The Brightened Mind – A Simple Guide to Buddhist Meditation
107 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 2011
Helps You Tap Into An Infinite Reservoir of Clarity and Calm
Modern times have created a siege of chaos. Struggling economy, political turmoil, media bombardment and a general culture of isolation all contribute to this unrest. Buddhist author Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu presents a simple path to freedom from such chaos in The Brightened Mind.
“Sumano Bikkhu’s The Brightened Mind is a most precious little jewel, introducing the spiritual armchair traveler to the wonders of the Universal Mind as taught in the Buddhist meditative tradition.” — Glenn Mullin, author of Female Buddhas, The Fourteen Dalai Lamas, and Living in the Face of Death.
More Details Sumano speaks to the modern seeker from a unique perspective, as a former law school graduate and real estate professional in Chicago. He abandoned his comfortable American lifestyle for the begging bowl and simple cave home of an ordained Buddhist monk in the tradition of the Thai forest meditation masters. Now a spiritual teacher in Tibet, Sumano walks the reader through the workings of the mind and how thought processes often affect our experiences. He shows how to quiet the mind, turning off the “rolling documentary of your past and future” to experience the freedom of quiet focus. Through easy-to-follow guided meditations called “mind trainings” or “mind-fitness techniques,” he teaches the reader how to think productively tapping into the ultimate source of wealth, our own divine consciousness. Sumano posits that we all have within us this abundance simply waiting to be utilized. Using these practices readers will find themselves free from the body and the mundane, the I-ego mind. From this place of insight life’s challenges can be navigated with much less stress and with much more hope. As Sumano says, “In order to progress and prosper in peace, we must respond to the challenges of our times not from fear and anxiety but from a place of circumspection —from a brightened mind.”
Questions from the City, Answers from the Forest
183 Pages | First Quest edition 1999 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607747.
” Sincere inquiry always sparks our movement towards truth. Deep questions signal the manifestation of the very energy through which we outgrow ourselves. “
So writes Ajahn Sumano Bhikku, American-born Buddhist monk now living in a simple meditation cave in Thailand. Born in Chicago, a law school graduate and real estate professional, Sumano abandoned his comfortable American lifestyle for the shaved head, begging bowl, and rigorous meditation schedule of a forest monk. In 1994-1995, Sumano conducted a series of question and answer evenings at a guest house in Thailand’s Kowyai National Park with English-speaking tourists. The heartfelt questions of these city people and the clear answers Sumano gave from his forest perspective form the basis of this remarkable book. Written on a battered, battery-powered laptop in his meditation cave, Sumano’s fascinating personal story and his refreshingly down-to-earth blend of American sensibility and Eastern practice will fascinate newcomers to Buddhist ideas as well as experienced practitioners.
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