Category: Observations

Selected Readings on Mindfulness and Meditation by Jim Martin

These are a few, of the many excellent titles available that we have found informative and well written on the topic of Buddhism,  Mindfulness and related subjects. This includes both nonfiction and fiction titles.

If you have a favorite book on these subjects  that you would like to recommend please leave the name of the book, details and any thoughts about the title as a comment and it will become part of the list.   If you have read any of the books on the list and wish to comment that is also appreciated.

 

Nonfiction

The Foundations of Buddhism – Rupert Gethin – © 1998 

ISBN 978-0-19-2892223-2 – Oxford University Press

The Foundations of Buddhism (Opus S)  

“Rupert Gethin is Lecturer in Indian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and co-director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, at the University of Bristol. He  is the author of The Buddhist Path to Awakening (1992) and is a specialist in Theravada Buddhism.”

“Buddhism is a vast and complex religious and philosophical tradition with a history that stretches back over 2,500 years. In this book, Rupert Gethin investigates the common threads connecting diverse traditions of Buddhist thought and practice: the story of the Buddha, the scriptural tradition of his teachings, the four noble truths, monastic and lay ways of life, karma and rebirth, ethics, meditation and philosophy. While concentrating on the formative phase of Buddhism in India, he also considers the ways in which these foundations have shaped the development of Buddhism beyond India and into the twentieth century.”

 

Mindfulness In Plain English – Bhante Gunaratana – © 2011

ISBN 978-0-86171-906-8 – Wisdom Publications

Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition

Bhante Gunaratana is also author of Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness, Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English and the memoir Journey to Mindfulness

“ A Masterpiece.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness In Plain English is said to be “one of the most influential books in the burgeoning field of mindfulness and a timeless classic introduction to meditation.”

Excerpts from Mindfulness In Plain English:

“Within the Judeo-Christian tradition we find two overlapping practices called prayer and contemplation. Prayer is a direct address to a spiritual entity. Contemplation is a prolonged period of conscious thought about a specific topic, usually a religious ideal or scriptural passage. From the standpoint of mental cultivation, both these activities are exercises in concentration.”

“Out of the Hindu tradition comes yogic meditation, which is also purely concentrative.”

“Within the Buddhist tradition concentration is also highly valued. But a new element is added and more highly stressed: the element of awareness. All Buddhist meditation aims at the development of awareness, using concentration as a tool toward that end.”

 

The Heart of Buddhist Meditation – The Buddha’s way of Mindfulness – Nyanaponika Thera

  © 1954, 1962, 1996 – Buddhist Publication Society – This edition published in 2014 by Weiser Books – ISBN 978-1-57863-558-0

The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: The Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness

Excerpt from Foreword, by Sylvia Boorstein, to The Heart of Buddhist Meditation:

“The Heart of Buddhist Meditation was the first serious, didactic Dharma book I read. It was the early nineteen-eighties. My teacher, Jack Kornfield, suggested it as the beginning of formal training to become a Mindfulness teacher. “

“Apart from the meticulous yet accessible writing style with which the Venerable Nyanaponika builds every point, I feel a warmth and friendliness in his tone that makes me feel as if he is talking to me.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn writes: “This is the book that introduced Vipassana and Mindfulness to the West. Its content is timeless — and universal. All teachers of mindfulness-based programs would do well to carefully red and re-read this book…”

 

Full Catastrophe Living – JonKabat-Zinn – Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness 

Revised and updated Edition © 1990, 2013 by Jon Kabat-Zinn – Published in the United States by Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-345-53693-8

Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

“Stress. It can sap our energy, undermine our health, even shorten our lives. It makes us more venerable to anxiety and depression, disconnection and disease. Based on Jon Kapbat-Zinn’s renowed mindfulness-based stress reduction program this classic, groundbreaking work—which gave rise to a whole new field in medicine and psychology-shows you how to use medically proven mind-body approaches derived from meditation and yoga to counteract stress, establish greater balance of body and mind, and stimulate well-being and healing.”

 

Where Ever You Go There You Are – Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life –10th Anniversary Edition

© 1994, 2005 Jon Kabat-Zinn Published by Hackette Books ISBN 0-7668-8070-8

This is a well-written, thoughtful guide and reminder what meditation and mindfulness is all about.  In many ways it is the soul of Full Catastrophe Living. If you are practicing meditation and living mindfully, this book will remind you why. After you read it once, you can just pick it up, open to any page and find something inspiring.

 

Living As If Your Life Depended On It! Twelve Gateways To A Life That Works

© 2000 Cia Rico – ISBN 0-9678-849-1-8 Published by Life Care, Inc

Self help in keeping with Buddhist tradition, meditation and modern psychology. Spiritual and psychological growth.

 

 

Fiction

The Dharma Bums – Jack Kerouac © 1958 — Published by Penguin Books

(See full review here: https://www.almostseventy-one.com/2016/03/28/jack-kerouacs-the-dharma-bums-book-review-by-jim-martin/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island – A Novel – Aldous Huxley © 1962 – Published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics ISBN 978-0-060156179-5 (pbk)

Island

In this amazingly prophetic novel written in 1962, Aldous Huxley creates the fictional island of Pala in the Pacific, somewhere in Southeast Asia, not far from a neighboring country with a powerful corrupt dictator who has a plan to take over Pala, which has been basically left on its own for 120 years because it didn’t have anything desirable until now, after oil is discovered. A billionaire, oil magnate, who also owns newspapers, has enlisted a reporter, William Farnaby to see if he can get a line on how to get the island government to work with his oil company.

But the leaders of Pala have their own agenda, one that has been nurtured for many generations, over  a hundred years, a utopian society built on science, mainly Buddhist philosophy and Hindu traditions. Science, medicine and psychology are being used in ways that are still not put into practice in major countries in the world today. For example education that teaches children skills to stay healthy mentally and physically. Sex education and practices that help keep population growth under control and preventive medicine, rather than treating illnesses with drugs after they occur. Early psychological testing to help children develop their talents and gifts without succumbing to  antisocial behaviors. Meditation and a form of mindfulness practiced by most of the population.

Will Farnaby, the reporter, gets himself ship wrecked on the island and is taken in by key citizens of Pala. They agree to let him stay for a month while they show him their island utopia, discuss their culture and plans for the future. The novel facilitates the exploring of Pala’s history and goals for the future against the backdrop of a world still recovering from Hitler, fascism, political turmoil, television, consumerism, health issues, poverty and racism.

Buddhist philosophy, begun over 2500 years ago, foreshadows many of today’s scientific principles like evolutionary psychology, modern psychology and how the mind works. Huxley writes, in 1962, about concepts that are just beginning to be discussed today.

jrm