Focused and Fearless

Focused and Fearless is a rich step-by-step guide to the jhanas-a powerful meditative technology that leads us to fearless and deep joy, radiant clam and a truly abiding happiness. Filled with practical guidance and many everyday life exercises, this is a book that will become an invaluable companion to meditators of every stripe. Focused and Fearless offers the richness of an ancient meditative tradition as interpreted through the practice of a contemporary American lay woman. This orientation represents a landmark shift in Theravadan Buddhism by bringing jhana into the reach of ordinary, busy practitioners. Focused and Fearless speaks to ordinary meditators (and non-meditators) who want to understand how to attain non-ordinary states with ease. It offers a creative and contemporary slant to this ancient path of happiness and wisdom. Blended with contemporary examples, pragmatic exercises, and "how to" instructions that anyone can try, this book provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and retreat. Focused and Fearless presents an accessible, friendly, and wise approach to establishing ecstatic meditative states that lead to liberating insight. This is more than a book about concentration. It offers a complete path for awakening that is firmly based on the power of a unified mind.