This book shows how we can move beyond secular mindfulness and compassion techniques to the cultivation of insight--seeing into and thereby becoming free of the repetitive thinking that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering. Most books in the secular mindfulness tradition stop with mindfulness and self-compassion but do little to uncover the root causes of our suffering. Drawing on both Buddhist analyses of mind and current findings in psychology and neuroscience, the book explains how our thinking becomes fixed and routinized through our engaging with unconscious preferences and reactions. Through the cultivation of insight, we can disentangle ourselves from these patterns, which leads to greater equanimity, freedom, and compassion.

From Mindfulness to Insight, Rob Nairn, Choden, and Heather Regan-Addis, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 310 pgs., $18.95.

Rob Nairn's training in psychology and Buddhist practice brings him a unique ability to explain ancient Eastern concepts in modern, accessible terms. The author of What Is Meditation? and Diamond Mind, he is sought after internationally as a lecturer on Buddhist philosophy and meditation.

Choden (Sean McGovern) is a monk within the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He is a director and cofounder of the Mindfulness Association and develops and teaches secular mindfulness, compassion, and insight programs. He cowrote with Paul Gilbert Mindful Compassion (2014), which explores the interface between Buddhist and evolutionary approaches to compassion.