For the past 30 years, I have been the owner and manager of my own IT company. Five years ago, I started my journey towards mindfulness and began to seek new challenges. I promised myself that all business that I do, I do with respect and kindness to myself and others. I was lucky to find some meditation books that changed my life
Starting this blog was a way to reach as many people as I can. I strive to help others commit to this value in every area of their lives. We all can do that through self-development, including health, fitness, emotions, mindset, and spirituality.
I am grateful for all the experiences that I had in my life these first 55 years. All of those, positive and negative, helped me learn important life lessons. My life has since deeply changed, and I’ve made it my mission to give back and serve others beyond myself. Also, my experience in 10 days retreat in Wat Suan Mokkh was life-changing.
Five great mindfulness meditation books
I would like to recommend to you these five meditation books that profoundly changed my life. I hope that they will motivate you to pursue your goals and dreams. They will help you to be more productive, improve your health and fitness. Books should inspire you to constantly improve yourself to be the best that you can be.
Beautiful books
These are the meditation books I keep coming back to, re-reading, and learning from.
Most of them are free, but one. I do not have any commission if you decide to buy this book. I am recommending those just because I think all of them are quite good. Some are simple guides to pure technique, but some go deeply to the philosophy behind this effort. In any case, you do not need to be a Buddhist monk. You do not have to accept the Buddhist religion You need to be open-minded to words that you will read.
Even achieving and maintaining mindfulness is a very personal task, some guidance is always helpful.
So, read these five books and allow mindfulness a fair chance to become a part of your lives.
Mindfulness in plain English
In his book “Mindfulness in plain English,” Bhante Gunaratana says in the preface: “At its heart, this is a straightforward book written in ordinary everyday language. Within these pages, you’ll find rich instructions to begin to discover for yourself the true power of mindfulness in your life and its many related benefits. I wrote this book in response to the many requests I’d received for just such an introduction. You may find this book an especially useful resource if you are taking up the practice of mindfulness meditation by yourself, without access to a teacher or experienced guide.”
I love this book because the author on a simple but convincing way introduces the reader in the world of mindfulness. He explains the reasons for practicing, and basic techniques of meditation.
Four noble truths
Ajahn Sumedho introduces the fundamental teachings of Buddhism told as “Four noble truths”. Those are universal human values, recognized in almost all religions. The way they are explained lets us really know the importance of accepting things we can not change but actively work on those we can.
The Noble Eightfold Path, The Way to the End of Suffering
The Noble Eightfold Path, The Way to the End of Suffering by Bhikkhu Bodhi explains the core of the Buddhist philosophy. It paints the way how you should lead your life to be able to achieve mindfulness. It is a piece of wisdom that helped me a lot to embrace a way of thinking that enabled me to tame my mind in a way that it does not lose energy on things that already passed or are not likely to ever happen.
Mindfulness with Breathing
For practitioners that have prior knowledge and experience in mindfulness meditation, a great next step is to participate in some meditation retreats. My time spent in Wat Suan Mokkh meditation retreat was truly unforgettable ten days of silence and meditation. The basic book for that retreat is “Mindfulness with Breathing” by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.
As the publisher says: “Any practitioner, after meditating for some time, inevitably wonders what meditation method the historical Buddha Shakyamuni himself used while beneath the Bodhi Tree. Many people understand that before his realization, Shakyamuni Buddha studied with many of the great yogis of his time. Most do not know what method he ultimately found leads most directly to nirvana. In Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s book, “Mindfulness with Breathing,” the Thai meditation master provides practitioners with penetrating insights into the Ānāpānasati Sutta, the canonical text which many believe is the most direct transmission of Shakyamuni Buddha’s breath meditation methods. Combined with a concise translation of the sutta itself, Mindfulness with Breathing is one of the best guides to Buddhist meditation practice available in the English language.”
Combining reading meditation books that changed my life and inspirational lectures based on that book makes this 10 day retreat a life-changing event.
Mindfulness Meditation Made Easy
Mindfulness Meditation Made Easy by Venerable Dr. Khammai Dhammasami has special meaning to me, because I know Venerable Dhammasami in person, and I know how devoted to speeding the wisdom of Buddhism he is.
As he says in the introduction to this wonderful book: “Mindfulness practice is indeed a complicated and unattractive one for many people because in its principles it involves a comprehensive study of oneself and self-dependency. It calls for many factors to be made balanced. It goes straightaway into conflict with our dominant desire that looks for a quick fix.
Mindfulness practice rules out a manta-style approach in life. No miracle or any superstitious belief. Simply, it is a self-cultured program. The practice requires us to put in our efforts and discover the truth through our own experience. The teacher is only to guide but not to see the truth for us.
It takes some time to grasp it
I started reading the Satipatthana-sutta, the main discourse on mindfulness meditation, since my late teens. However, there was little I could relate to people through my reading of this sutta until six or seven years later, as I understood very little of it at that time. The words and phrases look so simple that they become too hard for me to grasp what they mean. It is a discourse and a practice I do not take for granted up to this day. The discourse requires some practice to see its points. Reflecting on the difficulty I have with the sutta and the practice, I wish to make it accessible to many who otherwise would feel put off due to the inability to comprehend this particular discourse. I have tried my best to present it in an easily understandable manner.”
I hope you find my choice of five meditation books that changed my life helpful. Also, check out my book on mindfulness meditation, the first in the series, and comment below on what you would like to be a topic for my next book.
Check out also my books on Amazon.
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