With this accesssible guide, meditators (and non-meditators) can understand how to attain extraordinary states with relative ease. Blended with contemporary examples and pragmatic "how to" instructions that anyone can try,
Focused and Fearless provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and on retreat. Shaila Catherine has a friendly, wise approach to the meditative states (
jhanas) that lead to liberating insight.
Focused and Fearless is about much more than merely meditation or concentration. It offers a complete path towards bliss, fearlessness, and true awakening.
Jhana is a powerful meditative technique that opens the way to unfettered joy, radiant calm, and abiding happiness. "Focused and Fearless" presents this ancient meditative tradition as interpreted through the practice of a contemporary American teacher, and as such, it represents a landmark shift in Theravadan Buddhism by bringing jhana into the reach of busy practitioners. The book speaks to both non-meditators and meditators from any tradition, helping those who simply want to understand how to attain extraordinary states with ease while offering a creative, contemporary slant on this ancient path of happiness and wisdom. An engaging mix of contemporary examples, practical exercises, and how-to instructions that anyone can try, "Focused and Fearless" is an accessible, friendly, and wise guide that is ideal for both novices and the more seasoned practitioner who wishes to explore advanced meditative states.
"Rigorously investigated and lucidly explained, Shaila Catherine penetrates the mysterious world of jhana practice. Her book's strength lies in that she knows the territory intimately and teaches from her own experience. The author has deeply devoted her life to awakening through meditation, and her confidence and wisdom ring true throughout the whole book. This inspirational and fascinating manual will help many of the rest of us down this path."
