This book is a small sample of the talks that Ajahn Sumedho offered during the winter retreat of 2001. The aim of the editors in compiling this book has been explicitly to maintain the style and spirit of the spoken word. As Ajahn Sumedho himself commented, "The book is meant to be suggestions of ways to investigate conscious experience. It's not meant to be a didactic treatise on Pali Buddhism."

These are insightful teachings by a Lay Thai women teacher, Kee Nanayon (1901-1978); who established a Dhamma centre, Khao-Suan-Luang in 1945. Upasika Kee attracted Dhamma students, and residents came to include both female lay devotees and white-robed nuns. These Dhamma talks were mainly given to the women who stayed at her centre to practice meditation. After listening with calm and centred mind, they would all sit in meditation together.

Dr. Dharmawardena points out that the reason why classical science cannot explain rebirth is due to inherent limitations in classical science. Modern science has transcended these limitations, and therefore rebirth is within the scope of modern science. Modern science accepts rebirth as a scientifically acceptable phenomenon through the same tests used to prove scientific acceptability of generally accepted modern science phenomena.

The first part of the book tells us what we need to put in place for complete Dharma practice - the Eightfold Path, going for refuge, and the Bodhisattva spirit. In the second half the book shows us how to turn those requisites into a genuine living practice that embraces the whole of our life thus surely leading to the profound transformation that we all desire.

The Natural Cure for Spiritual Disease is a guide to Buddhist science, it includes three talks given in 1986 by this world-renowned Thai Buddhist teacher: 'The Scientific Cure of Spiritual Disease', 'The Use of Dhamma' and 'New Life of Peace'. Venerable Buddhadasa is well known for the readiness with which he gives non-literal interpretations of Buddhist texts. He does not hesitate to reject as naive a word-for-word interpretation that has no bearing on real life.

Practicing Buddhism is sometimes described as like walking though a forest on a misty day. Eventually you “get wet” and come to a deeper understanding of the teachings. The same might be said about environmentalism. Eventually, hopefully, it moves from manipulating or even saving the environment and becomes the environment. “Getting wet” in this sense is incorporating a spiritual perspective in working with and in the environment. This is called Deep Ecology.

"Taming the Monkey Mind" is a guide to Pure Land practice. It deals specifically with the main practice of the Pure Land School - Buddha Recitation - and covers both the noumenal and phenomenal aspects of that practice. The treatise is accompanied by the detailed commentary of an Elder Master of the Zen and Pure Land lineages. Readers not familiar with Pure Land theory may wish to begin with Dr. J.C. Cleary's introduction.