When Awareness Becomes Natural

A Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life

By: Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Finding awareness in any kind of ordinary daily activity... The first trade book from a Southeast Asian Buddhist monk-teacher who is becoming prominent worldwide, particularly in the insight meditation community.

Meditation is great - but it's not what Buddhist practice is all about. That's the message of this engaging and funny Burmese Buddhist monk, and it's a message that is finding a significant following among Westerners in the insight meditation tradition. Sayadaw U Tejaniya teaches how to bring awareness to any sort of activity in order to discover deep insight and liberation from suffering. It works in sitting meditation, but it works just as well when sorting the laundry or doing data entry.

"My teachings are nothing new," he says. "They are, as always, based on the four foundations of mindfulness: awareness of the body; awareness of feelings and sensations; awareness of mind; and understanding of dhamma or nature - i.e., mind and matter. These four foundations are as explained in the Buddha's discourse on mindfulness, the Satipatthana Sutta. How I offer these teachings is a reflection of my life and practice, and the way in which they are presented is to accommodate the way in which modern yogis live their lives."

©2016 Sayadaw U Tejaniya (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

great read

An exquisitely invigorating addition, deeply grounded in the classical Theravadin lineage, seamlessly weaving its way through the realms of practicality and modern significance. It is enriched by poignant, personal anecdotes that beautifully showcase how engaging in dharma practice can illuminate paths towards living with heightened wisdom and kindness.

A Gem

For years and years I have repeated come to the same conclusion on my own: it's not necessary to confine oneself to a particular place and time to practice meditation. If a person is unable to maintain awareness from moment to moment then all seated practice is in vain. Satipatthana sutta somehow confirms my view. Yet how difficult it is to do this? To use too much energy I exhaust myself completely in less than a week and to do it too casually I slip away from mindfulness in a few minutes. This book essentially offered me all tips and advices to avoid these two pitfalls.

Loved it

Real approach to our everyday busy lives. When Im having rough times, I always go back to this book. Bought the hard copy just to have physical reference. Life changer.

enlightening

it is the best book on mindfulness.
extremely practical. everything you need to begin enlightening day by day

superior dharma book

requires a minimum of 15 words..word word word word word word word word word word word

Awesomely well done reading.

Brian Nishi reads with strong empathy and sincerity. it's even better at .9x speed. These teachings by U Tejaniya are very clear, simple, and touch us at the moment of our experience.

Eye opening

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. This is one of the best meditation books I've read.

What did you like best about this story?

Sayadaw has a knack for dispelling confusions and pointing put the essential aspects of the practice. I really appreciate his down to earth, laid back approach to meditation.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

How open Sayadaw is about his personal life. It's really quite unique in a teavher of his caliber, and really allows you to relate.

excellent!

provided much insight to helping with the practice. I plan to listen again because there was a plethora of useful information that I want to revisit . I learned a lot!

Better than Average (Re-review)

Helpful in some ways, but lots of talk about himself that does not provide much help to someone that has been practicing for awhile. What also turned me a bit was that he left his wife and young child to "become a monk", yet he goes on and on about how living in the world is a great place to practice. IOW, no need to go to a monastery. So, I found that reduced his credibility considerably. Edit: After a few more years of meditation and a reread of the book, I've upgraded my rating to five stars. I still have some issues, but overall, the book presents a excellent perspective of one person's path.

just perfect

this was just what I needed to hear. A very practical and useful look at awareness. Author uniquely shares his personal history with an unusually honest telling of his difficult behaviors. I appreciated hearing that. The focus was on developing awareness in daily life and not in some special retreat situation. Brian Nishi's reading was so seamless and relaxed I forgot it was not the author of the text speaking. Very helpful and inspiring to my practice.