Azevedo - Meditation: waking up to life

Meditation: Waking Up to Life draws from a lifetime of reflection and practice, and it shows. In page after page of thought-provoking observations and lyrical passages, Americ Azevedo invites the reader to set out upon, or perhaps re-discover, the journey toward profound understanding and peacein oneself and with the world.

Jerry Sanders, Chair, Peace and Conflict Studies

University of California, Berkeley

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The tone of the book is so inviting, and I think it will be of great value to people who have a meditation practice, and to those who have never meditated. The book collects stories, aphorisms, poems, reflections, and presents them unpretentiously, so that the reader can open to any page and just sit and reflect on Azevedos words, inviting a deep look into our own beings and our lives. The book distills the wisdom of a lifetime as a teacher, a meditator, and a person of deep spirit. It is a call to waking up, to being fully present in each moment.

Charles Halpern, Chair and Co-Founder, Center for Contemplative Mind in Society

Author of Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom

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On the first day of class, Professor Azevedo said that meditation is nothing and that meditation cannot be taught. The simplicity of his introduction seemed only to verify the rumors that PACS 94: Theory and Practice of Meditation would be the easiest class youll ever take. I soon came to realize that my quest to understand reality would be the most difficult and important journey that I would ever make in my lifetime.

Upon learning that meditation is nothing, the human mind rushes to make sense of something which makes no sense whatsoever. It subconsciously constructs its own definition of the nothingness which is meditation.

Concept by concept, Professor Azevedos book teaches us to let go of bits and pieces of this construct so that we can move closer to accepting the simple and pure nothingness which is meditation.

The book, therefore, does not claim to teach meditation, but serves as an invaluable life-long reminder of my commitment to being aware (HERE, NOW) and to understanding absolute reality. It comes directly from the heart. The book is not a continuous manual, but a collection of improvised passages, thereby leaving room for contemplation and experimentation.

Aria Pakatchi, First Year, Intended Molecular Cell Biology Major

University of California, Berkeley

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Waking Up to Life is a rare opening to user-friendly meditationas amiable and accessible as its author. This gentle genre of meditation seems especially designed for widening populations who sorely need to settle their mindsat least as rapidly as the world unsettles before us all. Yes, Waking Up to Life could hardly be more timely.

Eugene Haggerty, Founder,

World Public Forum

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I think anyone who reads Meditation: Waking Up to Life will actually experience moments of meditationand the still point of here-ness. I felt more centered just reading the table of contents! I found inspiration, reassurance, and support throughout the book. It seems a wonderful manual of simply expressed gentle reminders which provide a quality of consciousness conducive to our awakening to life.

Linda Tudor, M.A., Licensed Professional Counselor

Colorado Springs, Colorado

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Americ Azevedos deceptively simple reflections offer a gentle invitation to include meditation in our daily lives.

N. Johnson

Berkeley, California

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As a student of the University of California, Berkeley, I can honestly say that Americ Azevedos Meditation: Waking up to Life has impacted the way I choose to live my everyday life. Azevedo creates passages that enlighten those who read them about concepts of the self, awakening, and ways to train the mind. From reading these short, yet insightful, teachings, one will learn to create a world of peace and understanding, and hone the skills to observe life in a more conscious way. You are already here, but hardly even know it.

Dave Abrams, Second Year, Psychology, and Theater & Performance Studies Major

University of California, Berkeley

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Needless to say, our modern times have become a continual source of confusion that tramples our sense of personal well- being and familial serenity on a daily basis. Yet, amid all this chaos, Americ Azevedo, playing the role of our modern day philosopher, reminds us of the simplicity of meditation and how close we are to attaining peace of mind if we would merely turn our thoughts and values toward the right intention. Galvanizing historical works with his personal and poetic view of living the dream of peaceful meditation, Americ zaps us with the infamous Zen Stick of Truth and eloquently prompts us to remember that reality ideally consists of peaceful and introspective concerns for the moment in which we are living

... if we only take the time.

Michael Scott, Fellow Philosopher and Entrepreneur,

ThoughtAudio.com

Pleasanton, California

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Americ Azevedo is not your average academic philosopher. He has spent years in the gritty end of business: working in the IT operation of a big oil company, for example. He has been entrepreneurial all his life, with his own Goldwarp consulting operation. He pioneered early distance-learning concepts for an important business-oriented university. It has been a pleasure to be with him on collaborative calls at giants of industry such as Hewlett Packard. Most recently he has provided unique leadership in learning, and life, to students across three diverse disciplines at UC Berkeley. In Meditation, Waking Up to Life, Americ once again provides us with a perspective which is both spiritual and uplifting, and grounded as a good business plan.

Terry Pettengill, President, OCULUS Management Process, Inc., Business Consultants in Strategy, Innovation, and Communication

Mill Valley, California

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I tried meditation many years ago, and got little out of it. While I do not endorse meditation, if you must try it out for yourself, your best help will be this little booklet.

Mark Rubinstein, Finance Professor, University of California, Berkeley

MEDITATION

Waking Up to Life

Americ Azevedo

University of California, Berkeley

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Copyright 2018 by Americ Azevedo. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regarding permissions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of reproduction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at rights@cognella.com.

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