[.ca] The Silent Question: Meditating in the Stillness of ... (ISBN 1590304101)

You will deepen your thoughts, feelings, and awareness with this book.:
I loved this book for many reasons. A subtitle for the book could easily have been "Beyond Buddhism" although no doubt Ms. Packer would, I imagine, argue that such a title would make no sense as there is nothing to get beyond. Nevertheless the influences of her Zen background permeates the work but do not shadow it. The most exciting part of the book is that the history, theoretical premises and all the bells and whistles that usually accompany a line of thought are absent. It simply shows that being totally immersed in the awareness of the current moment is all that matters. It is fascinating that a concept that can be stated in one sentence can be expanded on enough to fill an entire book. Yet one never gets the feeling that one is just reading the same stuff over and over again. Each new chapter brings with it a sense of excited anticipation. She presents her ideas in a very easy to understand concise fashion. The emphasis is on application in everyday life, not on theories or explanations. She shows clearly how awareness of the present, or lack thereof, can have a major impact on our lives. Here writing on inimate relationships is particularly illuminating. This is a challenging book, not in terms of ease of readbility, but in terms of the learnings and insights that come when applying what is written to your inner personal world. Her seemingly simple insights can lead to incredible depths of understanding when thought about and applied.