Customer Reviews

In This Very Life: The Liberation Teachings of the Buddha

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"In this very life" radically changed my life. Its greatest strength is that it demystifies the process of awakening. When it is presented by Sayadaw U Pandita, the process of awakening is like a mathematical proof: one step follows inevitably from the previous ones. This is one of the very few books in any genre that makes complete sense to me.

It's taken me over a year to read partly because it's so dense, but also because parts of it only made sense after I had been meditating and struggling for a while.

I had been practicing meditation seriously for about a year when some friends recommended it to me. Before I read it, I had only vague notions of what I was doing. I knew that I wanted to be totally committed to understanding reality--that this was the only worthwhile thing in life. But wanting this, knowing how to do it, and doing it are three separate things. This book tells you how to do it.

This book also answers the questions: What can humans achieve? We all know that life can be lived in an all-too-human way. Is there any way to live that overcomes our heritage of craving, anger, and ignorance? According to this book there is. There is a way to live free of fear, stress, suffering, and all the things that drive us to behave ignobly. There is a more civilized and peaceful way to live.

The first chapter starts at the very beginning for the complete beginner: what to do when you sit, and how to provide yourself with conditions favorable for making progress. The beginning meditator could read the first chapter and follow its instructions for months before needing to read the second one. For me, the first chapter was very helpful in clearing up things that I was unsure about in the meditation process.

Once you have the basics down, the book goes into more refinements of creating favorable conditons for yourself to make more progress and the things you need to overcome. If you've been meditating, you can know from experience that these are indeed things you need to overcome.

The fourth chapter is perhaps the most important. The basic message is "keep going." Keep applying mindfulness to everything no matter what. And Sayadaw U Pandita explains how to apply this mindfulness: take mental aim at the object, and get the mind to in some sense rub up against it. To do this, moment by moment for your entire life takes courage since the mind inevitably rebels and wants to lose itself in a fantasy, and because pain can arise in different ways. So much of what is written here inspires this courage.

The fifth and sixth chapter describe in detail the progress of insight and where it all leads. When I was reading these chapters I realized that with heroic effort, a kind of ultimate knowing is something that is attainable by almost anyone. This was very heartening to me and gave me hope--that with enough hard work I could achieve this in this very life.

The fourth, fifth and sixth chapter are conveniently summarized at the end of the book, and there are study aids, glossary and index in the back as well.

It is the ultimate self-improvement book. Along the way, one becomes morally and mentally healthy, mentally concentrated, self-disciplined, joyful, happy, content and peaceful.

I think that any meditator would want to be taught by an person who has been awakened. It's clear that Sayadaw U Pandita has been, and has also helped numerous people to experience this as well. By reading this book, he can become your teacher. The greatest veneration you could give to him would be to read it, understand it, apply these instructions in your own life, and awaken yourself.

I am truly grateful that the Sayadaw has published this book. As much as I love the Western Theravada Buddhist writers, this book took me deeper into the Dharma. Yes, it gets a little ponderous at times with precise and analytical explanations of various states of enlightenment, but he then uses analogies to simply or clarify many of the more difficult concepts. So, his discussion of enlightenment becomes a roadmap that you can both understand and look forward to. I also enjoyed his wry sense of humor, which is really needed because of the depth he goes into his explanations and instructions. And, though he really stresses virtue and purity (more than many other writers) it is done non-judgmentally so you can see the tremendous mental and spiritual benefit derived from "cleaning up your act and your thinking". His compassionate heart and love of the dharma jump off the pages right into your heart and mind. He emphasizes as you gain in spiritual maturity and move along the path of enlightenment you will bring more good into this life and bring happiness and liberation to others. I am not sure, though, that it is the best introductory book to Theravada Buddhism and meditation for folks with little or no experience with Buddhism and/or samadhi oriented meditation. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. May you be blessed with wisdom and happiness.

In Rangoon, Burma there is a lovely monastery where Sayadaw U Pandita resides as the head abbot ( Panditarama Monastery and Meditation Center ). He is both a clear and lovingly compassionate teacher who has the ability of appealing to a wide range of audiences. This book is basically a meditation instruction booklet, derived from talks he'd given in Massachusetts over a three month period of retreat.

Sayadaw is an absolute master of mind techniques, giving advice on how to "assail" sensory pleasure, suffering, desire, laziness, fright, selfishness, a sense of gaining, doubt (the unhealthy variety!), among many others. This book speaks volumes to a modern society participating on a global scale in conflict with it's message of equanimity; in fact, he devotes an entire chapter to just that subject. Commenting that equanimity is simply not picking and choosing, not apathy as many will lead you to believe. Seng Ts'an, the 3rd Zen Patriarch said in his famous poem, "The Great Way is not difficult. It just precludes picking and choosing." This message is echoed in here. It's not a matter of indecisiveness, but rather EVEN mindedness. Only when we can look at a situation with no personal slant or bias, can we truly be sure we are clearly perceiving this world. For anyone who believes 100% clear perception is impossible, I say, "Find me the tree with no roots."

Sayadaw's teachings here are profound and pertinent to our "global trade" style world, where hungry ghosts abound us with an overabundance of incessant desire and neediness. It's one of those books that's a must have for all Buddhists, regardless of lineages or tradition. For it drives home the Buddha and all Patriarchs message: No preference, no preference. Enjoy!

This is a book that is excellent for beginners, intermediate and advanced students. For the beginner, it sets a framework for understanding meditation that will be useful as a frequent reference. For the intermediate and advanced students, it seems to address issues that they will experience in their own meditation practice. It also provides a vast amount of information that is worthwhile to learn about, whether one is able to experience this in their own practice or not.

The book increased my desire to practice and experience what I was reading about. It should be the foundation for any meditator's library.

As an earlier poster has said, it seems that one chapter of this book is enough to keep you for a few months. Practice from the book and you'll be seeing the peace that may foreshadow nibbana within the first week. Describes the methods of practice with precision and is quick and to the point. Both beginning and experienced meditators will be able to get something out of this book right away. Beginning students will become acquainted with the practice of vipassana meditation both in its spirit and detail, and experienced practitioners will find their practice renewed and with greater discipline, peace, and well-being than before. My only piece of advise: once you are established in this concentrated meditation with peace and happiness as the result, especially while walking, do not let it go, for it is difficult to regain. As the book suggests, keep meditating throughout the day, noting and being aware and observant of all sensations and movements, e.g. in washing your clothes, brushing your teeth, going out, or returning home. And don't get stuck on levels where things seem "better," as the book warns, this is an impediment to further development. Settle for nothing less than liberation.

This book packs an enormous amount of material into a well-organized exposition of vipassana and buddhism generally. It is informed by a very rigorous practice and comes about as close to dharma as words can.

It is highly recommended to experienced meditators who might find very basic books repetitious, and for earnest invididuals who want to learn a whole lot more about buddhism.

A clear, step by step guide to Vipassana meditation and the development of insight. Based on the Burmese meditation tradition, written in a clear, easy-to-read style without jargon. Useful for beginners and experienced meditators alike.

The author is a world famous Buddhist instructor. His work is studied by many students and is often recommended as an addition to a practitioner's library.
I have not read this yet but it came highly recommended by several well known western Buddhist instructors whose works I am currently reading. Yes, I am reading more than one book at a time but they each compliment the other. And for me, this enhances my understanding. I know from what has been said that I will treasure this book once I catch up and am able to read it. So I borrowed the five star rating from all the recomendations I have read, heard and seen

I have had the privilege to study with Sayadaw U Pandita, and he is a formidable presence. He is a highly revered Burmese Buddhist master, known for his strictness and intensity. The book is less foreboding. And I even used it while studying with him to clarify things I was unsure of! He was not pleased when I innocently mentioned this, as we were not to be reading during retreat. By itself it is a helpful guide and one gets his intensity and encouragement to the goal of enlightenment, and that it's possible in this lifetime. One reviewer pointed out that this is one type of Vipassana meditation, there are so many branches on the tree that is Buddhism. Find the most helpful one for you and do your practice "and all is coming" to quote a well know Ashtanga yoga teacher-Pattabhi Jois. And as U Pandita himself has said, "continue your practice." Start where you feel comfortable whether Zen, Vipassana (Theravadin,) Tibetan lineages and commit to some tradition for a length of time, delve deeply-- don't window shop. After a real grounding in one school you may feel drawn to explore other expressions of Wisdom traditions.
[...]

A book on Insight Meditation or Vipassana Meditation of the Theravada Buddhist kind. It describes one type of Vipassana Meditation, its concepts and theoretical basis. It can be tough reading even for readers with some knowledge of buddhism. But its interesting to know that even vipassana meditation comes with different tints and flavours like those of the different sects of relgious beliefs. And this book describes one of those flavours.