Unlearning the Basics: A New Way of Understanding Yourself and the World - Softcover

Sativihari, Rishi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0861715721 ISBN 13: 9780861715725

Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U.S., 2010

Synopsis

In fresh and inviting language, making frequent use of strikingly clear diagrams and illustrations, Unlearning the Basics challenges many our commonsense understandings ? of who we are, of what the mind is, of the relationship of the self to the world. The book also offers a new way of seeing that enables to us live more serenely, more compassionately, and more free from the slings and arrows of our busy lives. Grounded in the Buddhist tradition yet completely free from the formulas of traditional, tired presentations, this book is written in an informal style designed to maintain the reader’s attention. The author examines concepts of love and grasping, as well as what happens when the need for love meets "the great unfixables." Also covered are how impermanence, vulnerability, and pain feed the "evolution of character," personal agency, "wise resistances," and the necessity of experiential training in new ways of using the mind ? and of returning to our true home and finding new ways to flourish.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Rishi Sativihari was born Richard Wright and grew up in the innercity of Detroit during the 1960s and 70s. Prior to monastic life, Rishi worked as the clinical director of La Casa, a drug abuse treatment center in southwest Detroit, and as a staff psychologist for the University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry. Rishi received his monastic training and ordination from the Venerable Wattegama Dhammawasa at the Subodharama Monastery in Sri Lanka. He also trained in the Tibetan (Gelug) tradition under the Venerable Geshe Tashi Tsering at the Chenrezig Monastery in Australia, and under S.N. Goenkaat the Dhammagiri Centre in India. In 2003, Rishi left monastic life and began training in the contemplative foundations of Judaism and Christianity at the Toronto School of Theology. He currently offers teaching on contemplative living and guidance in spiritual formation to individuals and groups in the Toronto area.

Mu Soeng, a former Zen monk and teacher, is the scholar-in-residence at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is the author of many books on Buddhism, includingTrust in Mind and The Diamond Sutra. He lives in Barre, Massachusetts.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U.S.
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0861715721
• ISBN 13: 9780861715725
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 140