Turning the Mind into an Ally

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Overview

Strengthening, calming, and stabilizing the mind is the essential first step in accomplishing nearly any goal. Growing up American with a Tibetan twist, Sakyong Mipham talks to Westerners as no one can: in idiomatic English with stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers. Turning the Mind Into an Ally makes it possible for anyone to achieve peace and clarity in their lives.

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More About This Book

Overview

Strengthening, calming, and stabilizing the mind is the essential first step in accomplishing nearly any goal. Growing up American with a Tibetan twist, Sakyong Mipham talks to Westerners as no one can: in idiomatic English with stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers. Turning the Mind Into an Ally makes it possible for anyone to achieve peace and clarity in their lives.

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What People Are Saying

From the Publisher
"In language totally fresh and jargon-free, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche distills the wisdom of many centuries. Simple as it is profound, his book bears reading many times."&#151Peter Conradi, author of Iris Murdoch: A Life

"With warmhearted clarity and wise simplicity, Sakyong Mipham offers some of the best advice you can find for establishing and sustaining a strong, dedicated, and genuinely transformative meditation experience."&#151Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

"Like Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, this book addresses the complexities, obstacles, and joys of meditation with a simple and extraordinarly generous voice. It's an amazing guidebook for a beginner, in the sense that one is always a beginner and that the journey never ends."&#151Rudy Wurlitzer, author of Hard Travel to Sacred Places

"One of the best of the Buddhism-for-Westerners genre."—Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781573223454
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 1/6/2004
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 124,600
  • Product dimensions: 5.25 (w) x 8.02 (h) x 0.71 (d)

Meet the Author

Sakyong Mipham is one of the most highly respected young incarnate lamas of Tibet. He is the director of Shambhala International, a worldwide organization of more than one hundred meditation and retreat centers. He teaches around the world to thousands, both Western and Asian audiences.

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Table of Contents

Turning the Mind Into an Ally Foreward by Pema Chödrön Preface

One: Why Meditate?
1. The Rock and the Flower
2. Bewilderment and Suffering
3. Peaceful Abiding

Two: The Art of Peacefully Abiding
4. Taking Our Seat
5. Mindfulness and Awareness
6. How to Gather a Scattered Mind
7. The Virtues of Boredom
8. Laziness
9. Forgetting the Instructions
10. Not Too Tight, Not Too Loose
11. Nine Stages of Training the Mind

Three: Turning the Mind Into An Alley
12. Turning the Mind
13. The Joy of Being Human
14. The Unchanging Truth of Change
15. First We Got Old
16. And Then We Die
17. Samsara and Karma
18. Jumping into the Heart of the Buddha

Four: Warrior in the World
19. Rousing Motivation
20. Wisdom and Emptiness
21. Warrior in the World

Appendixes
A. Preparing to Practice B. The Posture of Meditation C. Instructions for Contempletive Meditation

Resources

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Sort by: Showing all of 11 Customer Reviews

  • Posted January 29, 2011

    Heading Towards Happiness

    While I have read several books on meditation, this is the one that I will keep and credit to opening my mind and heart to the understanding of selflessness, compassion, and loving kindnness. Sakyong Miphan Rimpoche has given us all a gift with his teachings.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 30, 2009

    Great book!!

    I have read many books on Buddhist philosophy and psychology, this is one of the better ones. This would be an easy book for anyone to read, whether or not you are interested in Buddhism. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to calm their mind and find clarity. Excellent read!!!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 13, 2007

    The mind can be an ally

    This wonderful book has given me the tools to make my mind my friend instead of an enemy. It is well written and easy reading for a Westerner. Peaceful abiding is possible in this crazy world. I have gone back over certain chapters often. Thank you Mr.Mipham

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 21, 2006

    Missing one thing...

    This is a really good book as an introduction to meditation except it almost completely leaves out the physical body. All of the book is devoted to developing the mind and only about three pages give the effects meditation has on the body. Many other books emphasize how it is important for the body to be still and relaxed in the meditation position because this contributes to stillness of mind. But here it is not talked about much at all. More emphasis should have been placed on the importance of the relaxed body in meditation.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 7, 2006

    Excellent book on meditation!

    This is a superb book, an absolute read! If you are practicing yoga or looking for clarity you will be extremely pleased with it. I can not say one negative thing about this book. I was looking for a yoga book today and I found this book. Oh, What a find it was!! Buy it!!

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