Wisdom Wide And Deep

Wisdom Wide and Deep is a comprehensive guide to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention (jhana) to profound and liberating insight (vipassana). With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind. It was for this reason the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine's acclaimed first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Readers will learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering. This fully detailed manual for the mind sure to become a trusted companion to many inner explorers.

"A valuable work as both a practice guide and a reference manual."---Guy Armstrong, insight meditation teacher --Book Jacket.

Wisdom Wide and Deep is a comprehensive guide to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention (jhana) to profound and liberating insight (vipassana). With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind. It was for this reason the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine's acclaimed first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Readers will learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering. This fully detailed manual for the mind sure to become a trusted companion to many inner explorers.

Now ordinary meditators (and non-meditators) can understand how to attain non-ordinary states with relative ease. Blended with contemporary examples, pragmatic exercises, and ''how to'' instructions that anyone can try, Focused and Fearless provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and on retreat. Shaila Catherine has a friendly, wise approach to the meditative states (jhanas) that lead to liberating insight. Focused and Fearless is about much more than merely meditation or concentration. It offers a complete path towards bliss, fearlessness, and true awakening.

Over the years, as he has encountered 'Western Buddhists', meditation master the Most Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw has seen the need for a thorough explanation of the workings of kamma in English. To that end he has composed The Workings of Kamma. It is a detailed analysis and discussion of the workings of kamma, in accordance with the Pali Texts: Vinaya, suttas, Abhidhamma, and the authoritative commentaries and subcommentaries. First, the Most Venerable Sayadaw gives a detailed discussion of how beings run on from life to life because of a belief in self, founded in craving and ignorance: he explains how those two factors are prime movers in the working of kamma. Next, he gives a comprehensive and practical analysis of the workings of kamma according to the roots of consciousness. That includes a practical and systematic analysis of the three merit-work bases: offering, morality, and meditation. Then, he analyses the ten courses of unwholesome and wholesome kamma: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, etc., and non-killing, non-stealing, etc. He discusses also the results of kamma: rebirth in hell, as a ghost, animal, human-, or celestial being. Mundane wholesome kamma unique to a Buddha's Dispensation he discusses as knowledge and conduct: necessary for future attainment of Nibbāna. Afterwards, he explains The Buddha's twelve categories of kamma: four for time of effect, four for order of effect, and four for function of effect. And he discusses how they operate over past, future, and present, and how their workings depend also on the achievement/failure of a certain rebirth, appearance, time, and means. Then comes a lengthy discussion of 'The Small Kamma-Analysis Sutta'. There The Buddha discusses how kamma accounts for the superiority/ inferiority of people. Next is a discussion of how a being's kamma 'paints a picture' of a being, who is in fact nothing more than the five aggregates. And finally, there is a detailed discussion of the gradual unworking of the potency of kamma with the insight knowledges leading up to the Stream-Entry Path Knowledge, etc. up to Arahantship. It ends with a detailed discussion of the Arahant's Parinibbāna, and what this means in practical terms. The Most Venerable Sayadaw gives many examples, with continuous reference to the Pali Texts. He cites and explains also the dangers of holding to a wrong view that denies the workings of kamma. And he explains the necessity for seeing the workings of kamma oneself with direct knowledge, explaining that one is otherwise unable to understand the Second Noble Truth: the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering. There is also a detailed analysis of the transition from one life to the next, and many charts help the reader understand the explanations on the practical level of consciousness and mental factors. [From a book published by Pa-Auk Meditation Centre, a Centre of Theravāda Buddhist Tradition]

In five interwoven meditations, Mystical Hope shows how to recognize hope in our own lives, where it comes from, how to deepen it through prayer, and how to carry it into the world as a source of strength and renewal.

Learn how to overcome distraction in meditation practice and develop clarity in your relationships, work, and activities with this new guide from a beloved meditation teacher. The mind can be a potent tool, used to guide extraordinary achievements, inspire good works, and incline your spiritual path toward peace and awakening. But the mind can also produce thoughts that lead to suffering. For many people, thoughts run rampant and seem to oppress or control their lives. Even the Buddha tells us that before his enlightenment, he sometimes found his mind preoccupied by thoughts connected with sensual desire, ill will, and harm. But he figured out how to respond to thoughts skillfully and developed a step-by-step approach to calm the restless mind. Now, Insight Meditation teacher Shaila Catherine offers an accessible approach to training the mind that is guided by the Buddha’s pragmatic instructions on removing distracting thoughts. Drawing on two scriptures in the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Shaila shows you how to overcome habitual modes of thinking, develop deeper concentration, and discover the insights into emptiness that are vital for a liberating spiritual path. Following the Buddha’s pragmatic approach, Shaila guides you through five steps for overcoming distraction and focusing the mind: 1. Replace unwholesome thoughts with wholesome thoughts. For example, if you find yourself thinking thoughts of ill will toward a person, try thinking instead of their good qualities as an antidote. 2. Examine the dangers of distracting thoughts. Weigh the costs of allowing thoughts of ill will, lust, greed, and so forth to obsess your mind. The costs of dwelling on distracting thoughts nearly always outweigh any supposed benefits. 3. Avoid it, ignore it, forget it. Develop the skill to turn your attention away from habitual distractions. Remove the fuel and let the fires of distraction die out. 4. Investigate the causes of distraction. By understanding the conditions that perpetuate habitual thoughts, you can learn to free yourself from those patterns. 5. Apply determination and resolve. Supported by wisdom, you can make a firm decision to stop dwelling on patterns of thought that are not supporting your deepest values and goals in life. Each chapter includes exercises and reflections to help you cultivate the five steps to deeper concentration. You’ll learn about your mind and develop your ability to direct your attention more skillfully in meditation and daily activities. And ultimately, you’ll discover for yourself how these five steps boil down to one key realization: In the moment you recognize that a thought is just a thought, you will find yourself on the path to a life of remarkable freedom.

Educational theory and practice have long been dominated by the requirements of formal learning. This book seeks to persuade readers through philosophical argument and empirical examples that the balance should shift back towards the informal. The arguments and examples derive from informal learning in diverse situations, such as leisure activities, as a preparation for and as part of work, and as a means of surviving undesirable circumstances like dead-end jobs and incarceration.

Powerful Buddhist teachings, demystified—from the spiritual mentor of Jon Kabat-Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield Previous books by Ajahn Chah have consisted of collections of short teachings on a wide variety of subjects. This new book focuses on the theme of impermanence, offering powerful remedies for overcoming our deep-seated fear of change, including guidance on letting go of attachments, living in the present, and taking up the practice of meditation. Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away also contains stories and anecdotes about this beloved master's life and his interactions with students, from his youth as a struggling monk to his last years when American students were coming to study with him in significant numbers. These stories help to convey Ajahn Chah's unique spirit and teaching style, allowing readers to know him both through his words and the way in which he lived his life.

Wisdom Wide and Deep is an extended introduction to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention to profound and liberating insight. With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana or deep concentration, meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind.