Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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253 of 257 people found the following review helpful:
 Meditation for the West, August 25, 1997 By A Customer
Ever start reading a really cool looking
meditation book only to find that the picture on
the cover is the only thing that makes any sense?
Have you ever wondered why the author or
translator never bothers to tell you what those
weird words mean, "Samahadi...",
"Vipassana...", "Dukka..."
Have you finished a meditation book and
understood about half of what was talked about and
figured that half is better than none? (a very 'enlightened'
but often frustrating outcome
especially when these books aren't cheap)
This little known book seems to have addressed
and solved all those problems and more. It is a book
written for people who have no clue how to
start meditating and for those who have started, but
don't know where to look for the answers to
questions that come up during their practice.
The best thing about this book is in
its title,'plain English'.It seems to gently
lead one by the hand through the mystery and
confusion of meditation with a sense of humor
and patience rarely given to the subject.
I have been meditating for nine years now and
have built up a small library of books on the
subject. When friends ask me about meditation
I dig around in all the books with great
covers and reach for "Mindfullness In Plain
English" every time.
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105 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
 An excellent beginning for your path to Liberation, May 31, 2002 The
introduction gives a brief look at the roots of the practice and tells
the reader that meditation is intrinsically experiential so the best
way to get started is to just sit and try it. In the following
chapters, Gunaratana helps the reader to understand exactly what
meditation is and what it isn't. From there he goes into more detailed
instructions as to what your mind and body should be doing while you
meditate. This is accompanied with useful tips on dealing with problems
that may arise in your practice, including the 5 major hindrances that
nearly all meditators face. The book wraps up with a more in depth look
at exactly what "mindfulness" is and how to "take it from the cushion"
and integrate it into our daily lives.
I found this book very
easy to read and understand and feel it would be an excellent guide for
people just getting into Buddhism and meditation. Already being the
owner of a collection of books on Buddhism, this book didn't offer any
new revelations but I was extrememly pleased with the sections on
mindfulness and have already used some of the author's suggestions on
integrating it into daily life. The main reason I did not give the book
5 stars is because it offers much more for the new reader than it does
for one with more experience.
If you buy this book and still feel
like you could use more detailed instructions on meditation, I
recommend you also purchase "Change Your Mind: A Practical Guide to
Buddhist Meditation" by Paramananda (ISBN: 0904766810).
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53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
Exactly what the Title Says it is..., May 21, 2001
Sometimes when I pick up titles on meditation, yoga, or other practices
associated with Eastern philosophy, mysticism or relgion, I am overcome
with the author's inability to say what they mean in language that is
useful to the rest of us. My relief was enormous, therefore, when a
friend gave me this book by Venerable Henepola Gunaratana! This book is
exactly what the title implies...easy to read and understand because it
is not written in mystic hokum, rather it is written in plain english.
The result is a manual for the beginning student of meditation that is
sufficient to get you well on your way to benefitting from the practice
of Insight Meditation.
In
"Mindfulness" you will gain an understanding of what mindfullness is,
how to cultivate it both during sitting practice and the rest of the
time, tips on how to sit and how to overcome some of the most common
distractions (including your feet going to sleep and your back
hurting), and what to look for and what to avoid. I have not been
practicing meditation for long, and this book was of enormous value in
helping me identify the things I was doing that served as barriers to
effective insight meditation, as well as giving me ideas on how to
enhance the effectiveness of my meditation.
This is an
extremely practical book for the western practitioner. It draws heavily
upon the Buddhist paradigm, but the techniques for effective meditation
cross all sect boundaries, and the beginning practitioner of any faith
will find this book of enormous benefit. I would strongly encourage the
reader to suppliment this book with "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by
Thich Nhat Hahn. The two together are a delightfully easy to read but
complete and well rounded introduction to the practices of Insight
Meditation. If you want to know how but don't want to hire a Yogi to
translate, this book is the place to start.
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