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A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path
 
 

A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path [Kindle Edition]

Gil Fronsdal
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Inspired by his years of Buddhist monastic life, Gil Fronsdal has written these warm-hearted stories as part of the tradition of teaching through storytelling.

These are tales of transformation and spiritual growth. They delight and challenge as they express different facets of the Buddhist path to liberation in familiar, yet fresh and engaging, ways. These stories can be reread often, each time supporting new reflections on the spiritual life and the possibility of each person awakening to the kindness, clarity and insight available to all of us. A Monastery Within points to how each person can build an inner home for the awakened life.

About the Author: Gil Fronsdal is the primary teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. He has been teaching since 1990 and has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma and trained with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. He was also ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center and received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman. Gil has a PhD in Relgious Studies from Stanford University.

His translation of the "Dhammapada", an important collection of Buddhist verses, is published by Shambhala Publications. He is the author of "The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice." He is a husband and a father of two sons.

About the Author

Gil Fronsdal is the primary teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. He has been teaching since 1990 and has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma and trained with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. He was also ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center and received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman. Gil has a PhD in Relgious Studies from Stanford University. Gil’s teachings can be found at www.audiodharma.org and www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/. His translation of the "Dhammapada", an important collection of Buddhist verses, is published by Shambhala Publications. He is the author of "The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice." He is a husband and a father of two sons.

Product Details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 119 KB
  • Publisher: Tranquil Books (September 7, 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0042AMGDI
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,337 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Buddhist teaching tales, October 3, 2010
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This latest book by Gil Fronsdal is a gem. The stories are short and entertaining, and go deep. They reflect the author's sensibilities, his humor, and knowledge, all with a light touch.

The first time I read the book I read it from cover to cover quite quickly, just enjoying the stories. Then I began to randomly turn to one story at a time, and used it to reflect on the three main topic areas Gil has included; Kindness, Clarity and Wisdom.

In the tradition of teaching tales like those of the Sufis, these stories stand on their own and also point to the tradition's wisdom. So I am buying copies for friends who are Buddhists and friends who are not Buddhists, believing that every one who loves a good story will enjoy this book.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing in its simplicity, January 6, 2011
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I have a bad habit of reading more Buddhist and philosophical books than I probably should. After thousands of dense and convoluted lines of text, it was refreshing to find Gil's new book. A Monastery Within includes dozens of short stories that are grouped into three key themes: kindness, clarity, and wisdom. Some of the stories are a few pages, others are a mere paragraph. It's the type of book that is going to deliver something different every time you read it. Refreshing in its simplicity, this is a great book to return to whenever you're looking for a nugget of wisdom to add a spark of inspiration or insight to your day.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Collection of Buddhist Stories, November 24, 2010
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I have listened to dozens of Zencast podcasts by Gil Fronsdal of the Insight Meditation Center in Californis, so when I learned about this book I was happy to order it. I very much enjoyed the stories and the insights they provide. In particular, the story of how one flower can be compared to a smaller and a larger flower reminded me of the unimportance of comparisons to others. I plan to read this book again soon, and will turn to it many times in the future. Highly recommended.
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More About the Author

Gil Fronsdal is the primary teacher for the "Insight Meditation Center" in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council.

Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He is currently serving on the SF Zen Center Elders' Council.

Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of "The Issue at Hand, Essays on Mindfulness Practice," "A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path", and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications.

Hundreds of Gil's talks on meditation and Buddhist practice can be found on www.audiodharma.org

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