Customer Reviews

The Experience of Samadhi: An In-depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation

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What is jhana? Are there conflicting definitions in the Buddhists texts? Do the original sources in the Pali canon agree with later commentaries? How is samadhi (concentration) taught in the West? Do modern Vipassana teachers and monastics agree on the fundamental definitions and methods? These are the key questions Richard Shankman addresses in this clearly written, superbly organized study of samadhi. The book begins with a detailed explanation of samadhi and jhana in the Pali canon, complete with references to key suttas, then moves to a thorough examination of jhana in the Visuddhimaga. Next it highlights the core controversies surrounding samadhi. In a wonderfully helpful section, Shankman presents the text of interviews he conducted with four monastics and four senior Vipassana dharma instructors to show the areas of agreement and disagreement on this subject. Shankman's style is direct, lucid, and impartial, giving all sides of the argument equal time. A must-read for practitioners who want a deeper understanding of the eighth principle of the Eight-Fold Path.

I would recommend this book to anyone who meditates and has questions like "What is samadhi, what is jhana, who teaches in accordance with the discourses of the Buddha and who teaches more in line with the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)? It is a very helpful reference book. I first read a copy from the library and decided to buy a copy.

I have been attached to Buddhism for 15 years but am not a well trained Buddhist scholar. Though some of his points were above my level of understanding I am really happy I read this book. I came a way with a deeper understanding of Samadhi than I had before. His interviews at the end are worth the price of the book alone.

Robert writes in a clear and thorough way that enhances our understanding of samadhi, which is so much more than "concentration", which is the usual translation of the word.
If you want to learn more about mindfulness, the royal "twin" to samadhi, I also recommend 'The Path of Mindfulness Meditation', available through Amazon.

the interviews are fabulous - - I started with the interview of Christina Feldman and it alone was worth way more than the cost of the book

Unfortunately, all of the promotional material--the product description, the editorial reviews, the back cover, the description on the publisher's website--is misleading in that it nowhere states that this book deals with Theravada material only. One might reasonably expect that a book that states broadly that it is about samadhi in Buddhism would make use of the voluminous Mahayana material on the subject. I had to purchase the book before I discovered that it doesn't.

It is, of course, perfectly fine to write a book strictly about samadhi in Theravada Buddhism, but it should be clearly represented as such. I can't help but wonder what the reason for this omission was--the unavoidable implication seems to be that the author does not consider Mahayana Buddhism to be Buddhism at all. That's his prerogative, but I wish he would have stated his biases plainly, so that I could have taken them into account before purchasing the book.