Best book on meditation available

If you are new to meditation or a veteran, this is an ideal book and practice to start with. Shinzen Young is an excellent teacher. His skill and depth of experience are unparalleled. His knowledge of languages, science, technology, is the broadest I have experienced. Enjoy the book in print and audio.

7 people found this helpful

Best overview of enlightenment so far

I really enjoyed this book. So many "Wow!" moments.

If I were to sum up the single thing that really made the book stand out for me, it would be this:

So much of what is written about enlightenment feels to be about the "pre-conceptual" - taking away the contribution of conceptual thought towards our state / how we feel in any given moment. I get this - many of my most precious moments are remembered for the bliss of discovering the spirit in everything that you look at - tree, bird, sky, bush, work of art.... Getting to this point is often a switch that takes you into your appreciation of the thing just for how you sense it. For this reason, I've often assumed that full enlightenment would simply relate to being able to step fully into this "world without words". All of my encounters with the Magic of Everyday Life are consistent with this direction.

I've spent much of my life as a conceptual modeller (and sometimes quantitative modeller) of biological systems. So it's always seemed a little ironic that my pursuit of the spiritual feels like a complete negation of the way that I've invested the last forty professional years.

Shinzen's book has given me a jolt: I'm not just around the corner from living in a world of ongoing magic. I've only glimpsed that first step of the journey! His proposition is that the bliss of stepping towards / blissing out in the non-conceptual MUST be matched by equivalent effort in exploring one's inner world in a way that has analogy to developing a conceptual model of how it functions.

Before reading the book, I'd recommend going through the free course on the linked website: unifiedmindfulness.com.

But don't miss out on the book - it is a tour de force!

Absolutely five stars!

5 people found this helpful

Nothing new

I can't understand why it took you 10 years to write it. It is basically a resume of the classical Science of Enlightenment, and Shinzen's videos both in Shinzen's YT channel and in expandcontract, and interviews. Anyway, I enjoy remembering those subjects.

3 people found this helpful

Better for advanced meditators

This book has been unusual. I can safely say I didn't understand about 50% of it at least, and some chunks I found a bit lenghty and unnecessary. I think an advanced meditator would get a much better value out of it.
Yet, despite my not getting some ideas, this book does deliver many other ideas that are important and made me think.
Finally, it's very interesting and unusual to see a buddhist practitioner who claims that they are a materialist.

2 people found this helpful

Absolute must-read for any level Western meditator

IT'S FANTASTIC. All of Shinzen Young's scholarly rigor (PhD in Buddhist Studies) and deep source-language knowledge of sanskrit, ancient and modern 일본어, 한자, etc. are combined with his 40yr meditation teaching experience and recent forays into science to design meditation-neuroscience research collaborations to create an amazingly rich text in contextual breadth and specific exemplary stories from his teaching career. The story of Gino, the tough sea captain transcending past wrongdoing on through mindful attention to his dying process, was alone worth purchasing. The performance is a bit pretentious and melodramatic - so ridiculously departing from Shinzen's own style in tenor that the minor swoons and stank the reader puts on phrases are magnified to glaring noticeability. But still a 5 star review for the amazingly rich, practically helpful, and shockingly approachable insights offered in this text. I'll be recommending to all I know who have even a slight interest in meditation.

2 people found this helpful

Not A Scientist

This book fell far short of what I expected it to be. It is closer to a Biography than a scientific examination of meditation or enlightenment.

4 people found this helpful

A Must Read

In the top 10 best books I've ever read. A must read for everyone on a path to true happiness 😊

1 person found this helpful

EXTREMELY positive, thought provoking, inspiring

I recommed this book to absolutely every human being. a b c d e f g

1 person found this helpful

Esclarecedor

Este libro permite explorar temas como mindfulness, Flow, presencia y similares. Menciona prácticas budistas con términos nativos de la India. Puede ser tan profundo o ligero según lo que el lector desee experimentar.

1 person found this helpful

Narrators need to chill

Just read the book. No need for all the animation and dramatization. Narrators need to chill