Reviews - The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind

7 reviews for:

The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind

I found this book to be really helpful, but I'm also glad I read it having some meditation experience. I don't think it would be the most accessible book for someone who has never meditated, although the writing is pretty easy to read and first few chapters are more broadly helpful. With all of the intensity of 2020, I felt like I was sitting down to meditate, but not really present a lot of the time. This book has helped inspire me in my meditations and I've been a bit more focused and able to sit for longer (sometimes!). I've had a few teachers who are students of/influenced by Alan Wallace, which helped me understand his writings and in turn, his writings help reinforce and clarify aspects of meditating from those teachers. I'd definitely recommend this for anyone in a similar situation!

mobap's review against another edition

I didn’t get very far in this book but I want to put it in my read list as a place holder so I can revisit it.
A couple of things - they make a point to say that having a teacher to guide you is kind of essential (I don’t currently have one.)
He makes a point early on when describing the ten stages of shamatha that unless you can dedicate an hour or two every day you won’t really be able to get past stage 2.. and I have two young kids, so that isn’t happening any time soon without some (extra) sleep deprivation.
I’m impressed with B. Alan Wallace’s experience and I really like his writing, but I’ll start with something a little easier to handle at this stage in my practice.