Wherever You Go There You Are, Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Not finished this one yet...but wanted to share.
I suspect it will take me a while to finish based on my experience with Dabashis's book Light the Fire in Your Heart...because like Light the Fire, Wherever You Go is giving me so much to think about (and practice) I need to stop to let it sit and digest between readings.
Kabat-Zinn is the founding director of the Mindfulness Stress Reduction Clinic in Boston, where over the past 20 years has pioneers the use of Buddhist mindfulness meditation techniques to reduce stress, help chronic pain suffers, and more recently people with clinical depression...see Kabat-Zinn's newest book at http://www.jonkabat-zinn.com/books.html.
I first heard about Kabat-Zinn as a result of an interview he did on thge CBC Radio 1 Ideas program last summer (I still have the mp3 if anyone is interested).
What I have found so interesting about this book, and what makes it so accessible for me personally, is that he has taken some of the classic Buddhist meditative techniques (specifically moment to moment mindfulness or "vipassana" in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist teachings), stripped all the dogma and religion to present a "rational" approach to this subject - accessible to the the average Western reader.
As I am learning, Western science has pretty much ignored a serious study of consciousness (Contemplative Science as Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Goleman, Alan Wallace, and others call it). Given this is the "tool" which is used for all other forms of science over the past 300+ years since Newton is a bit odd! As Alan Wallace said in a recent talk at Google its a bit like having been given a Sextant for Navigation, using it to successfully get around the world, but not asking how the Sextant actually works!
Kabat-Zinn presents a highly accessible set of ideas and practices which I am finding eye opening, and practically useful, both personally and professionally.
But it is also clear that Contemplative Science is in its infancy...see my expressions post about the discussion I started on this topic on Sam Harris's website.
I've also purchased a couple of the CD's which accompany the book which have various practice programs which I am also finding useful as I start my mindfulness journey.
I would be interested in hearing from other CCLHV members who have read Jon's other books or have their own experiences in this area.