Intuitive Awareness

by Ajahn Sumedho

This book is compiled from talks given mostly in 2001 by Ajahn Sumedho; they convey an intuitive understanding of the Buddha's teaching which has arisen from over 35 years of practice as a Buddhist monk.

This approach starts with accepting ourselves as we are, not as some ideal of whom we think we should be. By doing this a relaxation can take place that creates space for insight to arise.

Meditation can mean all kinds of things. It's a word that includes any kind of mental practices, good or bad. For his part, Sumedho means meditation as centering, that sense of establishing, resting in the center. The only way that one can really do that is not to try and think about it and analyse it; you have to trust in just a simple act of attention, of awareness.

Genres: Buddhism, Philosophy, Spirituality

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ajahn Sumedho was born Robert Jackamn in Seattle, Washington in 1934. He was raised as Anglican and from 1951 to 1953 studied Chinese and history at the University of Washington. He served as a medic for the US Navy until returning to the University to ccomplete a BA in Far Eastern Studies in 1959. In 1966 he went to Thailand and was ordained as a novice Buddhist; in 1967 he received a full ordination.

Reviews

[Zyra · Rating 1 out of 5]

too much about author's personal experience & too little about awarness.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of talks that Ajahn Sumedho gave during a long retreat at his monastery in England. The audience for the original talks was made up of ordained monks and nuns engaged in intensive insight meditation practice, and so the book is really a collection of advice on how to do hard-core spiritual practice without killing yourself/going crazy/giving up/going nowhere/whatever. There's a fair amount of actual practical advice given on how to meditate, with reference to a concept or style that Aj. Sumedho calls "intuitive awareness" or "listening to the sound of silence." To anyone who's not already into some form of spiritual practice, this advice might sound like incomprehensible or meaningless gibberish. So it's one of the few books on meditation that is intentionally not aimed at beginners. Aj. Sumedho's tone is comforting and humorous as always, not condescending or sticky-sweet. But still, the book is a collection of dharma talks, and therefore suffers from the shortcomings shared by all books that are collections of dharma talks. Namely, that if the author had sat down and written a book with the same content, that book would be more coherent and organized, and more accessible to the reader. However, as an edited volume with a distinct theme (advice for hard-core practitioners on retreat), Intuitive Awareness is a step or two more accessible than the archive of audio files of dharma talks available on Aj. Sumedho's website.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ajahn Sumedho is consistent with the message in his teachings. The world of concepts and dualism is not the truth. Sati Sampajanna - intuitive awareness and acceptance is the way to truth.

Observe everything without clinging to dualistic concepts of right and wrong, good to bad, let the relaxed and accepting intuitive awareness fully love and touch the experience. This is the way to truth

[Duc Anh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this long time ago while still being a minor. I don't remember much of it. May have to go back and reread

[Maurice Halton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maintaining mindful awareness, one of the fundamental goals of meditation, is meticulously dealt with from the Theravada perspective by Ajahn Sumedho.