The Purpose And Practice Of Buddhist Meditation: A Sourcebook Of Teachings
by Sangharakshita /
2012 / English / EPUB
2.2 MB Download
Doesn't mindfulness take too much time? Can metta take me all the
way to Enlightenment? How much meditation is good for you? Why
visualize an Enlightened being? Are there places that meditation
doesn't reach? Wouldn't it be better to open a soup kitchen? Is
going on solitary retreat escapism? Can you tell if meditation is
changing you? All of these questions and very many more are tackled
in this substantial compilation of Sangharakshita's teachings on
meditation, drawn from previously published works and from the
unpublished transcripts of seminars on a wide range of Buddhist
texts, from the Pali canon to the songs of Milarepa. The dialogue
form is a reminder that teaching is a communication, a creative
meeting between the depth and breadth of the teacher's knowledge
and experience and the willingness of his students to ask the kinds
of questions any meditator would like to ask if they had the chance
(or the nerve). Discussions reveal how Sangharakshita learned the
practices on which his system of meditation - 'an organic, living
system' - is based, and how that system has evolved over the years.
Amid much curiosity about dhyana and Insight, and explorations of
how to deal with fear or distraction, doubt, drowsiness or desire,
topics also include such matters as whether the Buddha needed to
keep meditating and whether you should include Mrs Thatcher in your
metta-bhavana. Whether dipped into, consulted on a specific subject
or read from cover to cover, the collection offers practical,
inspiring and encouraging advice for new and experienced meditators
alike; and throughout, it is deeply imbued with the Buddhist vision
of the role of meditation in the quest for Enlightenment.
Doesn't mindfulness take too much time? Can metta take me all the
way to Enlightenment? How much meditation is good for you? Why
visualize an Enlightened being? Are there places that meditation
doesn't reach? Wouldn't it be better to open a soup kitchen? Is
going on solitary retreat escapism? Can you tell if meditation is
changing you? All of these questions and very many more are tackled
in this substantial compilation of Sangharakshita's teachings on
meditation, drawn from previously published works and from the
unpublished transcripts of seminars on a wide range of Buddhist
texts, from the Pali canon to the songs of Milarepa. The dialogue
form is a reminder that teaching is a communication, a creative
meeting between the depth and breadth of the teacher's knowledge
and experience and the willingness of his students to ask the kinds
of questions any meditator would like to ask if they had the chance
(or the nerve). Discussions reveal how Sangharakshita learned the
practices on which his system of meditation - 'an organic, living
system' - is based, and how that system has evolved over the years.
Amid much curiosity about dhyana and Insight, and explorations of
how to deal with fear or distraction, doubt, drowsiness or desire,
topics also include such matters as whether the Buddha needed to
keep meditating and whether you should include Mrs Thatcher in your
metta-bhavana. Whether dipped into, consulted on a specific subject
or read from cover to cover, the collection offers practical,
inspiring and encouraging advice for new and experienced meditators
alike; and throughout, it is deeply imbued with the Buddhist vision
of the role of meditation in the quest for Enlightenment.