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* Author posits that enlightenment is an attainable goal
* Argues that meditation is a method for examining reality
The very idea that the teachings of meditation can be mastered will arouse controversy within Buddhist circles. Even so, Ingram insists that enlightenment is an attainable goal, once our fanciful notions of it are stripped away, and we have learned to use meditation as a method for examining reality rather than an opportunity to wallow in “self-absorbed mindnoise”.
Ingram sets out concisely the difference between concentration-based and insight (vipassana) meditation; he provides example practices; and most importantly he presents detailed maps of the states of mind we are likely to encounter, and the stages we must negotiate as we move through clearly-defined cycles of insight. It’s easy to feel overawed, at first, by Ingram’s assurance and ease in the higher levels of consciousness, but consistently he writes as a down-to-earth and compassionate guide—to the practitioner willing to commit themselves this is a glittering gift of a book.
Foreword and Warning; PART I: THE FUNDAMENTALS Introduction to Part I; Morality, The First and Last Training; Concentration, The Second Training; Wisdom, The Third Training; The Three Characteristics; The Five Spiritual Faculties; The Seven Factors of Enlightenment; The Three Trainings Revisited; The Four Noble Truths; Practical Meditation Considerations; Summary; Conclusion to Part I; PART II: LIGHT AND SHADOWS Introduction to Parts II and III; Buddhism vs. The Buddha; Content and Ultimate Reality; What Went Wrong? A Clear Goal; Harnessing the Energy of the “Defilements”; Right Thought and the Agean Stables; From Content to Insight; PART III: MASTERY Concentration Vs. Insight; The Concentration States; No-self vs. True Self; The Formless Realms; The Progress of Insight; the Vispassana Jhanas; How the Maps Help; The Three Doors; “Was That Emptiness?” Beyond the First Path (“What Next?”); Models of the Stages of Enlightenment; So What’s “Full Enlightenment?” Integration; It is Possible! More on the ”Mushroom Factor”; So Who the Heck is Daniel M. Ingram? Conclusion and Best Wishes; Appendix: The Cessation of Perception and Feeling; Index.
Overview
* Author posits that enlightenment is an attainable goal
* Argues that meditation is a method for examining reality
The very idea that the teachings of meditation can be mastered will arouse controversy within Buddhist circles. Even so, Ingram insists that enlightenment is an attainable goal, once our fanciful notions of it are stripped away, and we have learned to use meditation as a method for examining reality rather than an opportunity to wallow in “self-absorbed mindnoise”....