Some Mindfulness Resources

I had the pleasure of meeting Tenzin Palmo in 2013 — the English woman who spent 12 years alone in a Himalayan cave, snowbound for eight months of each year. This book is inspirational and genuinely hard to put down. Mackenzie recounts the facts of Palmo's life while preserving all the anguish, desire, conviction, and joy that accompanied her path. Tenzin has many teachings online.

One meditation teacher I know read this and thought, "Now I know why I learned to read." Then he went to India. It was Steve Jobs's companion book his entire life — he re-read it every year. A completely engrossing story. I read it, learned Kriya Yoga, and even visited the ashram of Yogananda's teacher in Puri. Enjoy it for the extraordinary journey it is.

"Everyone loves a saint because a saint loves everyone." Dipa Ma loved everyone. She had a hard life and couldn't begin her meditation practice until she was 53. Strangely, she and I studied at the same place — the Mahasi Sayadaw Center in Yangon, Burma. She had more luck than I did. You can read this in a day, and you'll finish it wanting to love everyone with an open heart.

Deeply inspired by Dipa Ma. I once did a solo ten-day retreat doing the exercises Sharon describes here. When it ended, I had fewer judgments, more acceptance, and more happiness. If you think you can never forgive the people who've hurt you — or yourself — don't give up. Do the exercises and see what happens.

Larry is one of those people who is always in the right place at the right time — kind of like Forrest Gump, except Larry is brilliant. Once in India, Neem Karoli Baba told him he would help eradicate smallpox. Larry couldn't imagine it. That's exactly what happened. A story that keeps hope and the sense of possibility alive.

Ajahn Chah was a Thai forest master whose teachings spread around the world. This splendid 800-page book is an easy read — translated back into Thai by a dedicated team of Thai people living in the USA. Don't let the length put you off.

A short, ancient collection of verse that summarizes the Buddha's teaching. Beautiful. A good friend keeps it on his bedside table — it inspires and comforts him as it has thousands through the ages.

Charlotte Beck was an American housewife until she discovered Zen. This book is written in beautifully direct, non-technical language for any style of meditator. It begins: "My dog doesn't worry about the meaning of life…" — and gets better from there.

This book has had more influence in the meditation world than almost any other. Full of easy-to-understand stories about the perils and pitfalls of a spiritual path. Even the contrarian Daniel Ingram calls it "a must have… vast, accessible, rich and deep." Read it twice — it's harder-hitting than it looks.

A clear, practical manual on mindfulness of breathing written by an American Buddhist monk. Thanissaro early on makes the point: "If you don't like this, you won't keep doing it." He urges you to actually enjoy the practice.

An introduction to the Jhanas — highly concentrated meditation states. Leigh Brasington was a computer programmer by career and a dedicated meditator by calling. Now he teaches around the world and gives away a lot of material freely. If your concentration feels solid, give the Jhanas a try.

S.N. Goenka taught a simple body sweeping meditation technique that he called "vipassana". I studied the technique with Goenka, and for a while, he had me convinced that this was the ultimate teaching of the Buddha. But life would give me a wake-up call.