Product Description
With his distinctive clarity and wit, "Bhante G" takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. We already have the foundation we need to live a more productive and peaceful life — Bhante simply points to each tool of meditation, tells us what it does, and how to make it work. This expanded edition includes the complete text of its bestselling predecessor, as well as a new chapter on the cultivation of loving kindness, an especially important subject in today's world.

Amazon.com Review
If you'd like to read about meditation and then go back to your regular life, don't get this book. Henepola Gunaratana, a monk from Sri Lanka and venerated teacher of Buddhism, warns us that vipassana meditation is "meant to revolutionize the whole of your life experience." In one of the best nuts-and-bolts meditation manuals, he lays out the fundamentals of basic Buddhist meditation, the how, what, where, when, and why, including common problems and how to deal with them. His 52 years as a Buddhist monk make Mindfulness in Plain English an authority on a living tradition, and his years of teaching in America and elsewhere give it the clarity and straightforwardness that has made it so popular. If you'd like to learn the practice of meditation, you can't do better. --Brian Bruya

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 106 reviews)

Best Meditation Book Ive Read by J. Preston (SC)

5 Stars
November 19, 2009
This book is the best out of the few dozen books on meditation I've read. He writes about making meditation enjoyable, not a chore, and convinced me to take the same attitude. Other books I've read gave me a lot of info, things to look for, but this one will get you on the cushion. Highly recommended for beginners and probably anyone else. Also, don't let the fact that this is "Theravada" style meditation fool you into thinking it's less than Zazen or other types. The style has been experimented with and written about for thousands of years by millions of people, it's worth checking out!

One of the most profound and useful books ever written by Chris Berdoll (Idaho, USA)

5 Stars
September 20, 2009
How do you even begin to review a book that changed your life? Especially when you can count on one hand, the number of books that have done this. I came to this book during a hard time in my life, having it recommended to help me with dealing with a plague of traumatic experiences that had occured. I came away from this book a changed person; on a path or re-discovery of my spiritual self that I had squashed and hidden for many years. Although based in Buddhist teachings, this book is not a book about Buddhism. It is a book about practical means for dealing with your thoughts, emotions, and all other aspects of living a modern life. It teaches you how to learn about the inner workings of yourself, and as you learn these things, peace results. I am a very practical person. Books that deal with the metaphysical must be practical, simple, and applicable for me to even finish them. This book is all of that and more. The author presents ideas that are almost beyond description with a clarity and practicallity that is only done by someone with years and years of living and teaching what he speaks. The reading is often funny, and hits home in a way that anyone can relate to. One of my favorite quotes about learning meditation comes from this book: in describing meditation during the beginning stages, the author says that as you watch all of the stuff churning and bubbling in your mind: "....you will quickly come to realize that you are quite insane." I laugh every time I think of this quote. It is this ability to relate to real people that makes you feel normal, and really understand what he is getting at. Do not get the idea that this book will change you overnight. Not even in a week. What happens, is that if you practice what is taught in this book, a slow, almost inperceptual change starts to occur. You probably won't even notice until several weeks into it. But if you stick with it, and really pay attention to what is happening inside you, you will begin to see small changes in your perception of things; changes that at first may seem so small that you write them off to coincidence. But these changes become more and more frequent, and more and more noticeable, until one day you realize that a transformation has been taking place. I can't put it into words, except to say that this book will transform your very existence and bring you to a place of peace you have never thought possible. This is a master work that should be listed among the most important modern self-help books ever written. All of the Dr. Phil's, Dwayne Dyer's, and other mega-stars of self-help should aspire to works of this greatness.

Superb by Jos Pols

5 Stars
September 16, 2009
Nutshell review - This is one of the best books on meditation that I have read. If you are looking for a book on Buddhist (vipassana/insight) meditation then this is it. If you only ever read one book on the subject then make it this one. Concise, clear, compassionate, insightful. Superb and deserving of all the high reviews it has received.

One way of meditating by H. Smith

3 Stars
September 12, 2009
Be aware that this is a Buddhist monk teaching a method of Buddhist meditation. There are many types of meditation and mindfulness which are not covered. Just keep that in mind while reading this book.

In plain English? by Bruce

4 Stars
July 31, 2009
This is a good book but IMO some of the language is anything but plain English. For example, Mr. Gunaratana writes: 1. Mindfulness sees the true nature of all phenomena. 2. It is mindfulness that notices the change. 3. Mindfulness is non-superficial awareness. It sees things deeply down below the level of concepts and opinions. 4. Mindfulness is not trying to achieve anything. It is just looking. Mindfulness simply accepts whatever is there. In plain English we clarify the subject and predicate. How can mindfulness see, notice or accept anything? Surely the meditator is the one doing the seeing, noticing, and accepting. I would prefer it if the author had written: 1. When we are mindful we see the true nature of all phenomena. 2. When mindful, we notice the changes. 3. Mindfulness is non-superficial awareness. It helps us see things deeply down below the level of concepts and opinions. 4. We are not trying to achieve anything. We are just looking. When practising mindfulness we simply accept whatever is there. Another problem I had was with the affirmations Mr. Gunaratana asks the reader to repeat at the beginning of each meditation session. For example: "May I be well, happy, and peaceful. May no harm come to me. May no DIFFICULTIES come to me. May no PROBLEMS come to me. May I always meet with success. May I also have patience, courage, understanding, and determination to meet and overcome inevitable DIFFICULTIES, PROBLEMS and failures of life." What? I don't get it. May no difficulties and problems come to me AND may I be able to meet and overcome the difficulties and problems that come to me? Is there some serious cognitive dissonance going on here or is it just me? Instead, how about this variation of a Tony Robbins affirmation: "Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves me. May I have the patience, courage, understanding, and determination to skillfully deal with what happens." Having said the above, I did get one huge insight from the book. The author claims that, "Seated meditation itself is not the game. It's the practice. The game in which these basic skills are to be applied is the rest of one's experiential existence." This was quite an important distinction for me. Somehow or other I had mistakenly seen meditation as the game and my day-to-day life as the practice. According to the author, "The most important moment in meditation is the instant you leave the cushion." As someone who does vipassana this was valuable advice. Daily living is far more important than time on the cushion. How could I have mixed those wires up! There were also other interesting insights such as, "We are simply not paying enough attention to notice that we are not paying attention." All in all this is a good book, though IMO it needs a little more plain English.

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