The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry Paperback – April 16, 2002

I'm not sure why I'd never heard of Toni Packer before (she died in 2013), but I will read more of her books. I picked this one because it's on a reading list for a Unitarian-Universalist Spiritual Guidance course I'm in, and I am ever so happy I discovered it! It's essentially a book of questions-the kind one might ask oneself daily, throughout life, while growing, changing, and-perhaps-even becoming enlightened! One thing I so appreciate about Ms. Packer is that, despite having been chosen to step into a leadership position in the Zen Buddhist tradition, she left that setting because she found the beliefs restrictive and too concrete. This is ever so appealing to me, as a spiritual seeker!

I highly reccomend this book, I have become a fan of Toni Packer and this book is her finest yet. It is a no frills book that you can pick up and open to any chapter for honest direct inquiry into the heart of silence. She amazes me with her candor and her fresh look at the human condition. I have reread chapters again and again, and each time I hear something new. This is what she is pointing to, pure listening and being in this moment completely.

Toni Packer gave me a new perspective on Mindfulness Meditation. In her I have found a teacher who eliminates forms, status, levels of achievement and urges presence alone. She writes in a simple way as good teachers do, and she moves me to the wonder of the present moment. That's it. That is the path to peace.

This is a wonderful book. I have just discovered Toni Packer's work, and really like the fact that she is so down to earth in her explanations. Wish I had known about her before she died, but so grateful her works are still available to be enjoyed.

Packer's straightforward style and depth of wisdom pushed me to deeper awareness and understanding. She explains the subtitle of her book as "not obtaining answers but wondering patiently without knowing." She makes clear that knowledge is not insight, thinking is not seeing. She encourages us to live less in "brain-made stories" and to wake in "plain unadulterated presence."I love the title of this book: The Wonder of Presence. Here are some quotes that further illuminate that title: "Nothing can truly hurt us except denying or escaping from what is here as it is." "Presence is awareness that is unflappable, no matter what it reveals about us. And in finding this spot - it's not really a spot, it's timeless space - there is peace. . . . The amazing grace of no wanting and fearing. Love."

Toni Packer's writings are emblematic of a new era of Buddhist teachings in the West: women Dharma teachers. Along with Charlotte Joko Beck, Toni Packer provides a no-nonsense, yet compassionate approach to inner transformation. A friend of mine once described these approaches as "not for the faint-hearted", and maybe that's true. Toni Packer invites relentless inquiry into the workings of the human mind and emotions, to lay bare the conditioning that forms the basis of much of human suffering. There is no sugar coating in Packer's teachings. Her description of the bereaved mind, her own, is searing. Yet one senses that in her approach lies freedom. Her understanding of human conditioning, and release from this conditioning, is simply profound. For example, she writes, in a talk on meditative questioning: "Watch how the incident translates itself into a story spun out by the brain, and how this story keeps triggering the chemicals that maintain the angry emotions long after the original stimulus has passed." To watch without being trapped in these processes is to know freedom.If you have read Krishnamurti and wondered what he was saying, Packer lays it bare. Combining Zen with Krishnamurti's teachings, this brave and compassionate teacher has written a manual of human liberation. Written with great courage and stunning intellectual honesty, Toni Packer embodies the words of the 8th Century Chinese Zen poet, Hanshan: Writing about the road to Cold Mountain, the enlightened terrain on which he lived, he says "My heart's not the same as yours. If your heart was like mine, you'd get and be right here." Toni Packer spells out what it means to have the heart, to 'get it', and to be right here in the present moment, free.

Not really my cup of tea, but a good read.

Finding the works of Toni Packed has been a delight. I am deeply grateful, her books and talks have been a breath of fresh air.

Toni Parker’s thinking is so clear, woo woo free, and inspiring. There are few books that I read more than once. This is one of them.

Beautiful, just beautiful. Every paragraph is packed with wisdom. One of those books that you savour bit by bit because you don't want to reach the end too soon. I couldn't recommend it highly enough.