Bear Awareness: Questions and Answers on Taming Your Wild Mind, Paperback

Most mindfulness meditation teachers praise the benefits of bare awareness, but English monk Ajahn Brahm teaches bear awareness. He helps meditators make friends with the scary things that come up on the cushion, and he knows how to lift the mood with a well-placed stuffed teddy--or a well-timed punHis ``bad`` jokes lift the mood and open the heart to a kinder and more compassionate perspective. Often the truth of what he says is in the joke itself. But the main purpose in looking on the bright side is to release problems that are keeping us from moving forward on the Buddhist path.

Bear Awareness draws together questions and answers from retreats Ajahn Brahm led at his retreat center for lay meditators over several years. Whether he is urging readers to fly Buddha Air (sit back and relax on your way to nirvana), giving tips for dealing with panic attacks or depression, or extolling the bliss of meditation that is better than sex, he gives us permission to enjoy our lives and our practice. The intimacy of the question-and-answer format provides a fresh experience of learning from a master meditator.