HN Books @HNBooksMonth

Please read two books, in this order. After reading these, you will know:

1. Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratna [0]

2. The Mind Illuminated by Yates et al. [1]

And plese steer away from awful sources. People, the modern day "influencers" are piggybacking on Meditation to sell their own stuff. And it is related to a lot of stupid concepts that higher practitioners of Eastern Spirituality themselves reject. "Kundalini"... My ass.

Meditation, when reduced to the physical technique itself, is utterly worthless, I assure you. There are several 5-minute videos that teach you meditation are shit.

________

Since you want to know about personal experience, let's do that.

I also fell prey to the snake-oil salesmen at first, who taught meditation in five minutes.

I tried for months and years, and nothing came out of it.

When I was going through a list of books recommended in Hacker News, I learned about The Mind Illuminated by Yates.

I bought it and started studying, and practising.

And, I promise you it changed my life.

I meditate from 15 to 45 minutes a day. Everyday.

I will list here some aspects of it.

I sit there, I observe my thoughts, and gently bring my mind back to my breaths.

Primarily, it is like "intuition training" for attention holding.

Whenever I am doing work or studying for my research, whenever my mind deviates, this training kicks in, in an automated way. I can very quickly bring it back. And it does get better with time.

My fully-sanctitious Pomodoro cycle went up from 20 minutes to 90 minutes. I can hold my attention, unadulterated, for that long.

This was the first benefit.

Secondly, I am much better at processing my own emotions. Every kind. I am much saner and calmer for it. I can process and handle and deal with all my emotions.

Thirdly, I am a much better decision maker from meditating. Before, I often suffered with my options. I could not decide what to do- from small decision to big.

Now, it's like my emotions are wiretapped and I know better what I want. And I can act accordingly.

And I am able to enjoy pleasurable activities more. Swimming, walking through the forest, eating favorite dishes, sex- all are much more pleasurable for me.

I feel the "training" from meditation kicking in when I want to have deep experiences.

I am also a better learner now. This could be a placebo. I always was a good and fast learner, but, I have more experience with myself now, but I feel this happened from meditation.

Meditation is hard. I always was interested in Buddhism (the non-spiritual kind. Read: What the Buddha Taught by W. Rahula [2]). And Buddha was a total no-BS guy. He asked people to experiment and if they didn't find the results alignigning with what he said, he said that he should not be listened to [3]. So, if he asked to meditate, and talked about its benefits, there must be something in it- that's what I thought. That's why I prevailed.

Learning coding took time. Learning Math and Spanish took time. Meditation should take time to be learned properly. Buddha, an athiest, an unorthodox, an uber-debater, and rationalist talked about benefits of it, and that made me prevail.

I am so happy for it.

Please reply to my comment if you have further questions.

I am currently on the deep peace stage. Seven times out of ten, when I try to be in the deeply peaceful state, I can be.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-G...

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integrati...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/What-Buddha-Taught-Expanded-Dhammapad...

[3]: https://becoming-buddha.com/ehipassiko-come-and-see-for-your...

⬐ mdp2021

> talked about benefits of it

Very terrible choice of words before this quotation, but the gist is clear and "correct". You should probably explore other traditions: you will probably be surprised to find substantially that pattern expressed in different, productive ways.

⬐ rg111

I have no complaints with the technique described in Satipatthana Sutta.

Which other tradition do you suggest and why?

⬐ mdp2021

> I have no complaints

I meant that the profile you proposed just before the quotation, of this autonomous personality with judgement of the highest profile, is not just specific to one case in history but shown in a great number of accomplished leaders. If you find intriguing that approach you lauded, it could be rewarding to you to look into others - you will find similar profiles. There is company at the peak.

Headspace is a classic Samadhi+Vipassana meditation wrapped into casual language. I used it a bit for a couple of years and it's a great intro into the practice before going guideless.

I also highly recommend "Mindfulness in plain English"[0], I wish I found it sooner.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-G...

⬐ criddell

Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was hoping for.

Maybe if my mind was quieter, Amazon pricing the Kindle version higher than the print version wouldn't enragiate me so much. :)

Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana has been a good start for me. It explains meditation, different flavors of mindfulness, as well as techniques and what to expect when you first start. I highly recommend it. http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-Gu...

Actually, this isn't the case.

Your (mis)understanding (that meditation is spacing out and "not thinking") seems to be the common western one. In my experience, this is usually due to misunderstood ideas about practices like dzogchen or philosophical concepts like dependent origination.

Concentration is actually at the _heart_ of meditation and is a key element of the Buddhist noble eight-fold path.

Mindfulness is merely well-concentrated investigation. Once someone has developed an ability to cultivate sustained, one-pointed attention - they can use this attention to clearly investigate internal and external phenomena.

Many Asian schools have the first four Samatha Jhanas (deeply-concentrated states) as strict prerequisites for beginning Vipassana (insight / mindfulness) practice. Others regard "access concentration" as the only prerequisite.

In any case, a well-concentrated mind is required to clearly observe oneself. Yes, other thoughts will drop away as the mind naturally gravitates toward the joy and rapture of mental seclusion (from disturbing, burdensome thoughts and mental states) - but this is a _byproduct_ of concentration, not a fruit of _avoiding_ concentration.

The concentration states (along with the Brahma Viharas) can also be welcome refuges for when reality starts to come apart as one progresses through the Vipassana Nanas.

These things are very clearly spelled out in the canonical Buddhist texts and especially the commentaries[1][2]. Westerners seeking to "change their brains" do so at their peril without proper guidance. Peeling away the layers of delusion can be a destabilizing process for some[3].

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana's book "Mindfulness in Plain English" is a very accessible (and worthwhile) introduction to the subject[4].

[1] - [pdf] http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPu...

[2] - [pdf] http://urbandharma.org/pdf1/Path_of_Freedom_Vimuttimagga.pdf

[3] - http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-dark-k...

[4] - http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-Gu...

⬐ hellofunk

Thanks for the links. The varied opinions in the responses to my comment show that meditation is widely misunderstood.

There's a great book called Mindfulness in Plain English, which I've been recommending for some time. It's direct, to the point, and addresses many topics such as distractions, pain during practice, exactly how to prepare, and of course what to do with your mind.

I think this is complete: http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

But it's always nice to have something in paperback or Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Anniversar...

The printed edition also has a nice afterword.

Books:

What The Buddha Taught: http://amzn.com/0802130313. A straightforward overview of the foundations of Buddhism.

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism: http://amzn.com/1570629579. In your journey, your ego will be tempted to claim your spirituality for itself. Don't let that happen.

Mindfulness In Plain English: http://amzn.com/0861719069. A classic introduction to meditation.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: http://amzn.com/1590308492. A mind-opening taste of Zen, and a classic. Read with your heart, not your brain.

Other recommended Zen authors: Seung Sahn. Taizan Maezumi. Brad Warner. The aforementioned Alan Watts.

Also, an invaluable online resource: http://www.accesstoinsight.org, especially essays by Thanissaro Bhikkhu: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/index....

There are also many fantastic essays on Tricycle: http://www.tricycle.com

Finally: reading about Buddhism is like reading about the most delicious food. It won't satisfy your hunger. It's mind-medicine - only for your mind. The only soul-medicine is sitting down every day on a cushion and looking at a white wall. (Or variations thereof.) You cannot reach enlightenment and save all beings from suffering by reading a book. Don't take my word for it - you have to see for yourself.

Either join a course or pick up a good book. I found this book immensely useful and simple to follow: "Mindfulness in Plain English" [1]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Anniversary-...

⬐ nodata

Is that book the same as this free one? http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

Does your book contain exercises?

⬐ vidarh

It's the same book.

I strongly recommend it.

You don't need exercises: The book is a step by step "instruction manual".

There is only one exercise (in this context; there are many other forms of meditation) Sit comfortably. Breath in. Breath out. Repeat. Now gently try to let go of your thoughts, and gently focus your attention on your breath. When your mind slips, bring it back to the breath. Repeat for as long as you want to sit.

The reason you want to read the book is because it deals systematically with the practicalities, such as how to deal with pains and aches and distractions, or how to deal with sudden intense nonsensical urges (for example, when I started I went through a period where I'd get one minute or so in and then be convinced that I'd failed to set my timer, and that I had been sitting for way too long, and that I'd be late for something, anything; it took weeks to push past that barrier).

I'd also strongly recommend this series [1] of recordings of a course by Gil Fronsdal. It covers the same practice, and fits very well with the book. And like the book, the course recording is very much kept secular.

[1] http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma12/GilMed07.html

⬐ None

None

If you're reading books like that, might I also suggest Mindfulness in Plain English: http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Anniversary-...

I found it incredibly useful.

⬐ mbrownnyc

Awesome I agree. Read this several years ago! Great book! The observer is such a powerful concept, also covered in practical detail by Holiday. Thank you, though, and check this out: http://lionserpent.com/unity.html :)