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1-Page Summary of Mindfulness in Plain English
Overall Summary
In Mindfulness in Plain English, Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Henepola Gunaratana lays out a how-to manual for Vipassana meditation. It’s very clear and easy to understand for beginners. Being in the moment is vital to practicing Vipassana meditation. This practical nuts-and-bolts guide offers beginners an easy approach to focusing on mindfulness and meditation as a means of improving one’s quality of life. Mindfulness in Plain English has been praised by Barry Boyce, editor of Mindful Magazine; Shambhala Sun; USA Today; and Tricycle magazine as jargon free, among the best books on mindfulness/meditation, pithy and practical, respectively.
Gunaratana discusses the benefits of meditation. He says that it’s not easy and takes a lot of time, dedication, and perseverance to learn. If you do it right, however, you can become more aware of your own thoughts and actions by ridding yourself of greed, jealousy, anger, hatred etc. The point is to go in as one person and come out a different person altogether by reflecting on your own thoughts and remaining in the moment.
Gunaratana stresses the misconceptions of meditation, and emphasizes what it is. Meditation isn’t a mode of relaxation or state of entrancement; it’s not dangerous or meant to turn you into a “psychic superhuman.” Though meditation is mysterious, anchored in morality, everyone can practice it. It isn’t reserved for holy people. Other misconceptions include that meditation as an act of selfishness, getting high, serving as a short-term cure-all, and becoming lost in lofty thought while meditating.
Gunaratana defines meditation. He starts by noting the Judeo-Christian template of prayer, and how it overlaps with but differs from contemplation. “Prayer is a direct address to some spiritual entity,” while “contemplation is a prolonged period of conscious thought about some specific topic.” When meditating during yoga, the goal is to focus the mind to concentrate solely on a single object. Concentration is a major value in the Buddhist tradition, but awareness has taken its place as the most important aspect of meditation. The state of Zen comes in two forms: one in which you directly plug into awareness by sheer force of will; another that tricks your mind through riddles or puzzles until it focuses on one thing for long enough to gain control over it and fixate on it indefinitely without distraction or interference from other thoughts or ideas. In Tantric Buddhism, you use an object such as an image or statue to focus your concentration so that you can get rid of ego images from your head and replace them with something more positive instead like love for others around you who are suffering just like yourself.
Gunaratana explains that meditation is simple and should be treated as an experiment. A person should not strain or rush through the process, but rather let go of all thoughts and feelings. One must accept everything that comes up in order to move forward with the process. Meditation is a challenge for everyone, so one must be gentle with oneself if they are struggling in this practice. It’s important to view problems as challenges instead of dwelling on them or comparing ourselves to others who may do better than we do at meditating.
Meditation is a practice of clearing one’s mind and concentrating on breathing. To do this, one should sit in the same place without moving, close their eyes, and focus on breathing without letting any external thoughts enter their mind. One can achieve this by counting breaths or connecting them with exhalations; fixing the mind to a point of connection; focusing on a straight line; making the mind like an open gatekeeper that lets only positive thoughts pass through it into our minds; or keeping one’s back upright while sitting for long periods so as to combat pain, soreness, and falling asleep.
