Ken McLeod is widely respected as a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; he has trained for years with Tibetan masters. He directs Unfettered Mind, a Buddhist teaching program in Los Angeles, California. In this creative volume, McLeod sets out to deconstruct Buddhism for Americans with a special emphasis on the practices of attention and being present.
With plenty of anecdotal and illustrative material, he examines Buddhism in a nutshell; meditations on death and impermanence; karma; the four immeasurables of equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and empathetic joy; mind training; insight and illusion. The sections which have most relevance to American excesses are dismantling attachment to conventional success and getting rid of reactive emotions (anger, greed, instinct, desire, jealousy, and pride).
McLeod ends with a simple reminder of what he has discussed earlier:
"Put this book down for now — you've come to the end of it. Take what you've read and bring it into your life. Find a teacher to help you. Cultivate attention in everything you do, and, until your last breath, live in the mystery of being."
