A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path

Easy read.Full of insight and profound observations.Engaging thru and thru!Too short …me thinks! But a treat never the less…

The best method for communicating the Buddhist path is via a brief snippet with which the reader then walks away meditating on what they just read, what it means and how it applies to their own subjective view. Too often, Buddhist authors (Tibetans are infamous for this) write out pages and pages of rhetoric like a talking head in an Economics class - pretty soon it gets boring, you start yawning, and you never really learned anything. "A Monastery Within" is like receiving a series of brief counsels from a mentor, over time, after which each encounter you are sent away to ruminate over it. That's the mark of a good book on any perplexing subject, and particularly so with Buddhism: you are made to first think about it, then to meditate on it, and finally to just sit and experience it in its profundity. And so I give this book 5 stars.

Simple, clear, meaningful stories that strike home. Since most of us don’t live in monasteries, the stories touch us in ways we wouldn’t normally encounter. Every story seems to have a uniqueness that brings with it a natural, thoughtful, and often kind, pause.

This book is a gem. Regardless of your religious tradition, you will find deep wisdom and insight inside these pages. The inclusive and heartfelt style is engaging. Highly recommended for all whether you are looking to reconnect or achieve more depth in your spiritual practice.

I have a bad habit of reading more Buddhist and philosophical books than I probably should. After thousands of dense and convoluted lines of text, it was refreshing to find Gil's new book. A Monastery Within includes dozens of short stories that are grouped into three key themes: kindness, clarity, and wisdom. Some of the stories are a few pages, others are a mere paragraph. It's the type of book that is going to deliver something different every time you read it. Refreshing in its simplicity, this is a great book to return to whenever you're looking for a nugget of wisdom to add a spark of inspiration or insight to your day.

Excellent stories almost all of them I took something meaningful away..and will likely read again (only reason I'm giving it 4 stars).Though I REALLY Enjoyed the stories, I do not believe this should be an $8.00 book. It can be easily read in just a little over two hours. That being said, The Issue at Hand Gil's other book that goes for $3.00 is a bargain (could have sold it for $8.00 and it would be reasonable).I really like Gil's style and enjoy his podcasts but think he could have given a little more bang for the book buck.

Fronsdal writes clearly, with the apparent and easy knowledge of an insider. The short stories are all very much in the Zen manner, but somehow without the more subtle and complex "one hand clapping" intricacies. That said, the stories work well both as simple little tales but also as more specialized Buddhist lessons. I can't recall ever reading anything else by Fronsdal, but from now on I will be looking out for more by this marvelous writer.

I have long been a fan of Gil Fronsdal's teaching. This book contains simple and beautiful short stories. It is a breath of fresh air when compared to many of the 300+ page Buddhist books in the marketplace. Reads very easily, but the messages are compelling and clear. To me the most important message was that you do not need to go to a far off land and live in a monastery to develop peace and equanimity. We all have our own monastery right here within us. We can access it anywhere and anytime.This book proves that the simplest teachings are often the best.Thank you Gil, for this delightful gem.

The tales are a good way to get yourself thinking about a wide range of subjects. They are also short and easy to remember. The device of having the tales told by a wise Abbess became a bit irritating despite bucket-loads of mindfulness but the book is well worth persisting with! Fronsdal's podcasts are, for me, far more impressive. His adult life has been spent in Buddhism and he speaks with a quiet authenticity not possessed by some of the more 'charismatic' practitioners. His approach is refreshing and I cannot praise it enough.

These great short stories illustrate a way of thinking that helps me to focus on how I want to view the world and my daily life. When the news or the family members invite me into their dramas, these little parables help me to remember the simpler and loving way. Thank you, Gil.