Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation [Paperback]

Thomas Cleary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1995

Some types of meditation are aimed at promoting a sense of confidence and well-being in everyday life, while other types focus on producing altered states of consciousness, transcending the world, or developing skills for serving other people. The instructions in this book focus on the highest type of all, "pure, clear meditation": a state of true objectivity that enables the practitioner to use all the other types of meditation freely and consciously, without becoming fixated or obsessed.

Minding Mind is based on traditional texts by renowned teachers from various Buddhist schools of China, Japan, and Korea, covering a broad range of topics, including:

   •  The practice of basic meditation
   •  Techniques for improving concentration
   •  How to correct problems that arise during meditation
   •  Differences between methods of sudden and gradual enlightenment
   •  The practice of koan meditation
   •  Meditation in action

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Because of the growing popularity of meditative practices in many spiritual traditions, this anthology of Buddhist meditation manuals is timely. Collected here are texts that discuss a variety of techniques of meditation, the distinctions between sudden and gradual enlightenment, the value of Zen koan meditation, and the power of meditation in action. Cleary's translations are clear and lively. Recommended for most public libraries.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A book for all in quest of higher values of life."— East and West Series



"Those who crave a richer, deeper meditative experience will find that Minding Mind may well be the most penetrating, practical, and authoritative introduction now available in English."— Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness



"Clear and lively."— Library Journal

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (February 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570620040
• ISBN-13: 978-1570620041
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn meditation from that wise enlightened master!, August 10, 1997

By 

Hungry (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation (Paperback)

Minding Mind says its a basic meditation book, but get ready for some surprizes! The contributers all great masters from various time periods are obviously coming from a state of close enlightenment. One master states after giving a discourse "If I am deceiving you, in the future I will fall into eighteen hells. I promise to heaven and earth. If I am not being truthful, let me be devoured by tigers and wolves lifetime after lifetime. Not many of the authors on spiritual topics would promise that! How often can you get to listen to that wise master up in the Himalaya's? Or the zen master who says he has taken the route to the top of the mountain and can show you the way? Here you have a guide book to mindfulness which is after all the rest of the time (when not meditating). Every page is a jewel of wisdom, this book is for the beginner and the advanced practioner. The book is broken down into sections which cover all the questions that a student would want to ask the enlightened master. I will treasure this book and will certainly recommend it to you

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, but still great., March 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation (Paperback)

First of all, this is not a "course" in meditation. It does not guide you step by step, systematically. It is basically a collection of texts on Meditation & enlightenment, all of them very good. Thomas Cleary does a good job of translating (although something seems amiss about the translation of Dogen), and the notes are very helpful. This is a good book to see how much or little meditation has changed. The talks by Man-an are particularly insightful. I would recommend this book to anyone studying the Zen texts of old, but if you want to know how to meditate and need very basic instructions, go elsewhere. This has alot of obtruse explanations & metaphysics that may confuse you if you haven't studied much Zen before.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars valuable guide, August 23, 2000

By 

Chaz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation (Paperback)

For those of you who are perceptive, should you buy this book, you will see that it is packed with wisdom. Of course, a familiar background with Zen would be helpful in understanding the book. However, even if you don't have any familiarity with zen at all, Cleary has provided notes at the end of the book to help give more depth and interpretation to the texts. These short discourses are the "real thing" when it comes to zen literature. The content of the each discourse deals with meditation and possible pitfalls to avoid. Also it is clear that meditation practice should be carried through one's everyday life, on the cushion and off. A primer of Soto Zen meditation also known as the "non-doing" method is given as well as other methods that are more concentrative in nature. I would say that this book is intended for practitioners of Zen and less so for investigative scholars.