"Wherever You Go, There You Are"
by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wherever-You-There-are-Mindfulness/dp/0749925485/
Reading history and reviews
Finished on 25th January 2013
Finished on 1st June 2014
The second time that I've read Jon Kabat-Zinn's book on mindfulness practice (although I listened to the audiobook version extensively over a period a few years ago), and just as with re-reading Joseph Campbell's books it feels like it rewarded me with fresh insights. It's less of an instruction manual and more of a guidebook to mindfulness, and Kabat-Zinn's anecdotes about how he personally brings the practices into his everyday life struggle serve to make those practices seem more relevant than they might otherwise - even more so given that even after many years he still struggles at times to live mindfully.
On reading "Wherever You Go..." again I also realise that my own view of mindfulness has been heavily influenced by what I understand Kabat-Zinn's take on it to be: that mindfulness and meditation practices are not about trying to get anywhere or change anything, but rather to see our present situation more clearly - whether it is good or bad. Of course as he writes, that isn't always easy. But books like this, that you can return to again and again, help us with the challenge of continually renewing our practices, as well as offering ways to deepen them. So I look forward to reading it again sometime in the future.