Henepola Gunaratana: Mindfulness In Plain English
Book Summary in 300 words, 1 minute reading time:
What you are now is a result of what you were. What you will be tomorrow will be the result of what you are now. The consequences of an evil mind will follow you like the cart follows the ox that pulls it. The consequences of a purified mind will follow you like your own shadow. No one can do more for you than your own purified mind—no parent, no relative, no friend, no one. A well-disciplined mind brings happiness and self-assurance.
This is why we sit down each day with eyes closed, listening to nature or soothing music — Meditation is intended to purify the mind. It cleanses the thought process of what can be called psychic irritants, things like greed. Hatred and jealousy, things that keep you snarled up in emotional bondage. It brings the mind to a state of tranquility and awareness, a state of concentration and insight. In this state of self-awareness, dark mental clouds are temporary. In the opposite state, our minds are always cloudy, never experiencing the warmth of sunlight and the clear blue sky of contentment.
The idea of meditation is to go in as one person and come out a different person altogether, by making one aware of one’s own thoughts and actions, reflecting on them as much as possible, and remaining in the moment.
Civilization changes man on the outside. Meditation softens him within, through and through. Meditation is called the Great Teacher.
Patience is key. Patience. If you learn nothing else from meditation, you will learn patience. And that is the most valuable lesson available.
"What stops us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, confident, fearless, and steady? A mind that is beyond the reach of fear and desire...
A person with such a mind will naturally be cheerful and deeply joyful, finding delight in their own resources and desiring no joys greater than their inner joys."
— Seneca, Letters From A Stoic
Further Reading:
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Cancelo Alvarez
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