I picked this book up on a whim and found it to be wonderful. Ayya Khema`s explanations on meditation are clear and practical. If you are interested in understanding on how to stopping your suffering and misery, this book can certainly start you in the right direction. It does have a Buddhist-oriented slant but she doesn`t knock you over the head with it.

On occasion a book appears that turns life 180 degrees and makes all the difference. It plucks the reader up and sets them on a higher plateau. Gentle and direct at the same time, Khema's words bring out not only the wisdom of Buddhism, but the wisdom of life. Her gentle prose guides the reader through the mechanics of Buddhism, yet one doesn't have to be a Buddhist devotee to garner wisdom from the book. If you read to be uplifted, this book fits. It easily fits the palm of anyone seeking knowledge, and it brings a warm breeze to the heart. Though Khema passed on a few years ago, through her book, "Being Nobody Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path" (Khema wrote over twenty-five books), she still speaks her message to the world. Try for example the chapter called "Loving-Kindness Meditation," a gentle prayer amidst rough times, words that set the sails firm.

When it comes to making you see that everything you grasp is like smoke in a darkened room, Ayya Khema's the best. This is the book for when you forget why you're on the Path.

If you are serious about learning Dhamma, go to the bookstore and buy all Ayya Khema's books. Based on her personal experiences, she was able to explain many hard-to-understand Dhamma concepts in plain and simple words that make you go "ah!" and "wow!". Simple yet profound, she was very strict to the original teaching of Buddha's Dhamma yet present it in a way that we modern people can understand without any difficulties. You don't have to worry about any water-downed psuedo Buddhism teaching you found in the bookstore today. She was a revolutionist when it comes to improving the status of women sangha in Theravada tradition, a credit to the Buddhasasana. I am thankful to be able to learn from her writing, must be my good kamma. If you are reading this review, don't let the good kamma slip away. Get this book and learn to be an island.

This marvelous little book gives hours of pleasure, confidence, and encouragement: as well as instant calming and vision for your spontaneous needs should you require immedicate assistance. I found it to provide guidance and inspiration on any occasion that presented itself-I had but to open randomly to any page. Here is only one example of its gifts: "Only one single moment exists, and that's the present one. The future is a figment of our imagination. When the future really happens it becomes the present." (This from the 'Nuts and Bolts' section.)

I was raised Roman Catholic and I find so much value and love from these practices. I am learning to love myself as I have always been taught to love God but somehow missed the part about loving yourself. Sister Khema makes a bridge between religious gulfs, feminine issues, and meditation practices. She has masterfully put together Buddist teachings in so understandable a method that you come away from reading, even just a paragraph or two, with inspiration and love. I recommend this book to all my friends.

Sincerely, Pat

Ayya Khema, who personified Theravada Buddhism in her meditative practice and compassionate life, leads you as if by hand to the isle of inner peace. Warmth and practicality permeate this book, which is more a teaching than a tour guide. Ayya Khema reveals important insights in such a way that you hardly notice you've been taken well down the Noble Eightfold Path. You arrive at the end of the journey ready to believe her final assertion: "There is no reason why an intelligent, healthy, committed person should not be able to attain [mindfulness] with patience and perseverance." Add this to your list of desert island readings.

I found this to be a more difficult read than `Being Nobody, Going Nowhere`. It's more Buddhist oriented with her telling a story of one of the original Buddhist text. Still, it was interesting in seeing how the people who knew Buddha asked questions and how he answers. Ayya Khema has an ability to explain the old texts, their context and apply them to our modern lives.

books on meditation abound . the hard part is sifting through the morass of confusing and often contradictory methods that all but scream for your attention . ayya khema's book doesn't scream .... it whispers . and its still whispering to me , long after i have finished it .

meditation books can be dry , they can be humorous , technical etc , but they all need to appeal to the experience of the everyday person , the one we're all so familiar with . we have to see our everyday selves in a book on meditation for it to appeal to us . ayya khema's book appeals .

buddhism can be so esoteric . but this book keeps it simple , the way buddha intended it before our vainglorious egos started putting words into his mouth .

now if i sound like i'm about to fall at ayya's khema's feet in servile obeisance , i'm not . there are plenty of other good books out there on meditation , but few wrenched my gut the way this one did . the best part of this book is that ayya khema writes like she has herself been through the pains of the path . buy it and begin practising !

This is one of the first books on Buddhism I have read that really helped me to understand how much of our thinking is dependent upon our feelings, and how to deal with the emotions and the level of being that is based on emotional reaction. It became clearer to me through reading this book how many of our reactions and judgements have an emotional base. When I realized the author of this book was a woman, somehow the level of thorough attention given to this challenging aspect of ones practice, made perfect sense. Most works in Buddhist philosophy/ thought have been written by men. Her focus and language spoke directly to me in a way I have not found in other books. She expanded my knowledge and awareness of my own self-observation in the meditation process. She also offers much description on meditation techniques.

This book consists of the text of the Samannaphala Sutta translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, an American monk, and a commentary on the text by the late Ayya Khema, a German nun. The Samannaphala Sutta is part of the "Long Discourses of the Buddha" of the Pali Canon, the oldest series of buddhist texts. In addition to the translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Sutta may be found in the translation of the entire "Long Discourses of the Buddha" by Maurice Walshe.

For the past several years, I have had the good fortune to participate in a Sutta Study Group in which we study the Pali texts. Recently, we devoted three sessions to study of the Samannaphala Sutta using both Walshe's and Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation. We proceeded by reading the Sutta aloud, in small sections, and then pausing for group discussion and comments. The members of our group take turns in leading the discussions. I was favored with the opportunity to lead the discussion of this complex and profound text.

The Samannaphala Sutta tells the story of an encounter beteen King Ajasattu and the Buddha. With all his power and wealth, and 500 wives, the King feels something is missing in his life. (Indeed, the King is understandably troubled because he has just killed his father to assume the throne.) He goes to the Buddha, and other ancient teachers, in search for peace of mind and for an understanding of the benefits of what Ayya Khema's book characterizes as a 'Spiritual" way of life.

The Buddha explains the Buddhist ethical path to the King and further develops 14 fruits of the spiritual life. These fruits begin with the most mundane consideration of benefits of the life of the seeker and end with the attainment of the highest, most rarified wisdom. Each of the fruits is illustrated by metaphors of increasing power. The Sutta ends with King Ajasattu becoming a lay follower of the Buddha. The suggestion is that the King cannot proceed further than this due to the grave evil he has committed in murdering his father.

It is a great value of this book that it presents this ancient Sutta in a form accessible to many readers.

Following the Sutta, the remainder of the book consists of a lengthy commentary by Ayya Khema. Although this is not explicitly stated, the commentary appears derived from a series of lectures, as witnessed by the questions and answers at the end of several of the chapters. Her commentary is not a line-by-line exposition of the Sutta. Bhikku Bodhi, in his translation of the Sutta, offered as well a selection of commentaries from Pali sources which discuss the text in great detail. This is not the only way, or possibly even the best way, for a modern reader to approach this Sutta. It does have the advantage, however, of forcing the reader to pay close attention to the text itself.

Although Ayya Khema's commentary has many interesting and valuable things to teach, it strays rather far from the text of the Samannaphala Sutta. After the opening in which she nicely sets the stage by discussing the encounter between the King and the Buddha, she wanders further and further from the text of the discourse. In many cases, she elaborates upon its teachings well. Much of the time, I thought the reader would be better served by looking more closely at the text and at the literary structure of the Sutta. After the beginning few pages, the commentary loses sight of the dramatic form of the Sutta. It also, in its free-wheeling character loses the opportunity to comment on the metaphors by which the Buddha explains his teachings to the King. These metaphors are revealing and are basically unique to this Sutta.

There is little discussion in the commentary of textual issues going to the meaning of the Sutta. There are places where such a discussion would have been useful. Most basically, I am not comfortable with the translation of the Sutta as a discourse on the fruits of a "Spiritual" life. To me this is too broad and too vague. There is much to be said for Bhikku Bodhi's translation of the title -- the fruits of "Recluseship" or for Walshe's -- the fruits of the "homeless" life. The word "Spiritual" does not indicate, to me the radical character of the life at issue.

In some instances, the fruits of the spiritual life that are described in the commentary do not appear in the Sutta. The commentary describes the higher Jhanas, for example, as a fruit of the Spiritual life. (Jhana's are progressively more rarified meditative states.) While the Sutta does describe the first four Jhanas, it does not even mention the fifth through eighth Jhanas which Ayya Khema in her commentary describes as a fruit of spirituality in the Sutta. Conversely, much of the Sutta is given to a description of certain supernatural states. This book's commentary passes over these states in silence. Although I agree that these suprernatural descriptions are difficult to understand for the contemporary reader, it would be better, I think to acknowledge them as part of the text rather than to simply ignore them. While the commentary very properly emphasizes egolessness and nonself as fundamental to the Buddha's teaching in this Sutta, there are portions of the discussion in the commentary which seem to speak of a universal consciousness which all people share. I do not think I find such a teaching in the Buddha or in this Sutta.

The reader would be well -served, I think, by using the commentary as a springboard to read and reread the Sutta itself. There are many books on Buddhism and its teachings currently available, but there is surprisingly little attention paid to the original texts. This book should ideally provide an opportunity to the reader to study the text of an important Buddhist teaching, the Samannaphala Sutta, for him or herself. The modern commentary here is useful, but it cannot replace the attempt to grapple with and learn from the ancient text.

If you may be a little stuck in your meditation practice and need to know what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like, READ THIS BOOK! It is an indispensible tool, like all of Sister Khema's work.

Easy to read and clearly written autobiography of a woman, who's life led here from nazi prosecution during the second world war through many intermediate states to finally becoming a buddhist nun of theravada buddhism. The english translation of the german original does not seem (to me) to be as good as it could be, but this should not be a reason not to read it. One might like to know, that half of the book describes Khema's regular life and that spiritual features are only showing up rather late. After she described so many details of her regular life, I was missing more information about her spiritual struggles after she became buddhist up to the point when she gained deeper meditative insights. The entire story is written from a very detached point of view. Maybe a buddhist ideal, but rather caused by Khema's experiences during the war. Nevertheless, the book is a great reading and one learns a lot about her times, herself and how a spiritual life can turn regular life upside down.

Ayya Khema's beautifully written account of her life reads like a rocket ship! From barely escaping Hitler's evil in Germany as a young Jewish girl, through marriages, children, and a thoroughgoing journey of sparkling life through myriad cultures and continents, to Buddhist nun and founder of a monastery -Nun's Island in Sri Lanka- to the final beautifully poignant full circle back with the founding of Buddha-Haus in Germany, here is an authentic story of liberation and of a gifted woman's joy of religion. Spiritual-odyssey-memoirs are a dime a dozen these days, many of them barely worth the effort, but 'I Give You My Life' has a genuine spirit attending it; not only a wonderful memoir, it contains a few memorable moments of supremely confident religious experience conveyed without guile, and with admirable simplicity. It's a pleasure to read and ends too quickly, yet everything has been covered beautifully and fully. Khema effortlessly leaves her spirit with you, the mark of a true teacher - and probably of a buddha. It's a wonderful book.

i've read some of her other instructional books and have always found them to be very helpful . that sort of piqued my interest in the person itself , which is why i bought this book .

i hadn't quite expected to read about someone with such a florid history . i half expected her to be someone with a dreary life bordering on the mundane . she's really compressed a great deal into that life of hers .

more importantly , she speaks of herself in a matter of fact manner . it is this detached manner that i found enlightening . i recommend this book to others because i think its inspirational . which one of us doesn't need some inspiration every now and then .