SearchLibrary
More ▼
BookshelvesRedeem code
bookmate game
7 days for free
en
Read in our apps:
iOS
·
Android
Stephen Batchelor

The Art of Solitude

Notify me when the book’s added
Impression
Add to shelf
Already read
Report an error in the book
To read this book, upload an EPUB or FB2 file to Bookmate. How do I upload a book?
Search on Google
A moving and wide-ranging meditation on being alone with others in this world
When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth.
This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. Spending time in remote places, appreciating and making art, practicing meditation and participating in retreats, drinking peyote and ayahuasca, and training himself to keep an open, questioning mind have all contributed to Batchelor's ability to be simultaneously alone and at ease. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude's devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, and from Vermeer to Agnes Martin.
In a hyperconnected world that is at the…
This book is currently unavailable
148 printed pages

Related booksAll

Have you already read it? How did you like it?
👍👎

Impressions

  • Olga Gshared an impression2 years ago
    👍Worth reading
    🔮Hidden Depths

      • Like
      • Comment
      • Report this

    Quotes

    • Nikolai C.has quoted2 months ago
      I have learned that the value of meditation is not that it changes the content of your experience. It changes your relationship to that content. All the worries, egotistic fantasies, lusts, and pettiness that surge into consciousness are simply the result of previous conditions over which I have little control. They are naturalistic processes that happen independent of my volition. I do not choose to feel them. All I can do is be mindful of them as they arise, recognize them for what they are, and not let myself be too influenced or swept away by them.
        • Like
        • Comment
        • Report this
      • Nikolai C.has quoted2 months ago
        When you start working,” said the composer John Cage, “everybody is in your studio—the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas—all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you are lucky, even you leave.”
          • Like
          • Comment
          • Report this
        • Nikolai C.has quoted2 months ago
          The practice of Zen is about coming to terms with the question of who and what you are. Allow yourself to be a mystery for yourself rather than a set of more or less interesting facts
            • Like
            • Comment
            • Report this
          Don’t give a book. Give a library.Give a Bookmate subscription →
          fb2epub
          Drag & drop your files (not more than 5 at once)