John Kabat Zinn - Wherever You Go, There You Are
John Kabat Zinn - Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life - Piatkus Books, Paperback 304 pages (August 26, 2004). ISBN:0749925485
| Title & Author: | John Kabat Zinn - Wherever You Go, There You Are |
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"if you think that you are what’s going on in your mind, what about the awareness of what’s going on in your mind?" - John Kabat Zinn
In Wherever You Go, There You Are, John Kabat Zinn provides a follow-up to Full Catastrophe Living that simplifies and broadens his teaching for those who may not be in crisis. Mindfulness meditation is a Buddhist technique, which John Kabat Zinn presents in a non-sectarian format. He provides sufficient instructions for the beginner, and includes a form to order cassette tapes/CDs to facilitate disciplined practice.
To John Kabat Zinn, mindfulness is a state of being rather than doing. During mindfulness you pay concentrated attention to an object of consciousness to live fully in the moment without judgement. This enables you to avoid flitting anxiously between negative thoughts about the past, future, and present. At the very least, this may reduce stress or depression, at most it may take you on a spiritual journey.
In Wherever You Go, There You Are, John Kabat Zinn encourages meditation not "in order to relax, to experience a special state, to become a better person, to reduce some stress or pain, to break out of old habits and patterns, to become free or enlightened - all valid reasons to take up meditation." Instead, he encourages a mindful awakening from your dream of knowing what your life is about, to realising you are always in just one place and moment.
In brief, poetic chapters in Wherever You Go,There You Are, John Kabat Zinn describes different meditations and their implications for the practitioner. Amazon.com has around fifty customer reviews of this book, almost all five stars. It's definitely worth reading through them before deciding if you want to read this masterpiece.
- John Kabat Zinn makes learning meditation seem very appealing through his lucid prose and limpid explanations.