Three Steps to Awakening: A Practice for Bringing Mindfulness to Life

Description

A unique three-phase model for meditation practice that ties together elements of the various Buddhist traditions and that is remarkably adaptable to modern life and changing situations. This book represents the distillation of Larry Rosenberg's more than forty years of teaching. Drawing on the various Buddhist traditions in which he has practiced, he describes three subtly different but complementary forms of meditation practice- (1) breath awareness, (2) breath as anchor, and (3) choiceless awareness. Having the three methods in one's repertoire gives one meditation resources for any life situation. In a time of stress, for example, one might use breath awareness exclusively. Or on an extended retreat, one might find choiceless awareness more appropriate. The three-step method has been taught to Larry's students at the Cambridge Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for many years. After teaching the three-step method, Larry goes on to show how to bring the awareness gained in meditation to the world off the cushion, into relationships and into all areas of daily life.

LARRY ROSENBERG is founder and resident teacher of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a guiding teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts.

"In Three Steps to Awakening, Rosenberg distills decades of his experience into three essential meditation practices designed to aid in any life situation. Reading it is like being with Rosenberg in person, and the clarity with which he details each practice makes it an exceptional companion for the aspiring meditator."-Buddhadharma "For those who seek clear, wise guidance in the 'how to's' of Buddhist meditation, Larry Rosenberg's new book will become a valued resource. Written with great simplicity, intelligence and warmth, Three Steps to Awakening introduces core practices that together constitute a vibrantly alive spiritual path."-Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge "Larry Rosenberg offers us a practice that, although based on the Anapanasati Sutta of the Buddha, is honed from his own realization and thus holds the pragmatism of his decades of meditation and teaching. He does not stop with formal instructions but encourages us forward beyond special forms and environment and drops us off at the gateway of our lives. Larry calls himself a minimalist, and it is because he gives us only what is relevant, so that we can move easily with his teaching toward the liberation of our own minds and hearts."- Rodney Smith, author of Stepping Out of Self Deception and Awakening