Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, by a fellow named Daniel M. Ingram. And his core message was that enlightenment was possible, that mastery of concentration states are possible, and that if one puts enough dedication and focus into practicing well they will discover these things for themselves soon enough. His “cook book approach,” as he calls it, was truly revolutionary for me at the time. All of the material I’d seen on enlightenment up till that point seemed either to claim that it was possible but not give much information on what “it” was, or would describe enlightenment in highly mythological terms and hint, however subtly, at it not being something that was attainable here and now. On a deep, and perhaps intuitive level, I knew that enlightenment was possible, I knew it was what I wanted more than anything (though I didn’t know why), and here I finally had someone telling me that it was attainable, showing me exactly how to get there from here, and showing me many of the possible achievements and stumbling blocks along the way!
By following the “recipes” in this book, spending a lot of time practicing in my daily life and in intensive retreat environments, I made real progress and it was both measurable and reproducible. I saw other dedicated practitioners going through similar phases that I had, including a very difficult phase, called “the dark night.” Through good guidance, both from Daniel Ingram and other, and through being committed to following through no matter what, I was eventually able to navigate through this territory and have since come to realize much of what he writes about in his book. And in all honesty, I think there’s no better endorsement of his work then that.
Fortunately, his work has not remained relegated to the world of eBooks and computer screens, as Aeon Books decided it would be a good idea to publish it and as of this month it’s available in hard copy. You can buy the book on Amazon, where it is significantly cheaper, or go directly to Aeon’s website and buy it there. If you are interested in making significant progress in your meditation practice, want unparalleled maps of both insight and concentration practices, and are slightly fed up with those books and teachers who shy away from hard-core mastery or open and transparent discussion regarding enlightenment, then I’m willing to bet this is the book for you.
