Resting in Stillness

Buddhist practice is like making a cup of tea. We prepare by studying and contemplating the teachings, this is like putting tea and sugar in the cup. Then we pour boiling water into the cup and let it steep. The steeping process is equivalent to our meditation practice. The longer we let the tea steep, the stronger, more powerful, and more flavourful the tea will become. What do we need to do to help the tea steep? Nothing. We just rest, relax and wait for it to do its own thing. The same goes for meditation practice. The more we practice relaxing and resting in the stillness of meditation, the more we will experience the deep satisfying joy of our true nature.This book is a collection of short pieces about the heart of the Buddhist path and especially about meditation and compassion. Many of the pieces were answers to questions posed in meditation classes or in online discussion groups, but some are essays written in response to a need for a succinct, accessible explanation of a topic that is essential to Buddhist practice. All of the pieces are concise, grounded in experience and in a simple, unpretentious language that both beginners and advanced practitioners will appreciate.Martin Jamyang Tenphel and Pema Düddul have decades of experience, meditation practice and study behind them, and are well-versed in how to apply the Buddhist teachings in day to day life. They are the Co-Directors of Jalü Buddhist Meditation centre, an organisation that emphasises the path of simple meditation practice rather than of scholarly study or elaborate tantric practices. At Jalü, Jamyang and Pema teach meditation, mindfulness and the core of the Buddha's message in an authentic and accessible way that is appropriate to our modern world. Visit them online: www.jalumeditation.org