The Mind Illuminated

The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science Paperback – October 6, 2015
Author: Culadasa John Yates Ph.D ID: 0990847705

Review

“A systematic, hands-on manual, The Mind Illuminated will be a great help to anyone who wants to completely fathom the process of meditative development in all its stages. Culadasa gives us the full conceptual framework together with complete instructions for putting it into play. In largely Western language, with help from wonderful images and diagrams, this book brings the path of meditation to life.”  —Sharon Salzberg, author, Real Happiness

“[Culadasa] takes me through the science of the practice straight to the adventure of sitting, and offers context through sustainable, practical applications and tools. This book is full of wisdom, story, and creativity, and I'll be glad to have it as a reference for many years to come.”  —Elena Brower, author, Art of Attention

“This book is a rare and valuable treasure, providing a detailed, step-by-step account of how meditation practice progresses. Culadasa is the real deal, a living adept with decades of experience.”  —Shinzen Young, author, Beginner’s Guide to Meditation

“Essential reading for anyone interested in meditative development from any tradition. At once comprehensive and also very easy to read and follow in practice, this is the most thorough, straightforward, clear, and practical guide to training the mind that I have ever found. A remarkable achievement.”  —Daniel Ingram, M.D., author, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

“In a time where meditation and its twin sister, mindfulness, have become the fads du jour, Culadasa gives us the real deal in this encyclopedic handbook. If you're serious about meditation, The Mind Illuminated should be on your bookshelf.”  —Lama Marut, author, A Spiritual Renegade's Guide to the Good Life

“With wisdom, clarity and grace, Culadasa has written an invaluable manual for awakening. I believe this book will become one of the "Top 10 Must Reads" for anyone on the spiritual path for years to come. Helpful for beginning meditators, and valuable for advanced meditators who are already committed to meditation but have not yet experienced the fruits of consistent practice.”  —Stephanie Nash, mindfulness coach and integrative counselor

This book does an outstanding job of both constructing a cognitive theory of how the mind works and presenting a detailed handbook for learning and mastering meditation. The result is a beautiful integration of theory and practice, whose parallel strands lead to experientially, and account for conceptually, the radical shift in consciousness we call awakening.”  —Richard P. Boyle, author, Realizing Awakened Consciousness

About the Author

Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.), is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona and was a teacher of physiology and neuroscience.  A meditation master with over four decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions, Culadasa has been ordained as an Upasaka (dedicated lay-practitioner) and has received ordination in the International Order of Buddhist ministers in Rosemead, California. He lives in Pearce, Arizona. Matthew Immergut, Ph.D. is an associate professor of sociology. He is a longtime and passionate meditator, and a dedicated student of Culadasa. He lives in Woodstock, New York. Jeremy Graves is a student of Culadasa and has accumulated roughly a year-and-a-half of extended retreat time under his teacher’s mentorship. His approach to Buddhist practice combines the insights of science, art, and devotional practice. He lives in Laguna Beach, California.

Paperback: 504 pagesPublisher: Dharma Treasure Press (October 6, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0990847705ISBN-13: 978-0990847700 Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #4,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #23 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Cognitive #27 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Eastern > Buddhism #39 in Books > Science & Math > Behavioral Sciences > Cognitive Psychology
I have never met Culadasa or anyone associated with him. I have practiced meditation for at least several years in each of seven different traditions, including every major wing of Buddhism except Tibetan. "The Mind Illuminated" is the most brilliant book about meditation ever written, in any language, in any century. There is absolutely no Asian religion stuff, although crucial traditional meditation technical terms are referenced and explained when helpful. Straight up meditation, western style, everything carefully and consistently explained in psychological terms that are only a little more sophisticated than everyday English useage. It is a big book because of such detailed explanations, not because it is complex or digressive. Nice bite size chapters, beautifully organized. The choice of Bhavanakrama as the structure for his discourse is technically marvelous. Regular meditation practice is a huge life commitment of your time that you must weigh carefully, so this book is also most suitable for those thinking of beginning practice. If I had read this book forty-five years ago, I would never have bothered with ten trips to India, Nepal, and Thailand. Some years ago in retirement I considered that I was fully cooked with meditation, but with this book I am inspired to begin again, and now I am an old hermit having a blast. I have shelves of books on this topic, but this one is the best. I have practiced my way through 60% of the book, and I am still amazed at its conciseness and solutions to major technical problems identified in traditional texts, particularly the Lankavatara Sutra.
Everyone until now learns meditation by going to a meditation retreat for that purpose. This is the first satisfactory book that can replace retreats for learning meditation.
This book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in meditation. If you read it with an open heart and mind it will be of immeasurable benefit to you.

Before I met Master Culadasa I had meditated for more than half a decade, reading, studying and practicing. I must have been very lucky as benefit occurred very quickly — however — somewhere along the line I realized something was missing, something key. Even after much sitting, studying and reading many books, I was unable to progress past a certain point. No book that I had read was able to tie together the path of meditation in clearly understandable and digestible way. A way that was easy to comprehend for the western mind.

To my great benefit I somehow found Master Culadasa and started attending retreats with him. As of this writing I have attended many retreats and known Master Culadasa for some time. I must therefore admit that my review may appear biased. However, I can also sincerely say that I would not write such a review if I did not mean it, and if I had not obtained great benefit myself from his instructions and guidance.

Master Culadasa’s presentation is I believe the beginning of a Western form of Buddhism. The path of meditation is presented in a clear and precise path of ten distinct stages. The presentation of the path in this way is extremely beneficial, as it allows one to easily plot where he might be on the stages, therefore allowing the ability to know where you have been, and to know what you should be looking forward to. This is not just some dry theoretical information. Master Culadasa writes from direct experience.

Often in one’s practice it may not be clear (past a certain point) what should be done, or even how to do it for that matter.
The subtitle here, “A Complete Meditation Guide,” understates this astonishing book’s comprehensiveness and profundity by half. This is a 475 page long magnum opus that’s exponentially more useful than all of the previous guides to meditation I’ve read (and I’ve read plenty, having been involved in Buddhist study and practice since the early 1970’s).

For a newcomer to meditation this book is the best possible introduction as well as a lifelong companion. For someone with an established practice, be it in the Theravadin, Tibetan or Zen tradition (or for that matter secular mindfulness or non-Buddhist contemplative approaches) The MInd Illuminated is a treasure trove of encouragement and clarification of key points in practice that no other book I’m aware of addresses. It comes as close as any book possibly can to having not just a teacher but a living meditation master with personal experience of every step of the path into your home.

While grounded in decades of obviously very serious and intensive practice and study of Buddhism this book uses the absolute minimum number of foreign words and defines them precisely. Someone with a purely secular interest in meditation will have no problem with the content, while devoted adherents of particular contemplative paths will feel supported. The tone throughout is kind, warm, clear and encouraging.

Anyone who’s practiced meditation for years knows that motivation for practice often waxes and wanes, and that it’s all-too-easy to run into dead ends that seem impossible to overcome, to stagnate in one’s practice, or to stop sitting altogether out of frustration or fear.
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