How to Train a Wild Elephant

May 9, 2011
Amid the current spate of books on mindfulness, Bays's distinguishes itself with 53 simple practices tested through 20 years at the Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon. A pediatrician as well as the center's abbess, Bays (Mindful Eating) has found "one reliable remedy for the relief of recurrent discomfort and unhappiness.... It is regular mindfulness practice." Bays, a student of Maezumi Roshi and Shodo Harada Roshi, brings gentle compassion to the task of integrating mindfulness into a busy life. Practices include leaving no trace, eliminating filler words, waiting, mindful driving, saying yes, silly walking, and noticing dislike. Each practice includes reminder tips, "discoveries" members of her community have made, and "deeper lessons" that might be drawn. The introduction clearly defines mindfulness and outlines its benefits in calming the mind that habitually dwells in the past, anticipates the unknown future, or creates fantasies. Bays's insights are frequently astute. This encouraging book serves as a guide for incorporating mindfulness into the most mundane of daily activities in the spirit of Zen.

June 1, 2011
Leave no trace. The value of accomplishing this axiom when using just one room of our home, work space or just about any place, may be far more than we can imagine.This is just one of 53 lessons that can foster mindfulness offered by author Bays, a pediatrician, meditation teacher, and abbess of Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon. These exercises resonate with our deepest desire to leave the world no worse than we found it and include eliminating unnecessary words from speech, offering true compliments, abstaining from cell-phone use, eating without distraction, praying while waiting, walking backward, and using a nondominant hand. The exercises vary dramatically, but all manage to bring consciousness to actions we often take for granted. The book also contains inspirational quotes from Zen masters. An uplifting read for the solitary practitioner and a great workbook for meditation groups and friends wanting to get the most out of life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)