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Breath By Breath  By  cover art

Breath By Breath

By: Larry Rosenberg,David Guy,Jon Kabat-Zinn - foreward
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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Publisher's summary

Freedom from suffering is not only possible, but the means for achieving it are immediately within our grasp - literally as close to us as our own breath. This is the 2,500-year-old good news contained in the Anapanasati Sutra, the Buddha's teaching on cultivating both tranquility and deep insight through full awareness of breathing. In this book, Larry Rosenberg brings this timeless meditation method to life. Using the insights gained from his many years of practice and teaching, he makes insight meditation practice accessible to modern practitioners.

©1998 Larry Rosenberg (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What listeners say about Breath By Breath

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Instructive yet Disheartening

If you're looking for a step-by-step approach based on the Buddha Dharma, you've got it. Rosenberg goes straight to the Anapanasati Sutta (the go-to sutta on breath meditation), breaks it down in depth, covers various levels of interpretation, and provides a couple of practical approaches to implementing it. That's great.

What isn't so great is that Rosenberg's anecdotes about his own training and experience as a teacher make vipassana meditation sound pretty much pointless unless you're willing to devote a major chunk of you life to it. Sure, he pays a bit of lip service to the idea of meditating a mere 20 or 30 minutes a day, but he heavily advocates a steady practice of an hour or two a day and attending regular one- to three-weeklong silent retreats.

As dedicated meditator who also has a full-time job, a family, and other interests, such a practice is completely out of the question for me. While the author may not have intended his attitude to be a turn-off (and may actually sympathize with us normal people), he certainly fails to convey this. So, as instructive as it may be, I can't actually recommend this book.

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23 people found this helpful

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Best meditation book I’ve read

Simply the best book I’ve come across on breath meditation. It really gets into the nitty-gritty questions that Westerners have with “just” sitting there. He sprinkles in anecdotes from his experiences that keep the narrative moving; these are generally enlightening and often funny, as when he’s bitten by a mosquito during a meditation session where the participants aren’t allowed to move lest a monk beat them with the “stick of compassion.” And then there’s a chapter about how to incorporate everything you’ve just learned into a typically hectic life. Grade: A

The narration perfectly captures the book's vibe. In fact, I’m now seeking out Ballerini's titles simply to hear his narration of more philosophical titles.

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17 people found this helpful

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Beautifully Executed

The narrator of this book did a great service to the author's interesting and well written material. I listened to it several times and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the importance of taking each moment of life a breath at a time. Bravo!

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11 people found this helpful

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Outstanding performance by Eduardo Ballerini

Very well done subject plus an awesome reading equals a loved it experience to be repeated

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8 people found this helpful

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Great tool to practice mindfulness

Pleasant narration coupled with tools and first hand experiences of journey towards mindfulness through the breath. Living in the now

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6 people found this helpful

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Wonderful, Simple & Powerful

This entire audiobook is wonderfully simple to understand, with thoughts and principles that can be put into practice even for those new to mindfulness practices. I didn't feel that this was a meditation book as I have read in the past, but a way of mindfully taking one day, hour, minute, and second at a time. The stories that are included helped to sound the information deep into my mind and heart. Edoardo Ballerini makes any audiobook he narrates extra special.

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Wonderful book!

So filled with love, lightness and real wisdom in the field of insight meditation and Life. Thank you immensely for this great work.
Excellent narration too!

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calming

an audiobook that I would have to relisten to understand better but I definitely wouldn't mind doing so. the narration was excellent.

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A GOOD book

If you have the slightest interest in meditation and or want some relief from the angst of the current culture, might want to give this a try.

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Find your yoga or meditation practice stick?

I am an average guy. Four kids, blue collar job and also happen to be a yoga teacher.

This book and Mr Rosenbergs perspectives really helped me tremendously in deepening my practice. I am grateful for this.

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