The sound of silence is like a subtlety behind everything that you awaken to; you don't notice it if you're seeking the extremes. Yet as we start to become more poised, more present, fully receptive of all this moment has to offer, we start to experience it vividly and listening to it can draw us ever deeper into the mysteries of now.
Always skillful and good humored, Ajahn Sumedho's teachings defy boundaries. Anyone from laypeople looking to deepen their grasp of the Buddha's message, to lifetime Buddhist monastics, will appreciate the author's sparkling insights into to such key Buddhist themes as awareness, consciousness, identity, relief from suffering, and mindfulness of the body. The Sound of Silence represents the best of Ajahn Sumedho's masterful work to help us all see each life with a new and sustaining clarity.
Sound of Silence, Ajahn Sumedho, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 2007, 376 pages, $16.95
For more than 30 years Ajahn Sumedho has embodied the Buddha�s way. As a young man he completed an M.A. at the University of California at Berkeley, was a medic in the Navy, and taught in the Peace Corps. For 12 years he studied closely with the renowned meditation master, Ajahn Chah, who appointed him to be the first Western abbot of a Thai monastery. Now based in England, he is the spiritual head of a global community of monks and nuns.
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Contents: THE SOUND OF SILENCE: Selected Teachings of Ajahn Sumedho |
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Preface |
ix |
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Introduction by Ajahn Amaro |
1 |
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Editor's Preface |
15 |
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Body Contemplation I |
21 |
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Here and Now |
29 |
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Intuitive Awareness |
45 |
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The Way It Is |
61 |
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Anatta |
73 |
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Identity |
89 |
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Body Contemplation II |
101 |
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Trust Your Intuition |
109 |
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No Exit |
119 |
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When You're an Emotional Wreck |
133 |
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Suffering Should Be Welcomed |
145 |
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The Sound of Silence |
161 |
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The End of Suffering is Now |
171 |
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Views and Opinions |
183 |
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Don't Take It Personally |
195 |
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Refuge in Awareness |
213 |
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Cittanupassana |
227 |
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Questions about Rebirth and Awareness |
237 |
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Ideals |
247 |
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Consciousness |
255 |
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Thinking and Habits |
267 |
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Form and Convention |
281 |
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Trusting in Simplicity |
291 |
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Observing Attachment |
303 |
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Ending |
309 |
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Toward the Future |
321 |
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Not Looking for Answers, Not Asking for Favors |
331 |
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Appendix |
337 |
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Glossary |
339 |
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Index |
347 |
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About the Author |
361 |
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