Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition by Henepola Gunaratana (PDF)

Description

“A masterpiece.” —Jon Kabat-ZinnSince Mindfulness in Plain English was first published in 1994, it has become one of the bestselling — and most influential — books in the field of mindfulness. It’s easy to see why. Author Bhante Gunaratana, a renowned meditation master, takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. The book showcases Bhante’s trademark clarity and wit, as he explores the tool of meditation, what it does, and how to make it work. This expanded edition includes the complete text of its predecessor along with a new chapter on cultivating loving kindness, an especially important topic in today’s world. For anyone who is new to meditation, this is a great resource for learning how to live a more productive and peaceful life.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I found this book to be of significant interest, but I certainly do not subscribe to all of Buddhist theology/philosophy. I will list some concerns I have about what is presented in this book, even though I greatly value meditation as a powerful aid in efforts to achieve union with the Divine.I regard it as dubious to claim that merely by focusing on one’s breath, or by merely focusing the mind, one can overcome all human inclinations toward pride, revenge, hatred, prejudice, envy, etc. I find these statements on page 8 to be misleading:“You don’t have to force anything, struggle, obey rules dictated to you by some authority. It is automatic; you just change.”Spiritual growth is NOT AUTOMATIC. EFFORT is required. I do not think that preaching a path that precludes struggle is going to get you where you need to go. Struggling will sometimes (oftentimes?) be necessary.I also have reservations about this proclamation (page 9):“An accomplished meditator has achieved a profound understanding of life, and he or she inevitably relates to the world with a deep and uncritical love.”I’m afraid that an “uncritical love” is simply not realistic. Love requires the willingness to criticize where criticism is needed – and needed it sometimes is.On page 15, I find the following claim:“Every evil deed, every example of heartlessness in the world, stems directly from this false sense of ‘me’ as distinct from everything else.”There is a Buddhist dogma that declares that there exists NO SELF that is distinct from the rest of reality. I find this dogma to be quite incoherent. The self has a responsibility for itself that is DISTINCT from any responsibility it has for any other being or any other reality. Although the Divine Self (which the Buddhists deny exists) inheres in every other reality, there are distinctions between the Divine Will and the wills that inhere in creatures. The Divine Will is not responsible for the free choices made by individual creatures – the latter can choose in OPPOSITION to the Divine Will. The no-self philosophy of Buddhism is a lost cause. It cannot stand up to logical scrutiny. Of course, the claim that there exists no UNCHANGING self is valid. The self is forever in flux – it never persists unchanged from one moment to the next. Yet, the fundamental self does exist, and it persists, potentially eternally.I have serious doubts that a Buddhist monk had achieved spiritual perfection. But on page 43 I read the following:“Venerable Sariputta was a monk who was 100 percent mindful and had no faults. Since he did not have any pride, he was able to maintain this position.”I question whether such a monk was, indeed, truly faultless. Human achievement of spiritual perfection MIGHT be possible, but I am convinced that if such perfection is to be achieved, it will be done under the direct inspiration, direction, and empowerment of the Divine – a reality to which Buddhists do not subscribe.Notwithstanding my criticisms, I emphatically affirm the following claim from pages 42-43:“Improving ourselves is the unswerving path to the perfection that is the goal in life.”That statement is so vital and highly valid as to deserve being posted on one’s living room walls. Buddhists teach some wonderful things. Do not ignore them.But here I resume my criticisms. I find the following on page 53:“As your mindfulness develops, your resentment for the change, your dislike for unpleasant experiences, your greed for the pleasant experiences, and the notion of selfhood will be replaced by the deeper awareness of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness.”While denouncing the powerful and incessant craving to elevate the egoistic self is a proper stance, declaring the nonexistence of the self is misguided. The critical factor is to UNITE the self with the Divine – via a bringing of the self into harmony with Ultimate Reality.I will quote as follows from page 71:“What you are doing is digging your way deeper and deeper through layers of illusion toward realization of the supreme truth of existence.”In the margin of my book, I wrote: “WHAT is this ‘supreme truth of existence’???” The answer was not found, to my satisfaction, in this book, nor do I know where to find it within Buddhist theology/philosophy.A very troubling recipe is provided on page 71, as follows:“Let your meditation be a complete vacation. Trust yourself, trust your own ability to deal with these issues later, using the energy and freshness of mind that you built up during your meditation. Trust yourself in this way and it will actually occur.”Trusting the self rather than trusting the Creator is a major tenant of Buddhism. It is INCOMPATIBLE with trusting the Divine, the Creator, in Whom resides all wisdom and all power.I find the following a bit astonishing:“Seasoned meditators manage three or four hours of practice a day. They live ordinary lives in the day-to-day world, and they still squeeze it all in. It comes naturally.”I do not, quite frankly, believe that a person who has achieved humble surrender to the Infinite One is in need of spending three or four hours per day in meditation or prayer. If, however, a person stubbornly insists on achieving “enlightenment” via his/her own efforts and powers and APART FROM Divine empowerment, how much meditation might be needed? Is it a futile endeavor? No dogmatism will be offered here.I quote from page 83:“It is a procedure in which the ego will be eradicated by the penetrating gaze of mindfulness.”My question is this: From where comes this mindfulness? WHAT is the mind that “gazes”?I have more criticism for comments on page 130:“You want to get rid of those things because they bother you. It is a good deal harder to apply that same process to mental states that you cherish, like patriotism, or parental protectiveness, or true love. But it is just as necessary. Positive attachments hold you in the mud just as assuredly as negative attachments.”I believe that Buddhism fails to distinguish properly between profound love for goodness and the love for egoistic values. Love does NOT need to be vanquished. Only love for IMPROPER things, things that lead to hurt and suffering, needs to be vanquished. Love for the Divine is eternally right, good, and worthy of the highest value and honor. To love honest, creative, right achievement is worthy of praise. That kind of love does NOT need to be neutralized, but needs to be sought with humble devotion.I find the following quotations, from pages 147-148 to be troubling, if not downright diabolical:“Mindfulness is the essence of patience. Therefore, whatever you see must simply be accepted, acknowledged, and dispassionately observed. This is not easy, but it is utterly necessary. We are ignorant. We are selfish and greedy and boastful. We lust, and we lie. These are facts. Mindfulness means seeing these facts and being patient with ourselves, accepting ourselves as we are. That goes against the grain. We don’t want to accept it. We want to deny it. Or change it, or justify it. But acceptance is the essence of mindfulness. If we want to grow in mindfulness, we must accept what mindfulness finds.”I strongly disagree with the idea that we should accept our faults without proper efforts to correct and eradicate them. Merely becoming aware of the faults will not necessarily correct them. The aim, even in Buddhism, is the perfection of character. How are we going to achieve it? Does uncritical acceptance of weaknesses and faults automatically alleviate the faults? I fear that it does not. I do wholeheartedly concur that honest acknowledgement of the realities we encounter is vital, but to uncritically acknowledge errors and faults is to fail to properly censure them.An interesting set of statements is found on page 165:“This is a simplified, rudimentary awareness that is stripped of all extraneous detail. It is grounded in a living flow of the present, and it is marked by a pronounced sense of reality. You know absolutely that this is real, more real than anything you have ever experienced.”My questions center on exactly WHAT this reality is that is MORE REAL than anything else ever experienced. I declare that this Reality is none other than Ultimate Reality – the Divine Realm to Whom we can choose to humbly surrender our stubborn human egos and wills. Buddhists fail to acknowledge this Divine. How serious is that omission? Is it spiritually fatal? Let the Creator Himself answer – I am unqualified to dogmatize.Now for my final quotation from this problematic book:“You find thoughts but no thinker, you find emotions and desires, but nobody doing them. The house is empty. There is nobody home.”I declare this to be a GRAVE ERROR in Buddhism. The glorious Divine is anything but “nobody”. The Divine is infinitely aware, and He gives finite awareness to many separate beings. They are separate from, but can be harmonized with, the Divine.

⭐This beautiful book is an introduction to Vipassana (or Insight) meditation. As such, it may be the best book of this genre available today. The language is clear, simple, and precise. The first chapter is certainly a superb overview of meditation and mindfulness; chapter 14 on the interrelated roles of concentration and mindfulness in meditation was extremely helpful; and the Afterward on Loving Kindness was a timely addition to the original text. There are phrases and passages within this book that stand as some of the most compelling statements of fundamental principles of Buddhism that I have ever read. Bhante G has made an enormous contribution to the western literature on Buddhism, particularly that literature directed toward those new to the practice of meditation. This volume has become a classic and will remain as such for many decades, if not centuries, to come.So, why four stars? Why not five? Why not six? The reservations I have about this book are highly personal and I doubt that many others would even notice, let alone share, these concerns. So, buy the book. Download it to your Kindle or iPad. And consider the following rantings as those of a cranky old man.First, I found Chapter 2, describing what meditation is not, to be a little disconcerting. It is sad that Bhante G (or his editors) felt it necessary to explain that the purpose of meditation is not to become a psychic, that it is not dangerous, that it is practiced by ordinary people and not just ascetics, that it is not a great way to get high, and that it will not solve all of your problems in a few short weeks. There must be people somewhere who think of meditation in these ways. That is a very scary thought. If you are not one of those people do yourself a favor and skip this chapter.Throughout the book Bhante G uses language like “see things as they really are”. When he, or other Buddhist authors, use this kind of language it makes me want to scream! First, it is not necessary; he uses more descriptive and less provocative language to describe similar phenomena in other parts of his book. This promotes clarity and credibility while wild eyed claims about Reality and Truth do just the opposite. Secondly, anyone who has spent any time at all studying philosophy and science know that claims about Reality must be taken with a grain of salt. At one point in chapter 5 Bhante G does clarify what he means when he uses this language and his explanation makes sense. Unfortunately, this explanation is little more than a brief footnote and most readers, I fear, will continue to attribute the common, ordinary meaning to this language and thus misunderstand what he is saying.At another point Bhante G discusses the goal of meditation as “The perfection of all noble and wholesome qualities latent in the subconscious mind”. At other points he describes the task confronting the novice practitioner in such arduous terms that one wonders why anyone would begin the journey. All of this is true, I just wish Bhante G would tone down his language a little. Also, striving for goals is antithetical to the fundamental process of meditation which is focused on the present moment and surrendering to one’s immediate experiences. If there is a goal, it would be much more modest, something like gently returning your attention to your breath when you notice that it has wandered away.Bhante G devotes considerable space to meditation posture, as he should in a manual such as this. He also indicates that it is fine to sit in a chair if that works for you. At a latter point he discusses subtle mental techniques to deal with the pain that most who are new to meditation will experience with traditional postures. I used a traditional posture (Burmese) for some time, and it worked well for normal meditation session of 45 minutes or less. However, during retreats and longer periods of meditation I experienced the pain that is so common with traditional positions. At one point I realized that this pain was unnecessary and did not help my practice. So, I switched to a chair. For those who experience little or no pain during prolonged sitting and those who find the pain tolerable, or even helpful, then they should opt for a traditional position. Everyone else should opt for a chair. During his discussion of pain caused by the traditional postures Bhante G does not even mention the obvious solution, i.e. sit in a chair. This is like describing in detail how to deal with the pain in your head and neglecting to mention that you could just stop banging your head against the wall. It is assumed that if you are serious about meditation you will adopt a traditional posture, which is nonsense, particularly for beginners. Being more explicit about your options regarding posture would improve this section significantly.In Chapter 9 Bhante G provides advice regarding “set up” exercises prior to beginning a meditation session. The first (I am about to tread the very same path that has been walked by the Buddha and his great and holy disciples…) should be enough to intimidate any novice. It is a wonderful set for serious meditation, I just am not sure that it belongs in a manual for beginners. Secondly, the recitation on Loving Kindness is particularly beautiful, as anyone who has experienced it can attest. The problem is its length, almost five (admittedly short) pages on my iPad. This recitation can constitute an entire meditation session in itself. Lay practitioners must schedule meditation session(s) into their very busy days and adding this recitation may require them to substantially shorten the time for meditation proper. It would have been helpful if Bhante G had offered an alternate form of this recitation that was shorter and less time consuming.Finally, and this is a purely philosophical note, Bhate G repeatedly reminds us that Buddhism sees an extremely close, even intimate relationship between our mind and our body. At one point I believe he goes further and refers to this relationship as one of unity. This second statement is more consistent with our current understanding based on recent develments neuroscience and philosophy of mind. These disciplines are converging and a concensus (though certainly not unanimous agreement) is developing regarding the basic model of materialistic monism. Our mind and our brain are not two distinct entities, they are one. Our experience and our consciousness are not caused by or intimately related to our brain. Our experiences and our consciousness are brain states. This is a difficult concept to get your head around, but so are quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity. As Buddhism grows in the west it is important that it has intellectual credibility. To achieve this, its language be adapted to that of modern science and philosophy. This will entail an emphasis on the unity of mind and body and the abandonment of language that suggests that the are different entities. In this respect, some of Bhante G’s language could use a tune-up.All of these criticisms should be placed in the basic context that I established at the beginning of this review, i.e. this is a really great book, a classic, that will be treasured for decades. As an introduction to mindfulness and insight meditation this may be the best book ever written.

⭐I’ve read my fair share of meditation books and this one is in its own world. The author conveys everything with such clarity. No doubt that many great meditators have walked this earth and written books, but this author’s ability to convey information in a way that enables the reader is just so effective. The title couldn’t be more perfect. It’s straightforward and direct. You can tell the author has helped thousands of meditation students because he brings up common pitfalls throughout the book that hit home, and then shows the reader how to deal with them, all the while without knowing the reader personally. Just pure experience at play. Somewhere in the beginning of the book, the author breaks down different schools of Buddhism, explains their unique properties and differences, and then talks about which one he’ll be teaching. Small things like this bring so much clarity to what the reader is learning. If I could choose only one book to learn meditation or to pass on to a loved one who wants to learn, this would be it for sure. Much gratitude to the author for this gift to the world.

⭐Everybody can relate to the messages and the knowledge in this book in some way . Trust me

⭐Why I read it…This came under the heading “A book that will make you smarter” in my reading challenge. Also I’m trying out a selection of ‘basic’ meditation guides in an attempt to deepen my practice.The Book…This book is presented as a step-by-step guide to the practice of Vipassana (insight) meditation – or MINDFULNESS.It’s primary selling point is that it is written in, as the title suggests, plain English, as opposed to many of the other meditation manuals that are often steeped in jargon and difficult concepts that require quite a lot of prior knowledge and experience before it can be even remotely useful.The book has some pretty amazing quotes on the cover that sing high praises of it’s content and author. I’m not entirely sure I agree with them.What I liked…The thing I liked most about this book was definitely the last chapter on metta (or loving friendliness / kindness). Bhante G (as the author is often known as), provides a detailed explanation of a concept of loving friendliness, it’s place within a Buddhist context, it’s purpose and then provides real-world examples of it’s use and benefits, alongside examples from Buddhist scriptural writings. It is an excellent chapter and probably my favourite bit of writing on the concept of metta that I have read so far.One story from this chapter tells of how Bhante used to wave at a man who seemed very angry all the time whenever he went past. This man, as it turned out, would never wave back because he was recovering from a serious accident and literally couldn’t wave back. Bhante notes that had he just written this difficult man off as angry and unworthy of loving-friendliness he would have written off a good man, and indeed a friend, because of circumstances the man had no control over. I’ve made a real pigs-ear of explaining this story because I think it needs to be read in Bhante’s own words – but it is a really excellent example of why loving friendliness should be extended to everyone – even those who by appearances don’t seem to deserve it.The rest of the book is pretty good – although I didn’t find it quite as good as others seem to have done. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of bits I have taken in while reading that have definitely helped my practice and I definitely recommend it as a book for any meditator to read, I just didn’t think it was ‘a masterpiece’ as the front cover would have you believe. This is probably down to the fact that the last dharma book I read was literally life changing, and this is a practice guide and not a philosophical work.The book is well written and the instructions are mostly pretty clear. Actually come to think of the the instructions are pretty much excellent because it deals with a whole bunch of things some books overlook. Like pain.If you are serious about meditation I don’t think you would have much difficulty in understanding the instructions – although following them is quite intimidating.What I disliked…I have some issues with the title. Plain English. There is no two ways about it, this book is infinitely plainer in it’s speech than the vast majority of books that I have read on the subject. That does not mean, however, that this book is jargon free. There are a lot of Pali terms flying around and a handful of high-concept words that, while mostly well explained, could be intimidating to the beginner. This book was written by a Buddhist monk after all, so it is to be expected that some Buddhist terminology is included – it’s just something people should be aware of as mindfulness tends to be thought of as a secular thing a lot these days.I warn you now, what I’m about to point out would stop a great deal of reading this book – and I have to admit it made me feel pretty weird about the whole thing too. All I can do is say that just because I’m pointing this out doesn’t mean you should write off the whole book. Just forget this bit and move on – it’s not worth missing the whole book because of one paragraph.”There is a point in the meditator’s career where he or she may practice special exercises to develop psychic powers…Only after the meditator has reached a very deep stage of jhana will he or she be advanced enough to work with such powers…” p.15This quote comes from a section entitled “Misconception 4: The purpose of meditations is to become psychic”. Obviously it’s good that Bhante is making a point of saying you don’t meditate to try and become psychic, but he also pretty much point blank says that it is a thing that can happen and that you can train to do it when you are very experienced. This is obviously going to be a bitter pill to swallow for a lot of people – and by bitter I’m talking bitter like the sour candy Homer Simpson eats at that trade show that all but turns his mouth inside out kind of bitter. If this bothers you, just move on and forget you read it.Final thoughts…This book definitely helped me absorb some useful tips for my meditation practice, and probably deserves a second read another time when I haven’t just finished something life-changing.I would recommend it to anyone who meditates or plans to meditate, providing they don’t go into this book expecting a secular mindfulness guide.___________________________________________Please note: I am in no way affiliated with the author or publishers. I bought this book with my own money for my own reasons. The opinions contained within are my own and have not been influenced by any external entity!

⭐Mindfulness doesn’t have to be a hippy exercise, it’s useful for everyone. This book is a great introduction to mindfulness for people who might be put off by some of the more hardcore literature out there. Does what it says on the tin, tells you about what mindfulness is and why it’s useful in simple terms. Would recommend this to anyone who needs a different outlook on life.

⭐I recently wrote a review for The Power of Now. I would say these two books are the first step to a better life. It took me two reads to like this book, be very careful, as you read your ego will do the best it can to put you off. Simply stay aware of how you feel and make sure you use the highlighter. You will be coming back for reference again and again. If you don’t like this book, then read again!

⭐From the very beginning you will know and feel what the author is advising how to meditate and stay mindful. A real gem of a book. Enjoy your new way of living.

⭐I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Henepola Gunaratana writes with such a fantastic understanding of the human mind, and the way we coast through our lives. It’s true that some of the content is difficult to understand, but this is not due to Henepola’s writing style, but more to do with the fact that these themes are difficult to convey with words, and are better experienced, as opposed to being told about them in anecdotes.The world is a harsh and violent place, but thankfully this book outlines that you don’t have to contribute to that pain. Causing more suffering in this world is always a choice, and once you see the cycle of suffering, you’re naturally going to drop those habits.If you want what the book offers, then it genuinely can change your life for the better.

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