Bookreview: Wake up to your life

Hi.

Wake Up To Your Life begins by introducing Buddhism, covering basic topics such as the four noble truths, the three disciplines of morality, meditation, and understanding, and the cultivation of mindfulness. It continues with contemplations on death and impermanence, karma, reactive emotions, and the four immeasurables, and ends with practices for mind training, insight, and direct awareness. All the while he discusses the topics, he gives methods of meditating over the current Topic, giving it yet another base to stand on.

Ken Mcleod is an Buddhist trained in the Tibetan way. Some may say that this is an disadvantage when coming to speak about awareness.
I disagree. When speaking about awareness and “being in midst of life” this is for the better.
He views the matter from another perspective than usual, not from the perspective of mindfulness, awareness, and attention but more on “active attention”.
This leads to en perspective who is wider than usual, although it doesn’t miss the point.
I can’t say I agree with everything he says, like when he speaks about a teacher having to be an person, and that he strikes down on some sort of teacher he apparantly has met, who didn’t do as he thought he would deal with things…

This being said, I think it is important to see that Mcleod is an “Buddhist lighthouse” for beginners and those been on the path a while as he displays and discusses things in a manner suitable for the current generation, Giving everybody something they need/can use.

Is this a book I recommend then?
Yes.
Even though he sometimes may seem a bit hard to handle. He still cuts through to the point with the skill of an surgeon. And I also do think this will be an important book in the future, who will find it’s home in many people’s bookshelves and hearts.

Mtfbwy
Fuugen