Gregory Kramer - A Whole-Life Path: A Lay Buddhists Guide to Crafting a Dhamma-Infused Life

This remarkable book offers a perspective on the Buddhas Noble Eightfold Path that is at once solidly rooted in the canonical texts of early Buddhism, yet astutely attuned to the needs of contemporary readers seeking to navigate our frantic, directionless culture.

Kramers treatment of each path factor is immensely insightful, marked by an abundance of detail and enriched by personal insights... drawn from decades of study and practice. While he bases his explanations squarely on the Buddhas discourses, he does not merely regurgitate old formulas, but provides an expanded view of the Path that extends its relevance beyond the domain of individual, private practice....

A Whole-Life Path should prove to be a major source for understanding and practicing the Buddhas Eightfold Path in its many different dimensions of relevance, including dimensions generally overlooked by traditional Buddhism.

Bhikkhu Bodhi

Buddhist scholar and translator

The gift of Gregory Kramer's new book is its peerless translation of the Buddha's original teachings into wisdom for more skillfully engaging every aspect of our everyday, lived experiences including the roughest edges of our ordinary lives. In the voice of a gentle and trusted guide, Kramer offers a map for doing what we do with clear intention, and, with increasing attention to how we do it, unfolding in these pages a whole-life path marked by the potential of liberation within the inner work of each instant. It just may be the perfect companion for deepening the practices we call mindfulness in these unprecedented times.

Rhonda V. Magee

Author of The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

A Whole-Life Path offers a vital and timely validation that our entire life is our field of practice.... This insightful offering endorses a lay practitioner lifestyle with the same value as a monastic vocation, confirming that both lifestyles offer equal opportunity for realizing and embodying the considerable fruits of being guided by the timeless truths of the Dharma. This is a masterful contribution for all seeking an integrated approach, which, rather than prescriptive, invites direct personal inquiry, leading to an authentic, insightful, heart-full, and meaningful life.

Thanissara

Buddhist teacher; author of Time to Stand Up: A Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth

Reading this book gave me a deeper appreciation for the teachings of the Buddha. As I read, my heart welled up with enthusiasm for the opportunity to take a more thorough look at these eight areas of my life. It was wonderful how Gregory would connect these precious teachings to the challenges we are experiencing in this day and age individual and social injustices, unconscious biases, and a need for greater compassion, including for the earth itself.

As a woman, mother, grandmother, and biracial person of color, the concerns I have for humanity were given respect. Even for those who have been on the path for what seems a long time, I found this book offers an opportunity to up-level ones practice in new ways.

Kamala Masters

Cofounder, Maui Dharma Sanctuary (USA); guiding teacher, Insight Meditation Society (USA)

[A] compelling and insightful book.... A Whole-Life Path is a wholly creative, wholly noble, wholly serious effort to re-present the ancient wisdom of the Buddha for a new time, a new place, and a new generation.

Kramer brings a sophisticated understanding of our contemporary world.... [He] addresses the issues of individual and social actions and results again and again in a way that seeks a creative middle way between the self-seclusion of a hermit-practitioner and the self-responsibility of a compassionate, nondelusional, lay Buddhist practitioner.

May the wisdom-practice it offers transform the lives of one and all.

Mu Soeng

Scholar emeritus, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (USA)

Kramer masterfully translates the Buddhas core teachings on enlightened living for use in our day and age. This is a book I wish I had when starting out on the Buddhist path, one that presents the Dharma as imminently related to every moment of my life. To read this book is to encounter the truth that you already have what you need to awaken. It will not only enrich your practice of meditation. It may very well change your life.

Lama Willa Miller

Founding teacher and spiritual director, Natural Dharma Fellowship (USA)

A clear and inspiring book for living a liberating life, written by a wonderfully creative, dedicated, and engaging Buddhist teacher.

Buddhism is for our whole life, and this book brings our whole life into Buddhism. Kramer has written a clear and inspiring guide to a wholehearted engagement with the path of liberation.

A Whole-Life Path is a compelling, practical, and inspiring guide for how lay Buddhists can fully engage in the Buddhist Path. I recommend it for everyone.

Gil Fronsdal

Teacher, Insight Meditation Center and Insight Retreat Center (USA)

A Whole-Life Path is a thoughtful and thorough exploration of how Dhamma practice can infuse every aspect of our lives. Gregory's unique perspective, born from years of practice and study, combines an impressive breadth of application to our lives in the world with a profound understanding of practices leading to the highest peace. This work is worthy of careful study as we investigate the causes of suffering and the possibilities of freedom.

Joseph Goldstein

Author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

[ A Whole-Life Path ] helps to bring the approach to practice as a full steeping of oneself in the refuges of Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, not excluding any of the traditional aspects of the teachings of the Buddha, but reconsidering [them] in ways that are appropriate for a modern society. This book is... a valuable contribution to the many seekers of the path in the present time. I liked it and feel it is a good book that will be useful for people.

Anumodana!

Pasanno Bhikkhu

Guiding elder and former abbot, Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery (USA)

I love this book! We havent really had a guide to integration that is so specific, practical, and complete before, even after forty-five years of teachers teaching. Whether beginning or after years of immersion, you can learn practical new ways [of] meditative awareness, combined with relational practice....

Gregorys use of language is creative, precise, and moving; his understanding of Dharma often brings tears of recognition and appreciation to my eyes. Anyone who has Dharma sonar can feel that the writing is born of intense meditative practice experience combined with hard-won relational know-how that is integrated with his granular knowledge of early Buddhist psychology. He translates the classic teachings into innovative exercises and explanations that are both powerful and congruent with daily life.

Trudy Goodman, PhD

Founding teacher, InsightLA (USA)

Gregory Kramer has written a comprehensive guide that not only elucidates the Buddhist Eightfold Path but makes it come alive. A Whole-Life Path is both down-to-earth and practical. But even more, it is practiceable, giving the reader an in-depth invitation to live the teachings in an embodied way, both on and off the cushion. A truly wonderful contribution. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu! Well done!

James Baraz

Cofounding teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center (USA); coauthor, Awakening Joy: 0 Steps to Happiness