are many of the things that I give meaning to.
Something special about Dr. Rechtshaffer's writing is the way he integrates eastern teachings with the practice of psychology and psychotherapy in the west -- making this book an invaluable guide for anyone who is in practice as a psychotherapist -- or hopes to be. I'd love to see this book as a college textbook, and wish it had been included when I was in graduate school obtaining my own degree.
While you need some intelligence to read the book, it is not an academic book strictly for the mind. The teachings of mindfulness are applied to everyday life. This is its strongest benefit, I would say. You get something of lasting value. Money, food, and sex are certainly visceral components of our psyche and society, and -- the title adds -- “and the sacred.” Ira’s writing takes all of this into account, hence: “money, food, sex, and the sacred.”
Even if you do not practice mindfulness meditation now, you may feel guided to do so after reading about the many benefits. That years of practice can create such an understanding, such compassion as the author is able to convey in his writing, is certainly an incentive to grab a cushion.
I am grateful I have come across this book and will certainly recommend it to my own clients. It is also a great gift that has lasting value, one I’d feel good about giving to others.
Thank you, Ira Rechtshaffer, for your years of experience and practice -- the back of the book says 40 years! -- which have made this book possible today. I look forward to your next!
Even before I opened to the first page, I sat admiring the look and smooth feel of the cover: a bronze gold work of art with this incredibly serene and tranquil face of the Buddha gazing inward. That the publishers took such artistic care with the cover told me they might also take great care with what they choose to put between the covers. I was not disappointed.
It is easy to see that Ira Rechtshaffer is a longtime practitioner of that which he writes. I've for a long time wanted to learn more about Buddhist practices, since my own spiritual path took a different turn. In his Introduction, he says, "The key to Buddhist mindfulness practice is to remember to let go of what we just noticed and to place our whole attention on what is arising in each succeeding moment." Isn't that beautiful, succinct and clear? Isn’t there so much to be learned just from that one sentence? This is how the whole book is written!
Even though it is written so the novice can easily follow it, it is also deep and meaningful enough for those who consider themselves to be "advanced." Often, I would close my eyes, ponder what I'd just read, and let the deeper meaning sink into my heart and enlighten me.
I am right now looking through the text, to choose a paragraph to include here. Problem is, which one? Now that I have "finished" the book, I find I am not finished. This is a text I want to carry with me as a Guide. I find I can open to any page and find just what I need in that moment. It helps my day go more smoothly, especially if I am feeling grumpy or irritable because life is not going the way I want it to go.
I enjoy also the humor -- the humor being that I see my own fragmented self written down in black and white, and I can only smile. The words so hit home that I find I am having the very experience I am reading about the very moment I am reading about it! This allows new awakenings to happen within me in the moment! It helps me see how meaningless are many of the things that I give meaning to.
Something special about Dr. Rechtshaffer's writing is the way he integrates eastern teachings with the practice of psychology and psychotherapy in the west -- making this book an invaluable guide for anyone who is in practice as a psychotherapist -- or hopes to be. I'd love to see this book as a college textbook, and wish it had been included when I was in graduate school obtaining my own degree.
While you need some intelligence to read the book, it is not an academic book strictly for the mind. The teachings of mindfulness are applied to everyday life. This is its strongest benefit, I would say. You get something of lasting value. Money, food, and sex are certainly visceral components of our psyche and society, and -- the title adds -- “and the sacred.” Ira’s writing takes all of this into account, hence: “money, food, sex, and the sacred.”
Even if you do not practice mindfulness meditation now, you may feel guided to do so after reading about the many benefits. That years of practice can create such an understanding, such compassion as the author is able to convey in his writing, is certainly an incentive to grab a cushion.
I am grateful I have come across this book and will certainly recommend it to my own clients. It is also a great gift that has lasting value, one I’d feel good about giving to others.
Thank you, Ira Rechtshaffer, for your years of experience and practice -- the back of the book says 40 years! -- which have made this book possible today. I look forward to your next!
November 23, 2015
After more than 50 year on the spiritual path (Buddhist for most of it), its rare that one comes across a book on Buddhism that can deepen one's understanding of the teachings AND deepen one's understanding of the power of mindfulness to transform one's relationship to the phenomenal world, other people and oneself. This book is a brilliant introduction to Buddhist teachings and mindfulness practice that brings together these teachings and a solid understanding of Western psychology. I highly recommend it to those just beginning to practice mindfulness and to those who've been at it for many years. You won't be disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews