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Top positive review
55 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsUnique, in ways unparalleled...
ByCraig Shoemakeon February 8, 2012
This is not your daddy's Dharma book! (Your mommy's neither.)
The differences start with the cover, and no, I'm not talking about the flaming dude with a chakra wheel for his heart. I'm talking about the author's title: Arahat. Now, Ingram does have a regular title-he's a medical doctor (M.D.) specializing in emergency medicine-"Everything from hangnails to heart attacks" he told me in a phone conversation. As you may know, an arhat (there are variant spellings) is one who has completed the Buddhist path as laid out in the Pali Suttas. "Done is what had to be done and there is no more of this to come!" goes the standard refrain by those who have attained such. Clearly Ingram is, as the suttas say, ready to "roar his lion's roar" in the spiritual marketplace. He spells the differences out further in the "Forward and Warning," wherein he puts you on notice he does not intend to write a "nice and friendly dharma book"; you know you're in for it when an author tells you he hails from a lineage of "dharma cowboys, mavericks, rogues and outsiders" (16).
That said, the books proceeds normally enough through part one. Ingram begins his discussion of dharma in terms of the traditional "three trainings": morality (sila), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (paññ'). I especially found his discussion of morality illuminating. Going considerably beyond the standard list of things we shouldn't do (the five precepts etc), he says
"Training in morality has as its domain all of the ordinary ways that we live in the world. When we are trying to live the good life in a conventional sense, we are working on training in morality. When we are trying to work on our emotional, psychological and physical health, we are working at the level of training morality... Whatever we do in the ordinary world that we think will be of some benefit to others or ourselves is an aspect of working on this first training" (24-5).
He goes on to point out that while absolute mastery of concentration and wisdom (insight) is possible, total mastery in the worldly sphere of ethics is not. And so he calls it, rightly, the "first and last training."
Chapter 4 (oddly, the chapters are not numbered, only the parts) lays significant emphasis on seeing the three characteristics (tilakkhana) of phenomena-impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anatta); indeed, this is a fundamental tenet of Ingram's approach to meditation, derivable in part from his experiences in the Mahasi tradition which has a similar emphasis. His discussion of anatta is clarifying: it means, simply, that when phenomena are investigated closely (as in vipassana), no agent, controller, or subject can be discovered; the things of the world are, in effect, ownerless. This, too, is a significant part of Ingram's dharma discussion, and comes up repeatedly later in the book. Ingram also discusses the spiritual faculties, the factors of enlightenment, and the four truths.
Most of the above can be found in other dharma books. Where things really start to get interesting is in the section entitled "Practical Meditation Considerations." Here Ingram's wealth of experience in formal retreat centers comes to the fore and makes for extremely informative, even entertaining, reading. For example, he lists the things retreatants tend to get neurotic about, such as wake-up bells ("too quiet, too loud, someone forgets to ring it at all"), roommates ("those that snore, smell, are noisy or messy, etc."), as well as "issues of corruption, romances, cults of personality, affairs, crushes, miscommunications, vendettas, scandals, drug use, money issues, and all the other things that can sometimes show up anywhere there are people" (94)-meaning everything and anything!
This is a section that demands multiple readings. Not because it's in any way difficult, just because the nuts and bolts of doing a retreat, of daily practice, are often the very things that defeat us. I repeatedly found Ingram's advice to be forthright, informed, and practical. Many people, for example, get obsessed over posture, but Ingram says simply "we can meditate in just about any position we find ourselves" (96). He notes, for example, how "Many traditions make a big deal about exactly how you should sit, with some getting paricularly macho or picky about such things" (97)-making me recall my experience in a Zen monastery in Japan. He writes how the four postures of sitting, standing, walking, reclining each have plusses and minuses, the principle differences being in the energy level and effects on concentration. He further discusses issues such as meditation objects, the critical role of resolve, and offers some very illuminating remarks on teachers. One clearly gets the sense Ingram knows what he says from firsthand experience.
The fireworks start in Part II, "Light and Shadows." Little lightning bolts-the sign of something controversial ahead-adorn several chapters. This is where Ingram gets up on his soapbox. Usually, I would say that in a bad way, meaning someone was just spouting. But here, I think, what Ingram does, even if you want to call it spouting, is all to a very good point, and that is to draw attention to some of the unconstructive shadow sides of Buddhist spirituality in America. For example, in the section entitled "Buddhism vs. the Buddha," he criticizes the religious trappings the Buddha's teaching-in its original form an applied psychology-has been buried under, and how Americans have contributed to rendering the master's technology of awakening into dogma or comfort food.
However, Ingram's purpose here is not controversy. He speaks also about having a clear goal, and encourages asking oneself questions like "Why would I want to sit cross-legged for hours with my eyes closed, anyway?" It's important you know what you're seeking, after all, and Ingram hammers this point throughout the book. (It was also one of the first questions he asked me in our phone conversation!) This section also describes the critical difference between dealing with one's "stuff"-i.e. the content of your life-and seeing the true nature of the phenomena that constitute that stuff. For example, if you're depressed because your significant other dumped you, trying to figure out why he/she did that to you is reflection on your "stuff," but patiently observing the emotions of anger or depression as they arise and pass away-i.e. trying to see the fundamental characteristics of those experiences-is insight. The difference here, as Ingram makes clear, is night and day.
Part III, "Mastery," forms the heart of the book, and this is where Ingram's starkly non-dogmatic, critical, and pragmatic intellect shows its best. This is also the part most likely to offend and where it becomes clear that if you're after spiritual pabulum, you've come to the wrong man. Ingram is all about "states and stages," about achieving exactly what the old dead masters achieved. We each have our purposes in our spiritual lives-and he acknowledges this-but he is not looking to comfort or console anyone, or make things seem easier than they are. Ingram's vision of the Dhamma is, rather, very goal oriented and effort driven. It is a path of achievement, of distinct and discernible attainments. If your mentality does not incline toward this way of thinking and acting, now is the time to bail out!
This section reviews in great, perhaps unprecedented detail, three distinct subjects: the concentration jhanas (1-8), the progress of insight, and the multiplicity of models and definitions of enlightenment. There is plenty here to make for argument, but also to educate, warn, coax and cajole. In short, this is some of the most stimulating, revealing and educational dharma reading I've ever done. You could read a hundred dharma books and still not come up with this stuff. And while Ingram is not a particularly great (or even good) writer (more on this below), he is at times eminently quotable. I can't resist offering a few snippets here. These give you a good idea of what you're getting into with this book.
You may have heard, for example, about those teachers who say "there is nothing to attain, nowhere to go, no one to get enlightened, your seeking is the problem." Or, even more intriguingly, that "you are already enlightened." You find these teachings in some Buddhist schools, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, and others. Here's Ingram's take on this take on enlightenment:
"[It's] like saying: you are already a concert pianist, you just have to realize it, or you already are a nuclear physicist, you just have to realize it... [It's] like saying to a severe paranoid schizophrenic: you already are as sane as anyone and do not need to take your medicines and should just follow the voices that tell you to kill people, or to a person with heart disease: just keep smoking and eating fried pork skins and you will be healthy...or saying to a greedy, corrupt, corporate-raiding, white-collar criminal, Fascist, alcoholic wife-beater: hey, Dude, you are a like, beautiful perfect flower of the Now Moment, already enlightened (insert toke here), you are doing and not-doing just fine, like wow, so keep up the good work, Man" (360).
I read this while on the train to work and enjoyed an unrestrained guffaw-several times!
However...to double back to my criticism of Ingram's writing: he's badly in need of an editor, and the people at Aeon Books let him down. Ingram grossly overuses the word "that"-it's one of the most overused words in the language, so he is not alone in the bad habit of thatting this and thatting that-and after a while it started grating on my sensitive literary nerves. He also does not seem to know the difference between "phenomena" and "phenomenon," and, on a different note, sometimes comes off sounding rather immature. There were occasions, too, where he went on unnecessarily about whatever, and a little more self-control would have helped the text out a lot. Again...where were his editors?
But this is minor stuff, mere bitching on my part. Ingram is actually a pretty fun read, and the book is outstanding and unique in so many ways, I/we can and should forgive him. He has much wisdom to offer and we should be grateful for all the hard work he's done on and off the cushion. I leave you with one nugget of insight that stood out for me:
"When I think about what it would take to achieve freedom from all psychological stuff, the response that comes is this: life is about stuff. Stuff is part of being alive. There is no way out of this while you are still living. There will be confusion, pain, miscommunication, misinterpretation, maladaptive patterns of behavior, unhelpful emotional reactions, weird personality traits, neurosis and possibly much worse. There will be power plays, twisted psychological games, people with major personality disorders (which may include you), and craziness. The injuries continue right along with the healing and eventually the injuries win and we die. This is a fundamental teaching of the Buddha. I wish the whole Western Buddhist World would just get over this notion that these practices are all about getting to our Happy Place where nothing can ever hurt us or make us neurotic and move on to actually mastering real Buddhist practice rather than chasing some ideal that will never appear" (330).
You have your marching orders.
The differences start with the cover, and no, I'm not talking about the flaming dude with a chakra wheel for his heart. I'm talking about the author's title: Arahat. Now, Ingram does have a regular title-he's a medical doctor (M.D.) specializing in emergency medicine-"Everything from hangnails to heart attacks" he told me in a phone conversation. As you may know, an arhat (there are variant spellings) is one who has completed the Buddhist path as laid out in the Pali Suttas. "Done is what had to be done and there is no more of this to come!" goes the standard refrain by those who have attained such. Clearly Ingram is, as the suttas say, ready to "roar his lion's roar" in the spiritual marketplace. He spells the differences out further in the "Forward and Warning," wherein he puts you on notice he does not intend to write a "nice and friendly dharma book"; you know you're in for it when an author tells you he hails from a lineage of "dharma cowboys, mavericks, rogues and outsiders" (16).
That said, the books proceeds normally enough through part one. Ingram begins his discussion of dharma in terms of the traditional "three trainings": morality (sila), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (paññ'). I especially found his discussion of morality illuminating. Going considerably beyond the standard list of things we shouldn't do (the five precepts etc), he says
"Training in morality has as its domain all of the ordinary ways that we live in the world. When we are trying to live the good life in a conventional sense, we are working on training in morality. When we are trying to work on our emotional, psychological and physical health, we are working at the level of training morality... Whatever we do in the ordinary world that we think will be of some benefit to others or ourselves is an aspect of working on this first training" (24-5).
He goes on to point out that while absolute mastery of concentration and wisdom (insight) is possible, total mastery in the worldly sphere of ethics is not. And so he calls it, rightly, the "first and last training."
Chapter 4 (oddly, the chapters are not numbered, only the parts) lays significant emphasis on seeing the three characteristics (tilakkhana) of phenomena-impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anatta); indeed, this is a fundamental tenet of Ingram's approach to meditation, derivable in part from his experiences in the Mahasi tradition which has a similar emphasis. His discussion of anatta is clarifying: it means, simply, that when phenomena are investigated closely (as in vipassana), no agent, controller, or subject can be discovered; the things of the world are, in effect, ownerless. This, too, is a significant part of Ingram's dharma discussion, and comes up repeatedly later in the book. Ingram also discusses the spiritual faculties, the factors of enlightenment, and the four truths.
Most of the above can be found in other dharma books. Where things really start to get interesting is in the section entitled "Practical Meditation Considerations." Here Ingram's wealth of experience in formal retreat centers comes to the fore and makes for extremely informative, even entertaining, reading. For example, he lists the things retreatants tend to get neurotic about, such as wake-up bells ("too quiet, too loud, someone forgets to ring it at all"), roommates ("those that snore, smell, are noisy or messy, etc."), as well as "issues of corruption, romances, cults of personality, affairs, crushes, miscommunications, vendettas, scandals, drug use, money issues, and all the other things that can sometimes show up anywhere there are people" (94)-meaning everything and anything!
This is a section that demands multiple readings. Not because it's in any way difficult, just because the nuts and bolts of doing a retreat, of daily practice, are often the very things that defeat us. I repeatedly found Ingram's advice to be forthright, informed, and practical. Many people, for example, get obsessed over posture, but Ingram says simply "we can meditate in just about any position we find ourselves" (96). He notes, for example, how "Many traditions make a big deal about exactly how you should sit, with some getting paricularly macho or picky about such things" (97)-making me recall my experience in a Zen monastery in Japan. He writes how the four postures of sitting, standing, walking, reclining each have plusses and minuses, the principle differences being in the energy level and effects on concentration. He further discusses issues such as meditation objects, the critical role of resolve, and offers some very illuminating remarks on teachers. One clearly gets the sense Ingram knows what he says from firsthand experience.
The fireworks start in Part II, "Light and Shadows." Little lightning bolts-the sign of something controversial ahead-adorn several chapters. This is where Ingram gets up on his soapbox. Usually, I would say that in a bad way, meaning someone was just spouting. But here, I think, what Ingram does, even if you want to call it spouting, is all to a very good point, and that is to draw attention to some of the unconstructive shadow sides of Buddhist spirituality in America. For example, in the section entitled "Buddhism vs. the Buddha," he criticizes the religious trappings the Buddha's teaching-in its original form an applied psychology-has been buried under, and how Americans have contributed to rendering the master's technology of awakening into dogma or comfort food.
However, Ingram's purpose here is not controversy. He speaks also about having a clear goal, and encourages asking oneself questions like "Why would I want to sit cross-legged for hours with my eyes closed, anyway?" It's important you know what you're seeking, after all, and Ingram hammers this point throughout the book. (It was also one of the first questions he asked me in our phone conversation!) This section also describes the critical difference between dealing with one's "stuff"-i.e. the content of your life-and seeing the true nature of the phenomena that constitute that stuff. For example, if you're depressed because your significant other dumped you, trying to figure out why he/she did that to you is reflection on your "stuff," but patiently observing the emotions of anger or depression as they arise and pass away-i.e. trying to see the fundamental characteristics of those experiences-is insight. The difference here, as Ingram makes clear, is night and day.
Part III, "Mastery," forms the heart of the book, and this is where Ingram's starkly non-dogmatic, critical, and pragmatic intellect shows its best. This is also the part most likely to offend and where it becomes clear that if you're after spiritual pabulum, you've come to the wrong man. Ingram is all about "states and stages," about achieving exactly what the old dead masters achieved. We each have our purposes in our spiritual lives-and he acknowledges this-but he is not looking to comfort or console anyone, or make things seem easier than they are. Ingram's vision of the Dhamma is, rather, very goal oriented and effort driven. It is a path of achievement, of distinct and discernible attainments. If your mentality does not incline toward this way of thinking and acting, now is the time to bail out!
This section reviews in great, perhaps unprecedented detail, three distinct subjects: the concentration jhanas (1-8), the progress of insight, and the multiplicity of models and definitions of enlightenment. There is plenty here to make for argument, but also to educate, warn, coax and cajole. In short, this is some of the most stimulating, revealing and educational dharma reading I've ever done. You could read a hundred dharma books and still not come up with this stuff. And while Ingram is not a particularly great (or even good) writer (more on this below), he is at times eminently quotable. I can't resist offering a few snippets here. These give you a good idea of what you're getting into with this book.
You may have heard, for example, about those teachers who say "there is nothing to attain, nowhere to go, no one to get enlightened, your seeking is the problem." Or, even more intriguingly, that "you are already enlightened." You find these teachings in some Buddhist schools, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, and others. Here's Ingram's take on this take on enlightenment:
"[It's] like saying: you are already a concert pianist, you just have to realize it, or you already are a nuclear physicist, you just have to realize it... [It's] like saying to a severe paranoid schizophrenic: you already are as sane as anyone and do not need to take your medicines and should just follow the voices that tell you to kill people, or to a person with heart disease: just keep smoking and eating fried pork skins and you will be healthy...or saying to a greedy, corrupt, corporate-raiding, white-collar criminal, Fascist, alcoholic wife-beater: hey, Dude, you are a like, beautiful perfect flower of the Now Moment, already enlightened (insert toke here), you are doing and not-doing just fine, like wow, so keep up the good work, Man" (360).
I read this while on the train to work and enjoyed an unrestrained guffaw-several times!
However...to double back to my criticism of Ingram's writing: he's badly in need of an editor, and the people at Aeon Books let him down. Ingram grossly overuses the word "that"-it's one of the most overused words in the language, so he is not alone in the bad habit of thatting this and thatting that-and after a while it started grating on my sensitive literary nerves. He also does not seem to know the difference between "phenomena" and "phenomenon," and, on a different note, sometimes comes off sounding rather immature. There were occasions, too, where he went on unnecessarily about whatever, and a little more self-control would have helped the text out a lot. Again...where were his editors?
But this is minor stuff, mere bitching on my part. Ingram is actually a pretty fun read, and the book is outstanding and unique in so many ways, I/we can and should forgive him. He has much wisdom to offer and we should be grateful for all the hard work he's done on and off the cushion. I leave you with one nugget of insight that stood out for me:
"When I think about what it would take to achieve freedom from all psychological stuff, the response that comes is this: life is about stuff. Stuff is part of being alive. There is no way out of this while you are still living. There will be confusion, pain, miscommunication, misinterpretation, maladaptive patterns of behavior, unhelpful emotional reactions, weird personality traits, neurosis and possibly much worse. There will be power plays, twisted psychological games, people with major personality disorders (which may include you), and craziness. The injuries continue right along with the healing and eventually the injuries win and we die. This is a fundamental teaching of the Buddha. I wish the whole Western Buddhist World would just get over this notion that these practices are all about getting to our Happy Place where nothing can ever hurt us or make us neurotic and move on to actually mastering real Buddhist practice rather than chasing some ideal that will never appear" (330).
You have your marching orders.
Top critical review
11 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsThe most loving and complete guide to makyo ever written
ByKSHon May 22, 2016
A book that I recommend, with caveats. There's a lot of hucksters out there in the spirituality world, and they use the ignorance around meditation and enlightenment to their benefit and the unfortunate detriment of their students/victims. To that end, Ingram does a seriously laudable service: he delineates exactly what you're likely to experience as you go through the traditional Buddhist path of meditation. He also punctures the various myths around enlightenment, what it means, and what enlightened people are capable of (spoiler: the same good/bad things as everyone else).
The caveats are that it is really easy to take all these carefully delineated models, and get so far up one's own posterior that you lose sight of the forest for the trees. All of the various meditative states of stable concentration, absorbtion, bliss, etc.; are waypoints on the path. They're not the goal, and getting fixated on them will prevent you from reaching the goal. That's the "makyo" -- for those unfamiliar with the zen tradition, it means "devil's realm," and more figuratively an illusory temptation. To the question, "I'm experiencing XYZ in meditation; what do I do?" a zen teacher would say, "get your keister back on the cushion."
So ultimately that is my advice to prospective readers: use the information to arm yourself against unethical teachers. Beyond that, get your keister on the cushion and observe. If you aren't getting what you want, then observe more carefully. Rinse, wash, repeat. As they say in the martial arts world:
"When I was a beginner a punch was a punch and a kick was a kick.
When I become more experienced a punch wasn't just a punch and a kick wasn't just a kick.
Now that I am experienced, a punch is a punch and a kick is a kick."
The caveats are that it is really easy to take all these carefully delineated models, and get so far up one's own posterior that you lose sight of the forest for the trees. All of the various meditative states of stable concentration, absorbtion, bliss, etc.; are waypoints on the path. They're not the goal, and getting fixated on them will prevent you from reaching the goal. That's the "makyo" -- for those unfamiliar with the zen tradition, it means "devil's realm," and more figuratively an illusory temptation. To the question, "I'm experiencing XYZ in meditation; what do I do?" a zen teacher would say, "get your keister back on the cushion."
So ultimately that is my advice to prospective readers: use the information to arm yourself against unethical teachers. Beyond that, get your keister on the cushion and observe. If you aren't getting what you want, then observe more carefully. Rinse, wash, repeat. As they say in the martial arts world:
"When I was a beginner a punch was a punch and a kick was a kick.
When I become more experienced a punch wasn't just a punch and a kick wasn't just a kick.
Now that I am experienced, a punch is a punch and a kick is a kick."
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ByCraig Shoemakeon February 8, 2012
This is not your daddy's Dharma book! (Your mommy's neither.)
The differences start with the cover, and no, I'm not talking about the flaming dude with a chakra wheel for his heart. I'm talking about the author's title: Arahat. Now, Ingram does have a regular title-he's a medical doctor (M.D.) specializing in emergency medicine-"Everything from hangnails to heart attacks" he told me in a phone conversation. As you may know, an arhat (there are variant spellings) is one who has completed the Buddhist path as laid out in the Pali Suttas. "Done is what had to be done and there is no more of this to come!" goes the standard refrain by those who have attained such. Clearly Ingram is, as the suttas say, ready to "roar his lion's roar" in the spiritual marketplace. He spells the differences out further in the "Forward and Warning," wherein he puts you on notice he does not intend to write a "nice and friendly dharma book"; you know you're in for it when an author tells you he hails from a lineage of "dharma cowboys, mavericks, rogues and outsiders" (16).
That said, the books proceeds normally enough through part one. Ingram begins his discussion of dharma in terms of the traditional "three trainings": morality (sila), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (paññ'). I especially found his discussion of morality illuminating. Going considerably beyond the standard list of things we shouldn't do (the five precepts etc), he says
"Training in morality has as its domain all of the ordinary ways that we live in the world. When we are trying to live the good life in a conventional sense, we are working on training in morality. When we are trying to work on our emotional, psychological and physical health, we are working at the level of training morality... Whatever we do in the ordinary world that we think will be of some benefit to others or ourselves is an aspect of working on this first training" (24-5).
He goes on to point out that while absolute mastery of concentration and wisdom (insight) is possible, total mastery in the worldly sphere of ethics is not. And so he calls it, rightly, the "first and last training."
Chapter 4 (oddly, the chapters are not numbered, only the parts) lays significant emphasis on seeing the three characteristics (tilakkhana) of phenomena-impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anatta); indeed, this is a fundamental tenet of Ingram's approach to meditation, derivable in part from his experiences in the Mahasi tradition which has a similar emphasis. His discussion of anatta is clarifying: it means, simply, that when phenomena are investigated closely (as in vipassana), no agent, controller, or subject can be discovered; the things of the world are, in effect, ownerless. This, too, is a significant part of Ingram's dharma discussion, and comes up repeatedly later in the book. Ingram also discusses the spiritual faculties, the factors of enlightenment, and the four truths.
Most of the above can be found in other dharma books. Where things really start to get interesting is in the section entitled "Practical Meditation Considerations." Here Ingram's wealth of experience in formal retreat centers comes to the fore and makes for extremely informative, even entertaining, reading. For example, he lists the things retreatants tend to get neurotic about, such as wake-up bells ("too quiet, too loud, someone forgets to ring it at all"), roommates ("those that snore, smell, are noisy or messy, etc."), as well as "issues of corruption, romances, cults of personality, affairs, crushes, miscommunications, vendettas, scandals, drug use, money issues, and all the other things that can sometimes show up anywhere there are people" (94)-meaning everything and anything!
This is a section that demands multiple readings. Not because it's in any way difficult, just because the nuts and bolts of doing a retreat, of daily practice, are often the very things that defeat us. I repeatedly found Ingram's advice to be forthright, informed, and practical. Many people, for example, get obsessed over posture, but Ingram says simply "we can meditate in just about any position we find ourselves" (96). He notes, for example, how "Many traditions make a big deal about exactly how you should sit, with some getting paricularly macho or picky about such things" (97)-making me recall my experience in a Zen monastery in Japan. He writes how the four postures of sitting, standing, walking, reclining each have plusses and minuses, the principle differences being in the energy level and effects on concentration. He further discusses issues such as meditation objects, the critical role of resolve, and offers some very illuminating remarks on teachers. One clearly gets the sense Ingram knows what he says from firsthand experience.
The fireworks start in Part II, "Light and Shadows." Little lightning bolts-the sign of something controversial ahead-adorn several chapters. This is where Ingram gets up on his soapbox. Usually, I would say that in a bad way, meaning someone was just spouting. But here, I think, what Ingram does, even if you want to call it spouting, is all to a very good point, and that is to draw attention to some of the unconstructive shadow sides of Buddhist spirituality in America. For example, in the section entitled "Buddhism vs. the Buddha," he criticizes the religious trappings the Buddha's teaching-in its original form an applied psychology-has been buried under, and how Americans have contributed to rendering the master's technology of awakening into dogma or comfort food.
However, Ingram's purpose here is not controversy. He speaks also about having a clear goal, and encourages asking oneself questions like "Why would I want to sit cross-legged for hours with my eyes closed, anyway?" It's important you know what you're seeking, after all, and Ingram hammers this point throughout the book. (It was also one of the first questions he asked me in our phone conversation!) This section also describes the critical difference between dealing with one's "stuff"-i.e. the content of your life-and seeing the true nature of the phenomena that constitute that stuff. For example, if you're depressed because your significant other dumped you, trying to figure out why he/she did that to you is reflection on your "stuff," but patiently observing the emotions of anger or depression as they arise and pass away-i.e. trying to see the fundamental characteristics of those experiences-is insight. The difference here, as Ingram makes clear, is night and day.
Part III, "Mastery," forms the heart of the book, and this is where Ingram's starkly non-dogmatic, critical, and pragmatic intellect shows its best. This is also the part most likely to offend and where it becomes clear that if you're after spiritual pabulum, you've come to the wrong man. Ingram is all about "states and stages," about achieving exactly what the old dead masters achieved. We each have our purposes in our spiritual lives-and he acknowledges this-but he is not looking to comfort or console anyone, or make things seem easier than they are. Ingram's vision of the Dhamma is, rather, very goal oriented and effort driven. It is a path of achievement, of distinct and discernible attainments. If your mentality does not incline toward this way of thinking and acting, now is the time to bail out!
This section reviews in great, perhaps unprecedented detail, three distinct subjects: the concentration jhanas (1-8), the progress of insight, and the multiplicity of models and definitions of enlightenment. There is plenty here to make for argument, but also to educate, warn, coax and cajole. In short, this is some of the most stimulating, revealing and educational dharma reading I've ever done. You could read a hundred dharma books and still not come up with this stuff. And while Ingram is not a particularly great (or even good) writer (more on this below), he is at times eminently quotable. I can't resist offering a few snippets here. These give you a good idea of what you're getting into with this book.
You may have heard, for example, about those teachers who say "there is nothing to attain, nowhere to go, no one to get enlightened, your seeking is the problem." Or, even more intriguingly, that "you are already enlightened." You find these teachings in some Buddhist schools, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, and others. Here's Ingram's take on this take on enlightenment:
"[It's] like saying: you are already a concert pianist, you just have to realize it, or you already are a nuclear physicist, you just have to realize it... [It's] like saying to a severe paranoid schizophrenic: you already are as sane as anyone and do not need to take your medicines and should just follow the voices that tell you to kill people, or to a person with heart disease: just keep smoking and eating fried pork skins and you will be healthy...or saying to a greedy, corrupt, corporate-raiding, white-collar criminal, Fascist, alcoholic wife-beater: hey, Dude, you are a like, beautiful perfect flower of the Now Moment, already enlightened (insert toke here), you are doing and not-doing just fine, like wow, so keep up the good work, Man" (360).
I read this while on the train to work and enjoyed an unrestrained guffaw-several times!
However...to double back to my criticism of Ingram's writing: he's badly in need of an editor, and the people at Aeon Books let him down. Ingram grossly overuses the word "that"-it's one of the most overused words in the language, so he is not alone in the bad habit of thatting this and thatting that-and after a while it started grating on my sensitive literary nerves. He also does not seem to know the difference between "phenomena" and "phenomenon," and, on a different note, sometimes comes off sounding rather immature. There were occasions, too, where he went on unnecessarily about whatever, and a little more self-control would have helped the text out a lot. Again...where were his editors?
But this is minor stuff, mere bitching on my part. Ingram is actually a pretty fun read, and the book is outstanding and unique in so many ways, I/we can and should forgive him. He has much wisdom to offer and we should be grateful for all the hard work he's done on and off the cushion. I leave you with one nugget of insight that stood out for me:
"When I think about what it would take to achieve freedom from all psychological stuff, the response that comes is this: life is about stuff. Stuff is part of being alive. There is no way out of this while you are still living. There will be confusion, pain, miscommunication, misinterpretation, maladaptive patterns of behavior, unhelpful emotional reactions, weird personality traits, neurosis and possibly much worse. There will be power plays, twisted psychological games, people with major personality disorders (which may include you), and craziness. The injuries continue right along with the healing and eventually the injuries win and we die. This is a fundamental teaching of the Buddha. I wish the whole Western Buddhist World would just get over this notion that these practices are all about getting to our Happy Place where nothing can ever hurt us or make us neurotic and move on to actually mastering real Buddhist practice rather than chasing some ideal that will never appear" (330).
You have your marching orders.
The differences start with the cover, and no, I'm not talking about the flaming dude with a chakra wheel for his heart. I'm talking about the author's title: Arahat. Now, Ingram does have a regular title-he's a medical doctor (M.D.) specializing in emergency medicine-"Everything from hangnails to heart attacks" he told me in a phone conversation. As you may know, an arhat (there are variant spellings) is one who has completed the Buddhist path as laid out in the Pali Suttas. "Done is what had to be done and there is no more of this to come!" goes the standard refrain by those who have attained such. Clearly Ingram is, as the suttas say, ready to "roar his lion's roar" in the spiritual marketplace. He spells the differences out further in the "Forward and Warning," wherein he puts you on notice he does not intend to write a "nice and friendly dharma book"; you know you're in for it when an author tells you he hails from a lineage of "dharma cowboys, mavericks, rogues and outsiders" (16).
That said, the books proceeds normally enough through part one. Ingram begins his discussion of dharma in terms of the traditional "three trainings": morality (sila), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (paññ'). I especially found his discussion of morality illuminating. Going considerably beyond the standard list of things we shouldn't do (the five precepts etc), he says
"Training in morality has as its domain all of the ordinary ways that we live in the world. When we are trying to live the good life in a conventional sense, we are working on training in morality. When we are trying to work on our emotional, psychological and physical health, we are working at the level of training morality... Whatever we do in the ordinary world that we think will be of some benefit to others or ourselves is an aspect of working on this first training" (24-5).
He goes on to point out that while absolute mastery of concentration and wisdom (insight) is possible, total mastery in the worldly sphere of ethics is not. And so he calls it, rightly, the "first and last training."
Chapter 4 (oddly, the chapters are not numbered, only the parts) lays significant emphasis on seeing the three characteristics (tilakkhana) of phenomena-impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anatta); indeed, this is a fundamental tenet of Ingram's approach to meditation, derivable in part from his experiences in the Mahasi tradition which has a similar emphasis. His discussion of anatta is clarifying: it means, simply, that when phenomena are investigated closely (as in vipassana), no agent, controller, or subject can be discovered; the things of the world are, in effect, ownerless. This, too, is a significant part of Ingram's dharma discussion, and comes up repeatedly later in the book. Ingram also discusses the spiritual faculties, the factors of enlightenment, and the four truths.
Most of the above can be found in other dharma books. Where things really start to get interesting is in the section entitled "Practical Meditation Considerations." Here Ingram's wealth of experience in formal retreat centers comes to the fore and makes for extremely informative, even entertaining, reading. For example, he lists the things retreatants tend to get neurotic about, such as wake-up bells ("too quiet, too loud, someone forgets to ring it at all"), roommates ("those that snore, smell, are noisy or messy, etc."), as well as "issues of corruption, romances, cults of personality, affairs, crushes, miscommunications, vendettas, scandals, drug use, money issues, and all the other things that can sometimes show up anywhere there are people" (94)-meaning everything and anything!
This is a section that demands multiple readings. Not because it's in any way difficult, just because the nuts and bolts of doing a retreat, of daily practice, are often the very things that defeat us. I repeatedly found Ingram's advice to be forthright, informed, and practical. Many people, for example, get obsessed over posture, but Ingram says simply "we can meditate in just about any position we find ourselves" (96). He notes, for example, how "Many traditions make a big deal about exactly how you should sit, with some getting paricularly macho or picky about such things" (97)-making me recall my experience in a Zen monastery in Japan. He writes how the four postures of sitting, standing, walking, reclining each have plusses and minuses, the principle differences being in the energy level and effects on concentration. He further discusses issues such as meditation objects, the critical role of resolve, and offers some very illuminating remarks on teachers. One clearly gets the sense Ingram knows what he says from firsthand experience.
The fireworks start in Part II, "Light and Shadows." Little lightning bolts-the sign of something controversial ahead-adorn several chapters. This is where Ingram gets up on his soapbox. Usually, I would say that in a bad way, meaning someone was just spouting. But here, I think, what Ingram does, even if you want to call it spouting, is all to a very good point, and that is to draw attention to some of the unconstructive shadow sides of Buddhist spirituality in America. For example, in the section entitled "Buddhism vs. the Buddha," he criticizes the religious trappings the Buddha's teaching-in its original form an applied psychology-has been buried under, and how Americans have contributed to rendering the master's technology of awakening into dogma or comfort food.
However, Ingram's purpose here is not controversy. He speaks also about having a clear goal, and encourages asking oneself questions like "Why would I want to sit cross-legged for hours with my eyes closed, anyway?" It's important you know what you're seeking, after all, and Ingram hammers this point throughout the book. (It was also one of the first questions he asked me in our phone conversation!) This section also describes the critical difference between dealing with one's "stuff"-i.e. the content of your life-and seeing the true nature of the phenomena that constitute that stuff. For example, if you're depressed because your significant other dumped you, trying to figure out why he/she did that to you is reflection on your "stuff," but patiently observing the emotions of anger or depression as they arise and pass away-i.e. trying to see the fundamental characteristics of those experiences-is insight. The difference here, as Ingram makes clear, is night and day.
Part III, "Mastery," forms the heart of the book, and this is where Ingram's starkly non-dogmatic, critical, and pragmatic intellect shows its best. This is also the part most likely to offend and where it becomes clear that if you're after spiritual pabulum, you've come to the wrong man. Ingram is all about "states and stages," about achieving exactly what the old dead masters achieved. We each have our purposes in our spiritual lives-and he acknowledges this-but he is not looking to comfort or console anyone, or make things seem easier than they are. Ingram's vision of the Dhamma is, rather, very goal oriented and effort driven. It is a path of achievement, of distinct and discernible attainments. If your mentality does not incline toward this way of thinking and acting, now is the time to bail out!
This section reviews in great, perhaps unprecedented detail, three distinct subjects: the concentration jhanas (1-8), the progress of insight, and the multiplicity of models and definitions of enlightenment. There is plenty here to make for argument, but also to educate, warn, coax and cajole. In short, this is some of the most stimulating, revealing and educational dharma reading I've ever done. You could read a hundred dharma books and still not come up with this stuff. And while Ingram is not a particularly great (or even good) writer (more on this below), he is at times eminently quotable. I can't resist offering a few snippets here. These give you a good idea of what you're getting into with this book.
You may have heard, for example, about those teachers who say "there is nothing to attain, nowhere to go, no one to get enlightened, your seeking is the problem." Or, even more intriguingly, that "you are already enlightened." You find these teachings in some Buddhist schools, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, and others. Here's Ingram's take on this take on enlightenment:
"[It's] like saying: you are already a concert pianist, you just have to realize it, or you already are a nuclear physicist, you just have to realize it... [It's] like saying to a severe paranoid schizophrenic: you already are as sane as anyone and do not need to take your medicines and should just follow the voices that tell you to kill people, or to a person with heart disease: just keep smoking and eating fried pork skins and you will be healthy...or saying to a greedy, corrupt, corporate-raiding, white-collar criminal, Fascist, alcoholic wife-beater: hey, Dude, you are a like, beautiful perfect flower of the Now Moment, already enlightened (insert toke here), you are doing and not-doing just fine, like wow, so keep up the good work, Man" (360).
I read this while on the train to work and enjoyed an unrestrained guffaw-several times!
However...to double back to my criticism of Ingram's writing: he's badly in need of an editor, and the people at Aeon Books let him down. Ingram grossly overuses the word "that"-it's one of the most overused words in the language, so he is not alone in the bad habit of thatting this and thatting that-and after a while it started grating on my sensitive literary nerves. He also does not seem to know the difference between "phenomena" and "phenomenon," and, on a different note, sometimes comes off sounding rather immature. There were occasions, too, where he went on unnecessarily about whatever, and a little more self-control would have helped the text out a lot. Again...where were his editors?
But this is minor stuff, mere bitching on my part. Ingram is actually a pretty fun read, and the book is outstanding and unique in so many ways, I/we can and should forgive him. He has much wisdom to offer and we should be grateful for all the hard work he's done on and off the cushion. I leave you with one nugget of insight that stood out for me:
"When I think about what it would take to achieve freedom from all psychological stuff, the response that comes is this: life is about stuff. Stuff is part of being alive. There is no way out of this while you are still living. There will be confusion, pain, miscommunication, misinterpretation, maladaptive patterns of behavior, unhelpful emotional reactions, weird personality traits, neurosis and possibly much worse. There will be power plays, twisted psychological games, people with major personality disorders (which may include you), and craziness. The injuries continue right along with the healing and eventually the injuries win and we die. This is a fundamental teaching of the Buddha. I wish the whole Western Buddhist World would just get over this notion that these practices are all about getting to our Happy Place where nothing can ever hurt us or make us neurotic and move on to actually mastering real Buddhist practice rather than chasing some ideal that will never appear" (330).
You have your marching orders.
55 people found this helpful
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ByCUZon June 16, 2017
Taking at least one 10 day course will aid greatly in grasping the profound knowledge contained in this book. It doesn't say "hardcore" on the cover for nothing. Despite some of the reviews on here that say that this book is also good for beginners, I would say that to truly embark on this path you need to have a committed determination equal to being able to make it through a 10-day course. (Just Google "10-day Vipassana meditation course.") Otherwise, all of the valuable knowledge contained in this book will be nothing more to you than intellectual entertainment. In fact, I would dare say that a great deal of the material will go over your head if you haven't at least tried Zazen or some form of formal meditation. As someone who has sat two 10 - day courses so far (so much to learn still!), this book energized my practice, gave me a greater understanding of what exactly is going on during the myriad changes in the body and mind during Vipassana meditation, and also offers a great bibliography for further learning.
ByAlvin Alexanderon November 16, 2015
First, let me say that I *highly* recommend this book. Despite anything else I write here, this book has been a tremendous help in my meditation practice, and in understanding the difference between “concentration practice” and “insight practice.”
That being said, IMHO, the book needs to be edited. Having lived in Alaska, I think of it this way: This book is like panning for gold in a river. I can guarantee you that there’s a million dollars worth of meditation gold in this book, but you’ll have to stand in freezing water and pan through a fair amount of silt to find the gold. But the gold is in there, and it’s worth the effort.
As an example of this, I just re-read page 37, and marked up the page like this: The first twelve words in the first sentence are great, and the last 19 words of that sentence can be deleted. The rest of the paragraph is gold. The entire second paragraph can be deleted. The third paragraph, which leads onto the next page, is gold.
To demonstrate how the book can be edited, the first sentence of the first paragraph is a great example. The sentence reads, “The Three Characteristics are so central to the teachings of the Buddha that it is almost inconceivable how little attention the vast majority of so-called insight meditators pay to them.” The first part of that sentence is fine (“The Three Characteristics are central to the teachings of the Buddha”), and I can see the desire to say something after that, but the rest of the sentence is a negative slam against other meditators. This might not be horrible if it was just this one instance, but this style of speaking comes up again and again throughout the book. As a result, I’ve crossed out many sentences, paragraphs, and even pages in my copy.
With some editing this book can be a five-star classic, but as it is I give it four stars, because you have to weed through the silt to find the gold.
That being said, IMHO, the book needs to be edited. Having lived in Alaska, I think of it this way: This book is like panning for gold in a river. I can guarantee you that there’s a million dollars worth of meditation gold in this book, but you’ll have to stand in freezing water and pan through a fair amount of silt to find the gold. But the gold is in there, and it’s worth the effort.
As an example of this, I just re-read page 37, and marked up the page like this: The first twelve words in the first sentence are great, and the last 19 words of that sentence can be deleted. The rest of the paragraph is gold. The entire second paragraph can be deleted. The third paragraph, which leads onto the next page, is gold.
To demonstrate how the book can be edited, the first sentence of the first paragraph is a great example. The sentence reads, “The Three Characteristics are so central to the teachings of the Buddha that it is almost inconceivable how little attention the vast majority of so-called insight meditators pay to them.” The first part of that sentence is fine (“The Three Characteristics are central to the teachings of the Buddha”), and I can see the desire to say something after that, but the rest of the sentence is a negative slam against other meditators. This might not be horrible if it was just this one instance, but this style of speaking comes up again and again throughout the book. As a result, I’ve crossed out many sentences, paragraphs, and even pages in my copy.
With some editing this book can be a five-star classic, but as it is I give it four stars, because you have to weed through the silt to find the gold.
Bygeminion January 17, 2015
These last few months have been a flood of realizations, and then, just at the right time, this book comes along and confirms it all in the most honest, down-to-earth, and sincere way possible.
It's unbelievable that today, it seems like every legitimate trace of spirituality has disappeared from popular culture. Any mention of the word "meditation" conjures up images and connotations so at odds with real spirituality that you usually get a chuckle instead of a real discussion.
Today, we're forced to accept that any sort of "real" spirituality will just "happen". If we Happen to be one of those lucky few, enlightenment will fall from the sky and just Happen to hit us in the head. And if that doesn't work, we all seem to be perfectly 'ok' with the fact that we will just "find out" about all of this "stuff" after death. How has it come to be that this is considered perfectly normal?
Making a conscious effort to improve the human condition? Desiring to know for yourself by your own efforts? Having a logical, clearly-written guide to your own self-realization? One can only imagine the reactions when you begin to seriously talk about the big 'E' (as Daniel puts it). But that's exactly what needs to happen.
Awakening is possible for every person in this lifetime.
This is one of many sources that point the way. This is one of few sources in English that spells out every step in wonderful, logical, straightforward, no-crap, detail. At the (very) least, this book will enable readers to wade through teachers, schools, books, and methods and find something that works for them with the confidence of knowing what to look for.
PS The rants were exactly what I needed and I'm thoroughly happy that you decided to include them. It seems just about impossible to break though the stratosphere of absolute misunderstandings that surrounds the real, true teachings. Your own story gives faith to those on the path and your honest, spoken voice is a remarkable relief coming from so many ancient, poorly-translated documents or recent works that put style (or ignorance) above the most efficient way of communicating what actually is.
It's unbelievable that today, it seems like every legitimate trace of spirituality has disappeared from popular culture. Any mention of the word "meditation" conjures up images and connotations so at odds with real spirituality that you usually get a chuckle instead of a real discussion.
Today, we're forced to accept that any sort of "real" spirituality will just "happen". If we Happen to be one of those lucky few, enlightenment will fall from the sky and just Happen to hit us in the head. And if that doesn't work, we all seem to be perfectly 'ok' with the fact that we will just "find out" about all of this "stuff" after death. How has it come to be that this is considered perfectly normal?
Making a conscious effort to improve the human condition? Desiring to know for yourself by your own efforts? Having a logical, clearly-written guide to your own self-realization? One can only imagine the reactions when you begin to seriously talk about the big 'E' (as Daniel puts it). But that's exactly what needs to happen.
Awakening is possible for every person in this lifetime.
This is one of many sources that point the way. This is one of few sources in English that spells out every step in wonderful, logical, straightforward, no-crap, detail. At the (very) least, this book will enable readers to wade through teachers, schools, books, and methods and find something that works for them with the confidence of knowing what to look for.
PS The rants were exactly what I needed and I'm thoroughly happy that you decided to include them. It seems just about impossible to break though the stratosphere of absolute misunderstandings that surrounds the real, true teachings. Your own story gives faith to those on the path and your honest, spoken voice is a remarkable relief coming from so many ancient, poorly-translated documents or recent works that put style (or ignorance) above the most efficient way of communicating what actually is.
BySusanon January 7, 2018
I found this book quite interesting, but not much help regarding practice. I recommend strongly that seekers begin with Culadasa's book The Mind Illuminated.
ByKellyon March 8, 2015
Let's see. What this book isn't: Meditative, in the sense of being something to read contemplatively with a first cup of coffee in the morning. I'm a newcomer to exploring Buddhism, having gotten there via yoga and wanting to have a meditation practice, and being somewhat baffled by the many different meditation practices that are out there, so I'm doing some reading to try to figure out the object of the game, or which path is for me, whether it's OK to mix n match. This book is like a travelogue of inner terrain that includes lots of unusual experiences and sensations. And several different branches of Buddhism offer different routes to the destination -- enlightenment, whatever that may be. Ingram seems to be a well-versed spiritual sherpa, who can point out the subtleties and pitfalls of various routes. As a read, it was quite informative, if a bit tedious at times due to its systematic, downright encyclopedic approach. Then again, guidebooks are meant to be used more as a reference rather than read straight through.
Bits that resonated with me:
"[we] have speculated that the limits to the states attainable out there are limited by our imagination and concentration skill only, and I have imagined staging a friendly contest among high-level practitioners to dream up states taht are even better than the ones I know so that we can play around with attaining them and seeing if there are any limits to the thing. The large list of all the exotic heaven realms found in the old texts adds credence to this belief."
"The best argument I know of for learning how to work at the level of the powers is to bring consciousness and compassion to a process that is happening already. Said another way, as we are already casting spells all the time, actually any time there is awareness and intent, we might as well learn to do it well."
Finally, Ingram makes a lot of metaphoric references to maps. I would have liked more actual visuals, a possibility that he alludes to but that were not included, at least not in the Kindle edition that I read.
Bits that resonated with me:
"[we] have speculated that the limits to the states attainable out there are limited by our imagination and concentration skill only, and I have imagined staging a friendly contest among high-level practitioners to dream up states taht are even better than the ones I know so that we can play around with attaining them and seeing if there are any limits to the thing. The large list of all the exotic heaven realms found in the old texts adds credence to this belief."
"The best argument I know of for learning how to work at the level of the powers is to bring consciousness and compassion to a process that is happening already. Said another way, as we are already casting spells all the time, actually any time there is awareness and intent, we might as well learn to do it well."
Finally, Ingram makes a lot of metaphoric references to maps. I would have liked more actual visuals, a possibility that he alludes to but that were not included, at least not in the Kindle edition that I read.
ByPeter Stuckingson November 29, 2014
Truly astounding piece of work. I've just finished it and I'm still reeling from the experience. A huge amount of information to take in. But I can already tell it's a book I'll return to time and again. I won't go into detail because plenty of other reviewers have. Suffice to say this book is arguably for many kinds of people, but definitely for someone at the early stages of meditation or dharma practice, to help set a helpful tone to their investigations. Beware the b.s. and work hard, would be the key points I take away from this amazing book. Thanks Daniel!
Bysnazzmoon December 2, 2015
If you are looking for a guide to Buddhist meditation practices, look no further. This is the one. Save yourself a ton of time, disinformation, spiritual politics and general confusion - cut straight to this text.
ByH. Melvilleon September 15, 2017
This is the best book on meditation I have found, one of the few that takes the goal of enlightenment seriously, and one which has saved me from a great deal of illusions of what the spiritual path is about. After reading 10+ Buddhism books, this is my manual for my path.
ByPablo Heviaon August 27, 2017
This manual contains many valuable tips not usually found in other dharma books, and includes a warning not to get lost the many temptations promoted by the Buddhist establishment, Western meditation "clerks", New Age, etc. A straight-forward reading meant for serious meditators (i.e. those willing to work hard and become enlightened) with some basic previous knowledge who need a dharma self-check and possibly a confidence boost.
My advice is to read this book as a companion to The Manual of Insight by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw.
My advice is to read this book as a companion to The Manual of Insight by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw.
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