Posts by Gabriel Rocheleau
The World is Made of Stories
What a pleasant surprise! I frankly did not expect much from this book, but it is a delightful read, filled with wisdom and depth.
This book explores the kinds of stories we tell ourselves – from the “role we play at work” all the way down to the “self we takes ourselves to be”. Engaging and funny, this book took me down a fascinating, and at times shocking, journey into my own mind.
Read MoreMindfulness in Plain English
I put off reading this book for a long time, as I saw it as nothing more than an introductory read. When I finally got down to reading it, I quickly realized I had misjudged this book ; despite being a remarkable introductory read, it also contains tremendous depth. Excellent if you’re looking for a quick refresher on why and how to meditate.
Read MoreThus Spoke Zarathustra
A book I’ve returned to more times than I can count. Thus Spoke Zarathustra never fails to strike me as a uniquely beautiful and profound book. Its pages are dripping with frightening depth and aphorisms that shake me to my very core. As Nietzsche himself would say, this is “A book for All and None” ; a book everyone must tread, but that no one can read. Not an easy read, but a very worthwhile one that can’t leave you unchanged.
Read MoreThe Master & His Emissary
This book about the brain has forever changed the way I think about the mind and how it relates to the world.
In this book, the author explains how our two brain hemispheres create two fundamentally opposed realities. The implications of this division are far-reaching and profound, they explain the seeming disconnect between the arts and science, the evolution of philosophical trends and the changes in human behavior and pathology over time.
I’ve also written a (long!) full summary of The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist:
Read MoreGuided Introduction to Insight Meditation – Noting
In this guided meditation, we explore the basic instructions for “Noting” as taught by Mahasi Sayadaw.
Read MoreRediscovering meditation
When the news came out that Culadasa, my meditation teacher, was being removed from his teaching position due to misconduct, I felt distressed and disheartened. Yet in an odd way, I think these unfortunate circumstances will turn out to have a positive impact on my practice, and perhaps on the community at large. The Culadasa…
Read MoreA god is dead
Okay, god is a bit much. But still, one of the people I most admired has turned out not be the Saint I took him to be. So, what’s going on? As some of you already know, it has recently come to light that Culadasa, my meditation teacher, has engaged in misconduct. He has therefore…
Read MoreThe Value of a Community (Sangha)
I’ve been in Culadasa’s Teacher Training for a year and a half now, and the benefits of the training are invaluable. To name a few, the Teacher Training has provided me with: Relevant and practical resources, like selected suttas, books, videos and guided meditations. The motivation to commit to a more serious daily practice. The…
Read MoreThe Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths are the fundamental teachings of Buddhism. All other Buddhist teachings are branches that sprout from these basic four truths. For some reason though, I never really paid attention to the Four Noble Truths. I found them vague and impractical. In fact, I never really got the difference between them. As I…
Read MoreGuided Meditation – Connecting the Breaths
This guided meditation will walk you through the technique of connecting the breaths as taught in The Mind Illuminated.
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