Book Nook

Dharma for the 21st Century

In "Awakening The Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy", Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche speaks the timeless wisdom of Dharma using a contemporary lexicon. He shares the path of taking refuge and the blissful union with our real self.

He explains refuge can be taken:
- in the stillness of the body: when agitation has chosen us, we can be grateful for this opportunity to take refuge in stillness;
- through the silence of speak: when the complaining mindset has chosen us, we can be grateful for this opportunity to take refuge in silence;
- through the spaciousness of the mind: when our mind feels overwhelmed, we can be grateful for this opportunity to give ourselves the space we already are.

With guided meditations you can read and listen to, using the complimentary CD offered with the book, This is one of the most concise and clear introductions to uniting with Dzogchen, our real mind.

I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.

Awaking the Luminous Mind is about incorporating awareness into your everday life with a focus on Tibetan practices. The goal, according to the author, is to discover the hidden jewel in ordinary experiences. The focus of the book is on how to overcome difficulties through the practice of stillness, silence and spaciousness. Those who enjoy Eckhart Tolle's work, will enjoy this book as well.

There's nothing new here but it does reinforce the concept of having an Empty Mind to move the reader through difficult emotions such as fear, jealousy and anger. Similar to Tolle, Rinpoche refers to the the low energy state of dis-ease as The Pain Body.

In Chapters 1-4, Rinpoche discuses the principle of Inner Refuge: Pulling in for self reflection when life feels like it's off course

In Chapters 4-8 Rinpoche gives Heart Advice: Facing the experiences of your life directly and with authentic awareness. The goal is to integrate your spiritual practices and values into your everyday life.

What I liked

Rinpoche says, "We need a sense of where to turn when we become confined or encounter difficulties. In my tradition, we obtain this help by going for inner refuge."

I liked the concept of Inner Refuge. It's something I hadn't quite heard from Eckhart Tolle as a strategy for dealing with life's troubles. What I got from this concept is that you go into Inner Refuge by getting quiet and removing yourself from every day issues by spending time alone in silence. Then, there is the Inner Refuge in every day life--when you can't take time off to sit in the silence for an extended period of time. Rinpoche shows the reader that Inner Refuge can be found in the middle of life's craziness. It can be practiced at work, in a loud airport, in your home when your family members are making demands of you.

Attempting to practice Rinpoche's Inner Refuge myself when I was thrown a few curve balls recently, I had a hard time shifting my energy from the chatter monkey mind where fear resides and the still mind where peace resides...but eventually I did. It takes intention to put yourself back in the driver's seat but it works. It takes conscious consciousness.

If you really want to be at peace and find the space where solutions reside, the author and many before him will tell you that consciousness is the answer. To move yourself from pain to consciousness, you must have a willingness to shift the energy which is sometimes difficult. Rinpoche shows you the way to get to that space.

What I didn't like

I was looking forward to the meditation CD that came with the book but found it uninspiring.

Because of the issues I was dealing with in my own life, I had a hard time focusing on the concepts. When I made time to sit and focus, I recognized that this was a book I should have read BEFORE I was in the eye of the storm and so should you. The concepts work to dissolve pain and conflict in your life and open up the energy for new solutions to flow through you. The only challenge is that you've got to want peace more than you want pain. Your intention is what will get you into the empty space where solutions reside.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R. Ann Rousseau writes about metaphysical, spiritual and astrology topics on her blog Explore Beyond the Usual. She is author of the new novel Portsmouth, A Love Story.

This book is indeed an awakening experience. If you honestly want to reveal your total authentic self, (the good, the bad, and the ugly) then this is the book for you. For instance I found that although my challenge with anger has greatly subsided I still have significant efforts that I must focus on for successful resolution. However instead of being disappointed regarding this issue, the prescripts advised by Rinpoche made this revelation, along with others a welcomed breakthrough and has provided me with a rejuvenating sense of awareness.

I must admit for me, certain passages and concepts had to be revisited. However I must say once I fully grasped what Rinpoche was sharing, I came away with an ability to fully enjoy the blessing a clear, relaxed, and genuinely conscious mind has to offer. It is as if I have administered a thorough spring cleaning of my mind and exposed stale emotions I thought I had successfully conquered. I had read in another review that if you enjoy the teachings of Ekhart Tolle you will enjoy this book and CD. I would like to add meditation masters Doctors Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and meditation coach Davidji (Mr. Melodic) to the list.

FTC Disclosure: This book was sent to me by Hay House at no cost to me and the opinions expressed are solely my own