Books by Ajahn Sumedho

Ajahn Sumedho urges us to trust in awareness and find out for ourselves what it is to experience genuine liberation from mental anguish and suffering, just as the Buddha himself did two and a half thousand years ago.Buddhism is not about becoming the model of humanity or escaping the natural consequences of our past deeds, but of putting aside all pretence and all ideas in order to simply be where we are. The author therefore encourages us not to take our lives personally, but to look at the reality of this moment free from beliefs, views and opinions. He refers frequently to his own experiences, his own journey along the path, and this he does humorously, guilelessly and sometimes with brutal honesty.Ajahn Sumedho, an American Buddhist monk, practised for ten years in Thailand with the well known monk, Ajahn Chah. He has since spent over thirty years in England and is the founder of the Cittaviveka Forest Monastery in West Sussex and the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire. His many books include The Mind and the Way, Teachings of a Buddhist Monk, and The Sound of Silence.

Containing the modern practical teachings from one of the oldest Buddhist traditions, this collection of Sumedho's wisdom and humor bring readers into the heart of Buddhist meditation. (World Religion)Spiritual life is not about becoming someone special but discovering a greatness of heart within us and every being. It is an invitation to inwardly drop our opinions, our views, our ideas, our thoughts, our whole sense of time and ourselves, and come to rest in no fixed position. Ajahn Sumedho invites us all, ordained and lay people alike, to enjoy the freedom beyond all conditions, a freedom from fears, from gain and loss, from pleasure and pain. This is the joy and happiness of the Buddha.Jack Kornfield

The advice of the author in THE MIND AND THE WAY is to live simply, contemplate the way things are, and let go of suffering - all attractively clear concepts in these confused and anxious times.