hi fairyfaye,
just finished reading 'big mind ~ big heart', after getting back to his previous book, the correct title of which is 'the path of the human being'--much to say, and no-thing to say about this. but first off (the voice of the Literal Mind), i owe you a reply.
i'm sure it will be great, whoever is there for day 3--looking forward to your promised report
. btw, i'm beginning to see references to sam in your posts. is that who you will be travelling with? what is anything?
good question!
now to the voice of Desire: i haven't yet got to the CD at the back of 'big mind ~ big heart', but this book really excited me, so i want to say something about it now.
invoking as best i can the Eight Awarenesses of the Awakened Mind, of all that i could say, what do you need to hear, so that having heard it, you will know it's what, in fact, you want to hear (genpo suggests that we get what we need and, consequently, it makes sense to want what we get)?
the question, i guess, is would you want to include these books in your ilp? if you are not truly interested in the 'big mind' process, then the answer is probably no. if, however, you are, then it's simply a matter of whether you can fit it into your practice or not. well, it's not that simple. if you are like me, there's much more you would like to include than you possibly can. obviously, we need to be selective.
for both books, it helps greatly to have heard genpo before. having watched all the ISC videos of him, and listened to stu's interview of him, i read the books as if he were talking to me in his characteristically easy-going way--he could have been sitting in my living room--which is deceptive, because, like kw, what he has to say is profoundly new, something i expect we will grow to appreciate to the extent we engage in 'big mind' practice along with meditation.
'the path of the human being' can be looked at as a statement of genpo's philosophy, as it developed in his day-to-day talks with his students--in effect, why we would want to engage in 'big mind' practice, as well as meditation--along with practical, how to advice.
'big mind ~ big heart' really excites me because of all the possibilities it seems to me to be opening up. i suspect there will be much more to come. i don't quite know what people are alluding to by the expression 'the fourth turning of the wheel', not even being clear about what the first three were, but aren't we truly blessed to have access to the teachings of kw, genpo et al?
i'm afraid i haven't been able to provide what you need. fortunately, 'big mind ~ big heart' is designed to be read in the same way the big mind process is carried out, so you can give it a test drive and decide for yourself if it's something you want to do on a regular basis.