Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu is an American-born Theravadin Buddhist monk who lives in a mountain cave in Thailand. He was once a Chicago real estate mogul. The author sees this brief collection of pieces as "a wisdom banquet" for readers to feast upon and apply to their lives. This the distillation of 20 years of his meditation practice.
The most memorable dimensions of this paperback are the affirmations that the author calls "lemon drops for the mind." Stillness has played a large part in Bhikkhu's retreat from the world: "Silence is a great asset. If you don't have any silence in your life, be kind to yourself and make some. Silence is a form of mercy." And another: "Observing silence at any time of day supports your efforts to cleanse the toxins from your mind."
Bhikkhu suggests working with these affirmations for three to seven days and points out the value of putting them on small cards to carry with you. Here are two more that seem especially appropriate for our hectic times. The first is "Make one wholesome thought arise." And the second is "Emotions are very difficult to handle. In the old days, people dealt with the problem of wild animals. Now, they deal with wild emotions."
