Life is Meditation - Meditation is Life: The Practice of Meditation As Explained From the Earliest Buddhist Suttas

No matter how many books on meditation you have read, no matter how many courses you have attended, you will not understand what Buddhist meditation is really about until you read this book.The author speaks clearly, plainly, and with the authority of experience. He makes a complicated subject, encumber with controversy, as clear as a blue sky. After practicing meditation for 30 years, my progress plateaued. Using the techniques in this book, my practice has soared quicker than I'd ever imagined. A complementary book to read after putting Vimalaramsi's book into practice is "Buddha's Map - His Original Teachings on Awakening, Ease, and Insight in the Heart of Meditation" by Doug Kraft. Doug, a student of Vimalaramsi, takes you through his own experience of meditation through the 8 jhanas to the doorstep of Enlightenment offering "rare and intimate insight to the meditative states Buddhist monks are not allowed to discuss."

As a Vietnamese Buddhist, most of us were following the Mahayana practice from China. After 5 years following a manipulative, deceitful teacher, I was a lucky few that saw his greed and the contradicting actions behind the curtain. After studying early Buddhist history, I realized that I was not learning true teachings of the Buddha. I was taught the false teachings, called Mahayana, created 500 - 1200 years after the Buddha is gone.I started learning directly from the Pali Canon. This book is a very helpful for those who wants to practice according to the true teachings in the Pali Canon.

Like all of Bhante’s teaching, this book is a great reflection of what the Buddha taught about meditation. Easy to read and easy to put into practice.

This is a great mediation book that lives up to it's name. i have read many books on meditation, but this method is simple and effective.

I really appreciate Bhante's lucid meditation instructions based solely on the Buddha's definitive teachings in the Suttas. Thanks you for the clarity.

Very good. Very clear and logical. Well worth buying if you want a solid grounding in Theravada Buddhist meditation.

This makes you know the Buddha's true teaching.

Love the book. I don't understand it all, yet. This book is helping.

:)

Bhante Vimalaramsi's book is clear and makes Dhamma easy to understand. The meditation instructions are given based on the teachings in the Suttas only, not any commentaries. They are the direct teachings of the Buddha, and they work. I can't recommend this book highly enough. I have searched for a technique that I really believe in for years. I believe in this technique. But don't believe me, try it for yourself.