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Resources for You Are Here

This is a living page with a collection of resources and recommendations for exploring mindfulness further. It will be updated whenever I find something relevant and high-quality.

Recommended Reading

Wherever You Go There You AreJon Kabat Zinn — Jon Kabat-Zinn is a prominent figure in the mindfulness-based stress reduction movement (MBSR). Wherever You Go There You Are is an excellent introduction to both mindfulness and meditation. His approach is non-mystical and straightforward. If you like it, his much longer followup, Coming To Our Senses, explores meditation and mindfulness in the same style, but more deeply.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – Richard Carlson — This was the first book that exposed me to the incredible influence one can have over their present-moment experience when they begin to pay attention to it. It’s a short, quick read, very much in the conventional self-help style. It consists of 100 short lessons on how to calm down and not react so automatically to your thoughts. This little book was a major influence on my path in life and I still make use of its lessons every day.

Buddhism Without Beliefs – Stephen Batchelor— Buddhism is the origin of what we call mindfulness. It teaches many practices and concepts that are extremely useful, but its religious packaging often gets in the way. Stephen Batchelor talks about how to make use of the wealth of wisdom in Buddhism without taking on any new beliefs or religious doctrines.

The Power of NowEckhart Tolle — Eckhart Tolle’s first book centers on the reality that life only happens in the now, and we’re destined for trouble if we don’t learn how to inhabit the present. He posits that if we live truly in the present we liberate ourselves from suffering. The book is written in a Q&A format.

The Wisdom of YogaStephen Cope — If yoga is a part of your life, or you would like it to be, this book will open your eyes to what is possible. It follows a group of friends over the course of a year or two, both inside their yoga practices and out. Their lives all take different paths, as each one integrates their practices into their lives in their own way.

Recommended Listening

Stillness Speaks — A wonderful audiobook from Eckhart Tolle, voiced by himself. It consists of a whole bunch of very short thoughts — twenty- to thirty-second “sutras” on moving deeply into the present moment. It’s hard to listen to this and be absent.

Full Catastrophe Living — A Jon Kabat-Zinn audiobook about Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. I bring this on every long road trip.

Audiodharma — A Buddhist meditation center in Redwood, California publishes guided meditations and meditation-related talks on in mp3 format on the site Audiodharma.org. There archives contains hundreds of these podcasts, and you can download them or listen to them online for free. Some of the talks refer to Buddhist concepts (the Four Noble truths, for example) but most of them just talk about mindfulness and meditation practice — and even broader life advice — in general terms that don’t necessarily have anything to do with Buddhism.  This is an incredible resource, especially if you decide to explore sitting meditation.

Portland Insight Meditation Center Dharma Talks — Similar to Audiodharma, The Portland Insight Meditation Center also publishes talks and meditations, mostly given by Robert Beatty, and excellent Western Buddhist meditation teacher.

Note: Both Audiodharma and PIMC offer these talks for free but they do depend on donations, so please consider donating through their sites if you find them useful.

{ 2 Comments }

Andy August 19, 2014 at 5:47 pm

I have just finished reading “You are Here” for the first time. There is a lot there and I appreciate your effort. I will be reading it again and again.

Thought I would bring to your attention to maybe add to resource library a book titled “Present Moment Awareness” by Shannon Duncan. I don’t think he can add much to what you have already written about but he did create a little gizmo which he calls the “Focus Tool”.

Basically it a little pocket buzzer that you can preset to go off at different frequency rates and when it goes off it forces your mind back to the present moment.

For what its worth,
Andy

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