Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond
by Ajahn Brahm · first published 2006
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Clear, stage-by-stage manual for meditation, praised for its well-organized instructions and easy-to-follow structure; suits people wanting a practical guide to jhana and deeper concentration practice.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…practice. The author is both a long term meditator and used to be a neuroscience professor. The book teaches meditation in a stage by stage way which is very easy to follow. Another excellent book is "Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook" (https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Bliss-Beyond-Meditators-H...).
on “Ask HN: Best books on meditation?” ↗Happy to see Buddhaghosa on HN! On a semi related tangent, I recently listened to the audio book of Ajahn Brahm's Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond. It was pleasantly surprising to hear nimitta spoken about so frequently outside of the Visuddhimagga! Ingesting Buddhist commentaries and practice manuals to provide advice and help with meditation…
on “Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?” ↗My favourite is Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond by Ajahn Brahm.
on “How scientists are bringing advanced meditation out of the monastery” ↗…many schools of thought on how learn meditation, ranging from "just sit!" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza) to very detailed instructions on posture, states of mind, etc. I thought the manual part of "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond" was very well written. Another good one is "Turning the Mind into an Ally". Good luck and remember to enjoy the journey!
on “Ask HN: Should I and how to start meditating?” ↗…boat that suddenly unexpectedly hits the shore... It rocks and blows the mind (and as the mind contains model of the world - it feels like the world shook a bit then froze). A good "geeks guide" is "Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond" written by someone who finished a physics degree at cambridge and spent 9 years with Ajahn Chah. If we instead mistake something else for "jhana" like some positive feels, we're going to be stuck cultivating…
on “How to do the jhanas” ↗I'm not that familiar with them but the people I know that do the traditional jhanas I think some think they are mistaking a profound state called "bhavanga" for jhana. (It's mentioned page 140 of Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond by Ajahn Brahm and in the first few pages of Pa Auks book as something often mistaken for jhana and nibanna - a sort of cessation).
on “How to do the jhanas” ↗