BOOK BRIEFS

UDDHADASA BHIKKHU (1906–1993), one of Thailand’s most revered monks of the twentieth century, wants us all to be problem solvers. In an edited series of his lectures recently published as (Shambhala), translated by Dhammavidu Bhikkhu and Santikaro Upasaka, he exposes the absurdity of thinking the solutions to suffering offered by the Buddha are “too goody-good,” too beyond our reach. Teaching that a life of mental cultivation is in fact for everyone, he delves into the training of the senses, treating them as the building blocks of the path that leads to ultimate “coolness,” or nibbana. “Life isn’t hot and anxious when we live rightly,” he says. And how do we know if we are living correctly? “Any approach that restrains, clears, or stills today’s mind so