- Beyond the Horizon of Time – Is Reincarnation Buddhist?
- The Philosophy of VesakReturn to Tranquility
- Ariyamagga Bhavana Meditation Guide Level I – Selective Thinking
- Ariyamagga Bhavana Meditation Guide Level II – Tranquility of Mind
- Ariyamagga Bhavana Meditation Guide Level III – Seven Steps to Awakening
- Buddha The Radical Shrink – Buddhist Psychotherapy
- Did We Cross The Threshold of Hope
“He studied modern science and Western medicine in Sri Lanka and he obtained
two doctorates while in the United States, one is Western psychology
and another in Western philosophy and comparative religion. Bhante
Punnaji has made an in-depth research into the original teachings of
the Buddha which he thinks is different from all the modern schools
of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana including Zen
and Pure- land Buddhism. This research was not only academic but
also experiential. Bhante also did research into the form of Buddhist
Psychotherapy which he thinks is the best way to introduce Buddhism
to the modern world. As Buddhism in its original form was not a mere
religion of faith and worship but a psychological technique of growth
and evolution of the human consciousness.”
Foreword
Buddhist meditation, as taught in this retreat, is not a
mystical practice. This technique of meditation is for people
who are living a secular life as householders, who go to work,
have responsibilities, and who are involved in various social
relationships. What such people need is freedom from stress,
and freedom from worries and anxieties of life. They need
peace of mind, healthy relationships, self-confidence, success
in life, and efficiency at work. This means learning to gain
control over the emotional disturbances that prevent them
from thinking clearly or acting rationally. These problematic
emotional disturbances come in the form of anger, lust, worries,
fears, and anxieties. The form of Buddhist meditation taught
here helps one free the mind of emotional disturbances and to
think clearly and act rationally.
It involves a systematic technique of consciously
purifying the mind. All impurities arise from self-centred
emotional states. The pure mind is the tranquil mind. When the
mind is purified, one experiences an inner happiness, a physical
comfort, and a kindness and compassion that one has never
experienced before. The happiness referred to here is not a state
of emotional excitement, but a tranquil undisturbed state of the
mind. The kindness and compassion taught here is not based on
attachment. It is a state of unselfishness. Emotional excitement
is not true happiness, and attachment is not true love. Happiness
and kindness are attributes of the pure and tranquil mind.
Therefore, the aim of this method of meditation is to
purify the mind and relax the body resulting in happiness,
kindness and a mature intelligence. However, the mind can
only be purified by first restraining the behavior in the form of
sila.
The rest of the book in PDF is in the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pgMXw2PEOESIEV6WcaV7sbnO-KmZpltd/edit
The video above is him explaining the dream of existence. His work is both knowledge and experiential in nature. So one would get lots of insight from him. He writes clearly and simply so all is easily understood. I gather Buddhism was never a religion to him but a practice of the mind and through observation to get to a stillness of mind and to see how it can be taken to its pure clean clear state of mind that does not trigger thoughts and emotions in mind and body and control emotion.
He passed away on July 27, 2018, but left behind lots of experiential information on the human condition and mind, and how to get it to its purest state of being.
16 December 2019.