This is a superb little handbook that I read through twice, and anticipate reading and/or referring to again and again, Bhikkhu Bodhi’s clear prose shining like a flashlight as I attempt the path.

There are many gems to be found in this book, but at the moment I will highlight this one, from the chapter on “Right Mindfulness”:

“In the practice of right mindfulness the mind is trained to remain in the present, open, quiet, and alert, contemplating the present event. All judgements and interpretations have to be suspended, or if they occur, just registered and dropped. The task is simply to note whatever comes up just as it is occurring, riding the changes of events in the way a surfer rides the waves on the sea. The whole process is a way of coming back into the present, of standing in the here and now without slipping away, without getting swept away by the tides of distracting thoughts.”