Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom

One of the most celebrated among the new generation of Tibetan meditation masters, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings have touched people of all faiths around the world. His first book, The Joy of Living, was a New York Times bestseller, praised for its clear meditation instructions and groundbreaking synthesis of the ancient insights of Tibetan Buddhism with the principles of modern science.

His new book, Joyful Wisdom, addresses the timely and timeless problems of anxiety and dissatisfaction in everyday life. Identifying the sources of unease, Rinpoche describes methods of meditation that enable us to transform experience into deeper insight, and applies these methods to common emotional, physical, and personal problems. The result is a work at once wise, anecdotal, funny, informed, and graced with the author’s irresistible charm.

Praise for Joyful Wisdom

Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Introductions to Buddhist theory and practice proliferate, but Mingyur has written an unusually lucid and graceful addition to the modern canon. Author of The Joy of Living (also written with Eric Swanson), Mingyur is one of the younger generation of Tibetans born and raised in exile yet carefully trained since childhood to become Buddhist masters in their own tradition. Examples from Mingyur’s anxiety-ridden childhood and scientific observations about how the brain works lead into a cogent presentation of the Buddha’s four noble truths (which explain the causes and conditions of suffering). Well-organized instructions then take the reader step-by-step through three types of Buddhist meditation, carefully distinguishing between attention (shamatha) and insight (vipassana) practices and concluding with loving-kindness/compassion techniques. The final section suggests ways to apply each of these practices more skillfully. Practitioners only familiar with focusing on the breath in meditation will find welcome alternatives. Mingyur uses simple analogies, stories, and encounters with his students to illustrate the Buddhist path. The exceptionally clear descriptions combined with Mingyur’s compassion and gentle wisdom make this book a valuable guide to Buddhist practice.