The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness Kindle Edition
by Culadasa (John Yates PhD) (Author), Matthew Immergut PhD(Author), Jeremy Graves (Contributor)
4.7 out of 5 stars 237 customer reviews
The Mind Illuminated is a comprehensive, accessible and - above all - effective book on meditation, providing a nuts-and-bolts stage-based system that helps all levels of meditators establish and deepen their practice. Providing step-by-step guidance for every stage of the meditation path, this uniquely comprehensive guide for a Western audience combines the wisdom from the teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Clear and friendly, this in-depth practice manual builds on the nine-stage model of meditation originally articulated by the ancient Indian sage Asanga, crystallizing the entire meditative journey into 10 clearly-defined stages. The book also introduces a new and fascinating model of how the mind works, and uses illustrations and charts to help the reader work through each stage.
This manual is an essential read for the beginner to the seasoned veteran of meditation.
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5.0 out of 5 starsGuidebook for Changing Your Life
ByHarvesteron June 19, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
In trying to write a proper review for this book, it's first worth noting that this stands as a masterpiece of knowledge that has quite literally changed my life. It's not often that I'll read a book twice, but for this one I'm certain I'll be re-reading it for years to come. To be fair, I've not read many other books in this area, but I'm sure that I've somehow stumbled onto one of the best in its class.
I should start out by saying that I'm not a Buddhist, and quite frankly have developed a degree of skepticism and disappointment for all religions of the world. In saying that I'm not an atheist by any means, but really a seeker of the ultimate universal truth. Culadasa (and team) are able to guide the reader through a very thoughtful process of how to understand your own consciousness, where one's actual understanding of truth are compiled. Indeed, I've taken college level classes on neuroscience, and heard more than once that we know where all the components of your mind are located (emotions, memory, anger, happiness, etc.), but consciousness has no actual locus. This book takes you on a journey in the attempt to understand what that means, and ultimately provides one of the best articulations I have ever read on describing the conscious mind.
How can doing something so simple, like paying attention to one thing (i.e. breathing) for an extended period of time be so profound? How can this process cause so much turmoil as your entire belief system is turned upside down? And finally, how does this result in answering some of the deepest questions that have swirled around in your mind from as long as you can remember? As I began a practice of meditation using techniques outlined in the book, there were questions and thoughts that were followed by more questions and thoughts. I was (and still am) amazed at how thoroughly everything is addressed in complete detail. In fact, I went through something quite traumatic that's referred to as "The Dark Night of the Soul". It's ultimately caused when you come to the realization your whole concept of self is something fabricated in the mind. I went through a crisis of sorts, as the ego tried to hang onto its tenuous moorings in consensus reality. In letting go of the ego so to speak, and beginning the process of unifying the many components of the mind into one cohesive process has brought about an inner peace with clarity and focus like I've never had before. I'm convinced that this is just the beginning of something more profound as the journey unfolds.
I originally had just the Kindle version, but now went out and bought a hard copy for my coffee table in the meditation area. It's a book that gets opened just about every day. As mentioned, I'm now almost finished with the second cover-to-cover reading. I've actually created a document to outline the key points of the book. There are a number of lists, levels, and other important points that really need to be committed to memory. The book is organized using side notes, diagrams, and key points in offsets. It's suffice to say that the important points, are indeed *important* to remember.
If your looking for a treatise on mindfulness, or life changing guidebook to help you with the quest for truth, then I wholeheartedly recommend the knowledge in this book as the means to get you there.
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5.0 out of 5 starsIn a league of its own
ByK Knoxon September 11, 2015
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The subtitle here, “A Complete Meditation Guide,” understates this astonishing book's comprehensiveness and profundity by half. This is a 475 page long magnum opus that's exponentially more useful than all of the previous guides to meditation I've read (and I've read plenty, having been involved in Buddhist study and practice since the early 1970's).
For a newcomer to meditation this book is the best possible introduction as well as a lifelong companion. For someone with an established practice, be it in the Theravadin, Tibetan or Zen tradition (or for that matter secular mindfulness or non-Buddhist contemplative approaches) The MInd Illuminated is a treasure trove of encouragement and clarification of key points in practice that no other book I'm aware of addresses. It comes as close as any book possibly can to having not just a teacher but a living meditation master with personal experience of every step of the path into your home.
While grounded in decades of obviously very serious and intensive practice and study of Buddhism this book uses the absolute minimum number of foreign words and defines them precisely. Someone with a purely secular interest in meditation will have no problem with the content, while devoted adherents of particular contemplative paths will feel supported. The tone throughout is kind, warm, clear and encouraging.
Anyone who's practiced meditation for years knows that motivation for practice often waxes and wanes, and that it's all-too-easy to run into dead ends that seem impossible to overcome, to stagnate in one's practice, or to stop sitting altogether out of frustration or fear. Culadasa anticipates all of this, starting with a chapter titled “Establishing a Practice” that in and of itself is worth the price of the book, and following up with dozens of pith instructions that seem to address even the subtlest mistakes in practice, obviously born from a combination of deep realization and extensive experience coaching meditators ranging from beginner to very advanced.
My only regret about this book is that it wasn't published decades ago!
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis book is the best instruction book on buddhistic meditation I have read since ...
Byreviewer1on December 29, 2015
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This book is the best instruction book on buddhistic meditation I have read since Daniel Ingram's `mastering the core teachings of the buddha'. However, Culadasa's book lacks the controversy surrounding the latter one. His book does not really deal with Buddhist orthodoxy but is a very precise and motivating manual how to meditate and how to achieve the higher meditation states that have been described over and over again in the oldest Buddhist literature (Pali canon and Visuddhimagga). These achievements are well-known within the Theravada literature and modern practice and can be achieved by proper practice (never withstanding the popular new wave/zen light misconception that the practice doesn't really matter and that there is nothing to be accomplished). I have never read a better and to-the-point manual how to start a dedicated meditation practice and how to actually do any relevant meditation exercise in a way that it leads to results. The book is extremely good in combining classical meditation instructions with the right mind set for motivation and positive reinforcement of the practice. If one has a decent background in some meditation discipline and some knowledge of the maps of what might happen with dedicated practice, then this book is in my opinion the only book one needs, together with actually doing the practice, to really get started and get a long way to achieve certain states and insights that can result from meditation. This is the one and only Dharma book you want to take to an inhabited island for a long time.
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4.0 out of 5 starsFantastic, but not as advertised
ByEzra Maureron March 27, 2017
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I hesitate to post a review, there are so many already here, but there are a few thoughts I would like to share in hopes they will be useful to potential readers of this book. I hope these observations will be of use to some of you.
I happen to be a licensed clinical psychologist who has also practiced meditation for the past couple of decades. I decided to put together a seminar on meditation for people in my area, but I wanted to take a neuropsychological perspective in organizing the materials. Like many people, I am hoping that the perspective emerging from empirical investigation into the brain will offer a trans-theoretical and trans-disciplinary
approach to healing. This book appeared to be in line with my intentions, so I bought it expecting to have an enjoyable entrance into someone else's perspective that would also alert me to studies I might not have already found. While I certainly got a taste of Dr. Yates' perspective, and it is a perspective I very much appreciate, I found very little in the way of neuroscience. In fact, there were only a handful of studies referenced, and the
majority of those were out of date. Oddly, this fact does not detract from my overall positive impression of the work, but I do feel compelled to make a point of it given the way the book was marketed. Both the subtitle and the "reviews" included by the publishers emphasized a scientific angle, and this is simply incorrect. I want to warn potential readers of this because, in what I can only assume was a hasty zeal on the part of the publishers to capitalize on the neuroscience zeitgeist, they have succeeded in potentially undermining the true value of the book.
In my honest opinion, this book is best described as a modern synthesis and partial reinterpretation of the Abhidamma Sutta. As a modern synthesis it certainly owes much of its language and perspective to cognitive science, but not in an academically rigorous sense (the Mind and Life Dialogues between the Dalai Lama and various leading scientists might be a better place to start). It is more an attempt to bring a Theravadan perspective on the wisdom of two thousand plus years of phenomenological investigation by advanced meditators to the English speaking public, and in this it is an astounding success. Culadasa shows himself to be a first rate teacher of meditation who has obviously guided a great number of people through the years. His compassion and experience come through from the initial chapter on just establishing a regular time to practice, to the advanced stages where the reader will find a very fine grained description of common experiences and how to best focus one's energies. As a meditation guide, it is certainly the most thorough and clear book I have ever encountered, and I would venture to say buying this book is a no-brainer for anyone seriously interested in taking up a practice. Certainly for those already inclined towards a buddhist perspective this book comes as close to being complete as any non-living guide could be expected to.
For those not commited to a buddhist world view, and even for those that are but are also willing to encounter some contradictory ideas, I would suggest that interested readers consider, "The Path of Liberation," by Adyashanti, the old gem, "Focusing," by Eugene Gendlin, and Judith Blackstone's several books. The first book will offer an interesting counterpoint to The Mind Illuminated that will help counteract the subtle but pervasive goal-orientedness that often leaks in to the types of practices Culadasa emphasizes. The second book offers an exceptionally useful method for working with feelings and emotions that come up in the middle and later stages of meditation. The third author provides a unique perspective that includes the body, feelings, and relationships in meditation. To Culadasa's credit, he clearly names many problems and offers his own suggestions, such as loving-kindness meditation as an adjunctive practice, but I have found over the years that many people are not best served by attempting to counteract negative emotions with positive ones. Rather than finding equanimity, they seem to more often feel guilty about their genuine experience and bypass the possibility of important psychological insight. They languish in the middle stages of their practice, and most eventually give up, discouraged and feeling like failures. I have found the authors above to be better medicine for people finding themselves awash in emotion and/or struggling with relationships. Of course, the best way to handle these kinds of technical questions that arise in the course of a consistent practice is on a case by case basis. No book or combination of books can replace a trusting relationship with a teacher and a community of supportive others, and again to Culadasa's credit, he is clear that there will be instances where people should consider therapeutic support, but I would suggest that later editions delve into the important issue of emotions and relationships more deeply. The basic stance that negative emotions are simple impedimets that should fade over time or be counteracted seems remarkably simplistic in the 21st century. Also, we are inherently relational creatures in many ways, so the experience of feeling angelic on the cushions only to immediately re-engage in old patterns with family and friends is legion. As Ram Dass quppied many years ago, "if you think you are enlightened, go spend a week with your family." I do not doubt that Culadasa has much useful advice on these questions, but there did not seem to be room in this volume.
Finally, there is the question of post-awakening experience and practice. In this area Culadasa is completely silent. Again, not a crticism as his intent is clearly to support the establishment of a solid practice, but his input would be fascinating. Theravadan Buddhism in particular has a clearly articulated map of awakening, so discussion among advanced practitioners and teachers would be tremendously useful in continuing the project of forging a modern and clear language regarding how and why to practice meditation. I hope we will hear more from him in the future on these questions.
I hope these reflections will be of some value to people looking for guidance on meditation, especially those without teachers who are encountering obstacles. I pray you find your way.
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5.0 out of 5 starsPurposeful practice applied to meditation
ByJack Islandon October 8, 2016
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I hastened to review this book after seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews. Many books on spirituality enjoy something of an equivalent to grade inflation. Gratitude and reciprocity go together, sometimes to the detriment of a more objective, and useful review.
I read this book first on Kindle for the reduced price. Inspired to almost immediately purchase the print edition. The lush diagrams, artful cover, and tangible reading experience made for fuller immersion and better retention.
After six months and at least three readings later, I stick to my five star review.
Around the same time of my initial exposure to this book, I stumbled across Peak by Anders Erickson. He qualifies the oft cited 10,000 hour rule with the concept of purposeful practice. To master something we need both time and awareness.
I started meditating off and on almost ten years ago; merely sitting with a vague understanding of meditation meant many plateaus and confusion. I tended more toward what Culadasa calls insight practice, at the expense of calm abiding (in the introduction of this book, he explains how the two approaches interdependently produce fertile conditions for awakening).
I knew that I needed more concentration in my practice. I decided to make meditation my keystone habit. For the first time (with the watchful eye of this book) I maintained a daily habit now six months strong.
Make no mistake, this book demands effort. The first stage in the ten stages of mastery means making meditation a daily habit, and Culadasa advises longer sits (working up to at least 40 minutes). Without a strong commitment, not sure how much long term value one can expect. But that was exactly what I wanted - realistic expectations and vicarious coaching to make marginal gains and real progress.
Critically engaging with the techniques, setting goals both inside and outside sessions, and practicing the walking meditations, no doubt accelerated my progress. I started around stage two or three and now primarily practice at stage six. I noticed discernible differences in the stages. For example, overcoming subtle dullness considerably turned up the voltage on my sessions.
I would watch out for not identifying too much with progress. I'm also not sure how much you can expect to overcome a stage once and for all. Adding judgement to a temporary regression can only make it worse. I struggled to internalize positive reinforcement for whenever I caught my mind wandering because I thought it reflected poorly on my practice. I would recommended over blowing the positives in each session, with faith that time and awareness will inexorably improve your baseline of concentration.
Excited to see how my practice turns out over the coming months and years, but the fact that I practiced the teachings in this book now for hundreds of hours speaks volumes to my personal investment. I never had a book weave itself so thoroughly into my daily life.
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5.0 out of 5 starsMy Practice has Flourished Since Reading this Book.
ByYvonneon April 13, 2016
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I was very hesitant to buy yet another book on meditation. I passed on this book several times over the past months. Now, not only have I read the book, which runs about 460 pages (not counting the table of contents and index) in its entirety, but I am about 100 pages into a second reading.
The book is brilliant. It is extremely well-written in lucid prose. The text is clear, concise, packed full of practical instruction. This book has managed to illuminate the areas of meditation practice that have always seemed unclear and difficult to me before. The authors do not rely on the use of words taken from Pali, Sanskrit, or Tibetan, in order to describe concepts that other authors have found difficult to explain in English. They have found a way to fully explain the practice of mediation using words already in the English language.
Meditation Instructions are presented in easy stages, in such a way that even very advanced meditative states do not seem to be beyond reach. Each set of instructions builds on previous understanding and gently leads the reader through the stages of meditation. In addition, the instructions are provided within a framework of how the brain functions. This is especially helpful in providing a working concept of the interactions between the conscious, and the unconscious minds and how both can be influenced though intention. No longer will you perceive sheer will power to be the way to train the mind. The authors show how to use these models of brain function, to facilitate stable attention using positive tools; like intention, present moment awareness, relaxation and enjoyment.
Reading this book I have so much appreciation for how much knowledge the authors must have, from their teachers, from their own extensive meditative experiences and from what they have learned while teaching many, many other individuals. Every time I pick up this book, it seems impossible that so much knowledge could be contained in such a compact object. I did not think such a book could ever be written.
This book is exquisite and is sure to become a classic on the subject. In addition It is extremely well priced, and I want to thank the authors for making it so affordable.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSit, stay... enjoy! --> Thank You!
BySamyamaon December 12, 2016
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This has answered questions that I've been exploring for 27 years including how best to use my meditation time. Culadasa's guide is INDISPENSABLE in demystifying the signal-to-noise ratio of seated practice. He discloses how to effectively deal with the gap that seemed to exist between the real & ideal with steps that are simple, easy-to-follow & effective. I'm filled with enthusiasm & enormous gratitude to be able to practice with such clarity. This guide has made an immediate & tangible impact on the *quality*, consistency & quantity of my practice. The best part is that I'm able to sit on the cushion & stay for extended periods now. I refer back to this book again & again, as other reviewers have said --> read, reread & rereread. It's a pleasure to do so. I'm not sure that what I was doing before was entirely meditation--even though I did my best. Now, rather than by sheer force of will, I'm able to use the momentum ignited by Culadasa to fuel my attention & awareness. I daresay I'm enjoying meditation--though I'm sure there will be a range of experiences ahead along with a sine-wave type learning curve. I keep updating this review because the process is evoking so transformation. I feel blessed every day. Since discovering this book I've cleared away many books from the bookshelf. Meditation is one of my favorite subjects & I've been a long-time student. This volume clarifies many things (known & unknown--as others have noted as well). The bottom line is that I was able to clear/donate so many books because now I'm able to *practice* rather than second-guess myself, wondering if I'm doing it right. Sidenote: I also recommend "The Attention Revolution" by Wallace as an excellent counterpart (I especially find the audio version helpful). Both books shine light on perhaps the *most* important question: What allows real transformation to take place? (I also like what Einstein posed as the most important question we can ask ourselves: "Is the Universe a friendly place or not?") This book is such a gift. I trust this path & I'm grateful it found me. I'm overcome with relief, appreciation & delight. Thank You Culadasa & best wishes to all on your chosen path!
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe very best book on meditation I've read
Byerperreaulton March 24, 2016
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The very best book on meditation I've read, and I have read many. My primary interests have been in Zen, Theravada / Thai Forest Buddhist teachings, and S.N. Goenka's meditation teachings. Most secular Buddhist types will probably have a similar background so this review is for you.
I don't know Culadasa (John Yates) or any of his students or much of anything about his school. This book was my first exposure to his teaching. I came away from reading it with what feels like a crystal clear understanding in broad terms of the path of meditative practice. The ideas laid out in this book unified and stitched together various teachings I've bumped into across different traditions, and made sense of all of them by introducing clear standardized terminology and doing away with all abstraction and poetic pretense.
It was immediately obvious to me reading The Mind Illuminated exactly where in Culadasa's 10 step demarcation of the path I am currently. It was also immediately obvious how my years of spiritual practice so far lined up against the 10 stage model; it is not a simple forward progression. Demoralizing backslides and sudden bursts of insight are given perfectly sound rational explanation in this book, and in that way many of my greatest hangups about meditative practice have been put to rest.
The second major point here is that even the stages I haven't reached were absolutely clear on first reading. Without any grasping attempts at fully describing heightened meditative experiences, just enough reference is given so that even someone at an earlier stage will understand what later stages might be like, and exactly what changes/effort are required to reach them. The entire spectrum from bored / tentative beginner to full Awakening are represented such that any layman will understand what is meant, and in that way this book is extremely motivating.
A third striking feature of this book is that it hardly comes across as a book about Buddhism. If you read only the main body of text and ignore all the endnotes, you will see only two or three significant mentions of Buddhism or Buddhist-specific terminology (except for the quite vanilla Anapanasati Sutta, which is briefly referenced at the end of most chapters). It is presented as a basically secular layman's meditation manual. However if you are familiar with Buddhism and the various traditions of meditative practice, those concepts will jump right out at you and if you flip to the endnotes you'll be treated to lovely, lengthy selections and citations straight from the Pali Canon and other widely studied Buddhist sources.
The appendices are very helpful and flesh out all the most important peripheral practices that are NOT simple concentration on the breath: walking meditation, metta, jhanas, progress of insight, etc.
I have to add my main criticism here as well, to be fair. I feel Culadasa shied away from discussing ethical conduct at any great length, perhaps for good pedagogical reasons and not wanting to put anyone off. But at least in my experience, meditation never bore any fruit whatsoever until it connected with my daily life in the form of practicing sila. I would have loved to see an appendix discussing the traditional five precepts, or any other permutation of tangible moral guidelines. Instead the extend of ethical discussion is something like, "don't hurt people because it will destroy your peace of mind," which is fine, but too general to be useful. In terms of the eightfold path and three trainings model (sila, samadhi, panna), this book only really addresses samadhi. It is clear why sila is important to support samadhi, and why samadhi is important to cultivate panna, but actual teachings on sila or panna are extremely thin.
To summarize my glowing review, reading this book clarified and energized my practice unlike any other book I've read, and each chapter felt like another years-old mystery was laid to rest. I truly believe this is the best "owner's manual" for the meditator's mind that has ever been put together. Practicing meditation without having read this is like teaching yourself microbiology with just a microscope and no textbook or teacher... It'll take years to even figure out the basics for yourself, which could have been mastered in a few weeks with proper explanation.
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5.0 out of 5 starsTEN STARS!
ByTable_for_5on March 30, 2017
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The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide is just that -- a COMPLETE meditation guide. This book is a game changer for meditators, whether just beginning or those with years of experience and all points between. The book demystifies meditation and reveals it for what it is: training of the mind so the it can become unified and able to penetrate the nature of reality in the now. Dr. Yates comprehensively details the ten stages of meditation, clearly delineating the goals for each stage, the obstacles one will encounter in each stage, the mitigating practices to navigate through the obstacles, the states the mind can expect to experience with each stage, and the markers that one has successfully mastered each particular stage.
The book warns against training the mind to chase after the various phenomena that arise during meditation, which, while being pleasing, intriguing and seemingly profound, the phenomena are distractions that take one's attention off the meditation object and will thwart one's progress. Dr. Yates also writes about dullness of mind, during which seemingly profound experiences can occur, but, again, only thwart one's progress. He does not only list the various obstacles and distracting mind states that arise, but he teaches the reader to identify them and gives remediating practices to help the meditator move beyond them.
The book also includes a number of appendices with supplemental meditation practices, as well as a helpful glossary. I cannot recommend this book enough to those who are interested in meditation or who already meditate. The instruction and wisdom shared in the book will truly help your meditation practice to progress in ways that are verifiable and clear to the meditator.
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5.0 out of 5 starsI cannot express how much this book has improved my practice!!
ByFe S.on April 3, 2016
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Oh my goodness. I cannot express how much this book has improved my practice. I've been meditating on and off for years, but never really had clear enough guidance to help me feel totally comfortable and confident in what I was doing. Because of that I would fall away from practicing and go back a while later with a totally different approach. I felt like there was something wrong with me that I couldn't "get it." This book changed all that. Now I feel like I KNOW what I am doing and because of that I don't shy away from sitting every day. I actually look forward to practicing daily because I now experience joy during meditation instead of frustration. And because I'm sitting daily I can see the fruits of my practice. Today's session was a very different experience from 6 weeks ago. I'm in stage 3 of the 10 stages, am confident with where I'm at, and so look forward to where my practice will go from here. Culadasa so thoroughly explains what to expect & what one might experience so that when I do experience it I know I'm on the right track and because he's talked about it, I know how to get through it. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this book and will recommend it (and even gift it) to anyone I know who is interested in establishing a serious meditation practice.
