The Mind and the Way: Buddhist Reflections on Life

by Sumedho, Balangoda Anandamaitreya (Foreword by)

Overview

What would life be like if each one of us chose compassion over anger, loving-kindness over hatred, awareness over ignorance? The Mind and the Way demonstrates a radically simple approach to life, one in which we are able to awaken to our true loving nature and delight in the mystery and wonder of the world. With warmth and a wonderful sense of humor, Ajahn Sumedho draws on the experiences of ordinary life to convey Buddhist insights that for 2,500 years have continued to remain vital and pertinent to our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614290728
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	06/25/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

For nearly fifty years Ajahn Sumedho has embodied the Buddha's way. As a young man he completed an M.A. at the University of California at Berkeley, was a medic in the Navy, and taught in the Peace Corps in Borneo. For twelve years, beginning in 1966, he studied closely with the renowned meditation master Ajahn Chah, who appointed him to be the first Western abbot of a Thai monastery. Now based in England, he is the spiritual head of a global community of monks and nuns.

Editorial Reviews

Sumedho, an American Thervadin monk trained in Thailand, presents Buddhism as a way rather than a religion. A graduate of the University of California-Berkeley, a Navy fighter pilot, and a Peace Corps volunteer, the author spent ten years as a contemplative forest monk before establishing the first forest monastery in England. Compiled from talks, his book deals with the nature of suffering and release from it by living a virtuous life awakening the mind to the impermanence of all things. Sumedho uses traditional insight meditation practices to open the heart and mind to the path of truth; he promotes a life of nonattachment, yet enriched with loving kindness, a simple life of nonexcess, profound goodness, cooperation rather than competition, and the mind that transcends but does not abandon the world. The keyword is balance. With its humorous observations upon his early days in Thailand, Sumedho's work is acutely practical and easy to read. Highly recommended for public libraries.-Dara Eklund, Los Angeles P.L.

Library Journal

"The Mind and the Way is a wonderfully accessible and compassionate expression of the Buddha's teachings. Ajahn Sumedho's exemplary life illuminates this timeless transforming wisdom, and the simple clarity of his words help light our own spiritual journey. A good book for us all."

Joseph Goldstein