Skymind: The Radical Path of Open Awareness

Tibetan Buddhist teachers Rotterdam and Oosthuizen debut with a comprehensive introduction to Chöd, the practice of “severance” or “cutting through.” Developed in the 11th century by the Tibetan Buddhist nun Machig Labdrön, Chöd teaches that reality, being, and mind are like the sky: all-inclusive, nondiscriminating, and ever-present. What keeps people from embracing them is a “root demon” that views the self as separate from the world, reinforcing the ego and causing suffering. Readers can “cut through” such attachments (to the self and the ego) via meditation practices that cultivate mindfulness and sharpen awareness, along with targeted reflections like considering what one is “holding and dragging around... unnecessarily.” Such practices help practitioners understand their oneness with the world and enter into Skymind, “the vast, luminous radiance of being,” where they can assume “radical responsibility” for their own lives and their role in the world’s “ongoing dynamics of justice and injustice, freedom and suffering.” Though repetitive descriptions of Skymind and nonduality occasionally slow things down, the authors’ smart exercises and encouraging tone make for a compassionate yet urgent call for readers to embrace the full, undiluted reality of life. It’s an excellent introduction to Chöd that honors the practice’s roots without getting mired in doctrine. (May)