Bear Awareness: Questions and Answers on Taming Your Wild Mind

by Brahm

Overview

The bestselling author of Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? and one of the world’s most beloved Buddhist monks answers meditators’ questions.

In Bear Awareness English monk Ajahn Brahm answers actual questions from his meditation students––questions you may have had as well. While most mindfulness meditation teachers praise the benefits of bare awareness, he teaches bear awareness. He helps us make friends with the scary things that come up on the cushion, and he knows how to lift the mood with a well-placed stuffed teddy––or a well-timed pun.

The intimacy of the question-and-answer format provides a fresh experience of learning from a master meditator. Whether he is urging readers to fly Buddha Air (sit back and relax on your way to nirvana), giving tips for dealing with panic attacks or depression, or extolling the bliss of meditation that is better than sex, he gives us permission to enjoy our lives and our practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614292562
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	11/14/2017
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ajahn Brahm was born in London in 1951. At age sixteen, after reading books on Buddhism, he began regarding himself as Buddhist, and his interest in Buddhism and meditation flourished while studying theoretical physics at Cambridge University.

He was ordained as a monk at age twenty-three and subsequently spent nine years studying and training in the forest meditation tradition under the renowned meditation master Venerable Ajahn Chah.

In 1983 he was invited to go to Australia to help establish a forest monastery near Perth. Ajahn Brahm is now the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery and the spiritual director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. In 2005 Ajahn Brahm started a project to build a mediation center that provides a suitable environment for laypeople to receive training in meditation. Jhana Grove was inaugurated in April 2009. Since then, a large number of meditation retreats have been held there every year.

A highly sought after speaker around the world, Ajahn Brahm attracts thousands to his inventive and insightful talks. He lives in Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

A Note from the Editors ix

1 The Hahayana Approach to Meditation 1

2 Bear Awareness 19

3 Waiting for a Painless Butt 33

4 Flying Buddha Air 51

5 Everyday Kindfulness 73

6 Beyond the Incense Smoke 99

7 Dhamma and Greg 125

Abbreviations 149

Terms Explained 151

About Ajahn Brahm 159

Editorial Reviews

I wish all my favorite teachers would offer a book in question and answer format. It creates an intimate setting, as if the reader is in the room with Ajahn Brahm. In addition, almost all the questions are ones that practitioners have at one time or another. Have you ever wondered how ego affects your meditation or whether meditation can replace sleep at night? Read this book and get the answers from one of today’s foremost Buddhist teachers.

Toni Bernhard