or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
49 used & new from $2.49
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry
 
 
See all product images
See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry (Paperback)

~ (Author) "WHAT A QUIET SUNDAY IT IS, overflowing with golden light!..." (more)
Key Phrases: meditative inquiry, habitual reactions, Hui Neng
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
List Price: $14.95
Price: $10.17 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.78 (32%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
23 new from $8.50 25 used from $2.49 1 collectible from $14.95

Frequently Bought Together

The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry + The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing + The Work of This Moment
Price For All Three: $33.27

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry by Toni Packer

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing by Toni Packer

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Work of This Moment by Toni Packer

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Work of This Moment

The Work of This Moment

by Toni Packer
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  $11.90
The Light of Discovery

The Light of Discovery

by Toni Packer
$11.90
Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is

Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is

by Joan Tollifson
4.8 out of 5 stars (21)  $19.95
Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life

Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life

by Joan Tollifson
4.5 out of 5 stars (20)  $17.10
Opening the Hand of Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice

Opening the Hand of Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice

by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi
4.8 out of 5 stars (11)  $11.53
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Wonder of Presence--every page peppered with question marks--makes it immediately clear that Toni Packer is not going to spoon-feed us answers. A sort of Zen Krishnamurti, Packer entertains the burning questions of "spiritual practice" (a term she avoids) and of life itself, all the while turning us back to ourselves. She calls it the way of meditative inquiry, a method in which meditation has no other purpose than to derail habitual modes of thinking and feeling, thereby opening oneself up to everything that is happening--just as it is. In chapters on anger, fear, and peace, Packer, formerly a Zen teacher in the lineage of Philip Kapleau, shows that "when a powerfully driven emotion gives way to simple awareness, it is like a miracle." The book is based on Packer's retreat talks and entertains the questions of retreatants on wide-ranging topics from relationships to suffering and from freedom to judgment. For all of these, she dives into the problem, asking about origins and peeling back the layers of the self. The Wonder of Presence answers questions by showing us how to look. --Brian Bruya


From Publishers Weekly

This refreshingly iconoclastic collection of dharma talks encourages readers to deemphasize issues such as posture, the "stages" of enlightenment or the proper meditation techniques in favor of "effortless being." Packer, founder of the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry in western New York, draws on an eclectic assortment of thinkers, from traditional Zen masters to Krishnamurti. This anthology has some repetition of ideas, but in general, the various pieces adhere quite well. Packer's emphasis on awareness and "the wonder of presence" combined with her rare ability to make abstract concepts seem simple, even obvious makes this a welcome addition. (Apr.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Shambhala; 1 edition (April 16, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1570628750
  • ISBN-13: 978-1570628757
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #378,814 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Toni Packer
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Toni Packer Page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
"WHAT A QUIET SUNDAY IT IS, overflowing with golden light!" Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
meditative inquiry, habitual reactions
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hui Neng
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 5 books:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry
69% buy the item featured on this page:
The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry 4.8 out of 5 stars (4)
$10.17
The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing
16% buy
The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
$11.20
Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is
6% buy
Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is 4.8 out of 5 stars (21)
$19.95
The Work of This Moment
4% buy
The Work of This Moment 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
$11.90
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Zen & Krishnamurti made clear, February 12, 2005
Toni Packer's writings are emblematic of a new era of Buddhist teachings in the West: women Dharma teachers. Along with Charlotte Joko Beck, Toni Packer provides a no-nonsense, yet compassionate approach to inner transformation. A friend of mine once described these approaches as "not for the faint-hearted", and maybe that's true. Toni Packer invites relentless inquiry into the workings of the human mind and emotions, to lay bare the conditioning that forms the basis of much of human suffering. There is no sugar coating in Packer's teachings. Her description of the bereaved mind, her own, is searing. Yet one senses that in her approach lies freedom. Her understanding of human conditioning, and release from this conditioning, is simply profound. For example, she writes, in a talk on meditative questioning: "Watch how the incident translates itself into a story spun out by the brain, and how this story keeps triggering the chemicals that maintain the angry emotions long after the original stimulus has passed." To watch without being trapped in these processes is to know freedom.
If you have read Krishnamurti and wondered what he was saying, Packer lays it bare. Combining Zen with Krishnamurti's teachings, this brave and compassionate teacher has written a manual of human liberation. Written with great courage and stunning intellectual honesty, Toni Packer embodies the words of the 8th Century Chinese Zen poet, Hanshan: Writing about the road to Cold Mountain, the enlightened terrain on which he lived, he says "My heart's not the same as yours. If your heart was like mine, you'd get and be right here." Toni Packer spells out what it means to have the heart, to 'get it', and to be right here in the present moment, free.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Every word is savored, so simple and so close to the heart. The most honest and straight forward writing I have ever read, October 26, 2007
I highly reccomend this book, I have become a fan of Toni Packer and this book is her finest yet. It is a no frills book that you can pick up and open to any chapter for honest direct inquiry into the heart of silence. She amazes me with her candor and her fresh look at the human condition. I have reread chapters again and again, and each time I hear something new. This is what she is pointing to, pure listening and being in this moment completely.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Wonder of Presence, February 15, 2008
By E. M. Kimball "EMK" (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Toni Packer gave me a new perspective on Mindfulness Meditation. In her I have found a teacher who eliminates forms, status, levels of achievement and urges presence alone. She writes in a simple way as good teachers do, and she moves me to the wonder of the present moment. That's it. That is the path to peace.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A compilation of serious thoughts about the nature of Zen
The Wonder Of Presence And The Way Of Meditative Inquiry by Zen practitioner Toni Packer is a compilation of serious thoughts about the nature of Zen, meditation, death, life, and... Read more
Published on July 12, 2002 by Midwest Book Review

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:

















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.