👉 Freely available to read online here.
A online book by Kenneth Folk.
A radically transparent and frank book on the subject of Contemplative Fitness - and most significantly its penultimate form, something you might have heard called [WIP] Enlightenment (it's a thing).
I really cannot state how pivotal of a resource this was for me. I implore you, take a few minutes to read these excerpts from the book's introduction, maybe it will grab you too.
Now, in the words of Kenneth Folk (emphasis mine):
Just as we can speak of physical fitness and mental fitness, we can identify a branch of human development that we might call contemplative fitness. Contemplative fitness has to do with the kind of growth that comes from meditation and related contemplative practices.
Its ultimate manifestation is a kind of persistent well-being that is independent of external circumstances. At its essence, contemplative fitness is the art of being OK.
One aspect of contemplative fitness has to do with what has often been called spiritual awakening or enlightenment. This phenomenon is real, and it happens to real people in our own time; it happened to me, and the first part of this book describes that process. But rather than thinking of this awakening as a panacea, a magical wand to wave away our difficulties, we can take a more nuanced view, a more realistic and balanced understanding that takes into account what we now know about psychology, physics, and neurobiology. In order to embrace the benefits of contemplative fitness, we don’t have to believe that at some point, if we meditate enough, we will behave impeccably, glow in the dark, or suddenly have access to the 90% of our brain that we imagine is now lying dormant.
Contemplative fitness, as I teach it, does not require the adoption of any philosophical or religious beliefs. I will not make claims about the structure of the universe or the ultimate nature of reality. I don’t teach how to be right, smart, perfect, sanitized, or holy. I don’t teach super-powers or extra-sensory perception. I don’t teach religion, guru-worship, dogma, or doctrine. I don’t teach people to uncritically accept what I say. I simply teach practical, hands-on techniques that, when practiced diligently, can be utterly transformative to a human life. To the extent that I offer concepts and ideas, they are intended not as doctrine, but as conceptual frameworks within which to understand your own experience.
This is grouped in [WIP] Stage 2 Resources (What's with the '3 Stages'?).
This is a book I'd highly recommend as an immediate read for those interested, curious, and/or receptive to the idea that something called [WIP] Enlightenment (it's a thing) could possibly exist. If you have that door open even just a crack, this is next on your reading list.
When I first stumbled across this book, I read it from start-to-finish in a matter of hours. It's not long (maybe 3-4 hours total reading time), but it's absolutely riveting if you're ready for this kind of material. Book 1 (the autobiography) is something I read probably 5 or 6 times within the first year I started taking meditation seriously, and it totally blew my mind when I first read it.