The Path of Mindfulness Meditation [Paperback]

After having read dozens of books by the greats in modern Buddhism: Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hahn, Joseph Goldstein, the Dalai Lama, Chögyam Trungpa; the greats in applied, Western Buddhism - again: Pema and those like Jon Kabat-Zinn, I can honestly say this book really adds nothing to Buddhism other than perhaps some slight confusion and wordy obfuscation. The author seems more interested in laying out a giant fabric of Buddhist terminology than being direct and practical - almost as if he simply stirs up the water and attempts to inspire by flooding you with Pali. You walk away thinking maybe you've been helped, only to realize nothing of any substance took place, you just learned a few words.

Concerning the therapeutic side: If you really want a Buddhist approach to Western psychology, look towards Acceptance Commitment Therapy, not this book. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, and even Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy have said the same things found in this book but, for some, decades earlier and, for all, much more clearly and concisely. There is little, if any, value in this book for therapeutic aims unless you've been completely unaware of advances in clinical psychology over the past, say, 75 years. The only "modern" technique to be found in this book is his attempt to use neuro-linguistic programming (a highly questionable branch of psychology), and he doesn't do this very well. The author seems happiest living in a world of Freudian-style, psychoanalytical hand-waving; whereas modern Buddhism and Western Psychology have progressed far beyond this. The author also appears to have provided us with no scientific studies to back any of his claims - something which really ought to raise a red flag these days. It's worth noting - unless I'm mistaken - the PhD of the author is not in the field of psychology. This shows.

There is no question about the author's seemingly encyclopedic awareness of Pali terminology, but that alone doesn't amount to much. It's also somewhat interesting that the author's reviews on Amazon seem directed at basically self-promotion, as does his twitter feed and therapeutic website (where some quoted statements aren't even credited to anyone). The whole package seems rather shady - so I suggest you tread with caution.

I received a sample of this book via kindle. I found the information to be quite dry and the constant use of pali terms (found in original Buddhist texts) to be rather daunting for a western audience. I also have a problem with the fact that the author has "reviewed" over 100 books in amazon on the subjects of buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness, and at the end always suggests his own book (but rarely, if ever, admits that the book is written by the reviewer). See for yourself:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A22JD6X1VDQO2F/ref=cm_aya_pdp_profile

If the author has actually bought and read the books, great! How about a thorough, mindful review ONLY and not a shameless plug for your own book. The Noble Eightfold Path set forth by the Buddha includes: Right action, Right livelihood, and of course Right mindfulness.

This book reads more like Dr. Strong's attempt to show off his knowledge of Pali and a sales pitch for his online mindfulness psychotherapy practice (similar to his Twitter feed and persistent self-promotion writ large on his Psychology Today blog, in spite of their editorial policy against that). I found myself turned off by the book in general, and in answer to another reviewer's insistence that if one has a Vipassana practice one will find the book to be great: I do not find that to be the case.