7 Best Books on Mindfulness to Help You Live in the Moment

Mindfulness can help you be present in the moment and pay attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment. A wealth of books on mindfulness are available to guide you and strengthen your knowledge and practice of mindfulness.

Here, I’ve compiled a list of best books on meditation and mindfulness in this article. These mindfulness meditation books will help you explore the connections between mindfulness and well-being. You'll be able to cultivate peace and presence in yourself.

Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Mindfulness in Plain English is probably the best book on mindfulness you'll come across. It’s a classic guide to mindfulness meditation and its benefits. The book provides a step-by-step guide to the practice of mindfulness, including instruction on how to develop concentration, gain deeper understanding, and find inner peace. It also addresses challenges that arise in meditation practice and offers practical solutions to overcome them.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

Somewhere in this process you will come face-to-face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy.

Deeply buried in the mind, there lies a mechanism that accepts what the mind experiences as beautiful and pleasant and rejects those experiences that are perceived as ugly and painful.

Patience is the key. Patience. If you learn nothing else from meditation, you will learn patience.

The irony of it is that real peace comes only when you stop chasing it – another Catch-22.

Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have.

Also Read: 14 Best Books to Improve Reading

The Miracle of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Miracle of Mindfulness is a short and accessible book that offers a beautiful introduction to mindfulness. It’s one of the best books on mindfulness that shows how meditation is a way to find peace within yourself and not escape from life. This mindfulness book has simple but profound tales that will aid your search for peace and help cultivate a sense of calm and joy in everyday activities.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves.

Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.

Also Read: 14 Best Books on Overcoming Self-Doubt and Building Confidence

A Path with Heart, by Jack Kornfield

A Path with Heart is a comprehensive guide to mindfulness and meditation. It shows in detail, and with great humour, the way to practice Buddha’s universal teachings. It’s another among the books on mindfulness. It covers a range of topics from the process of inner transformation to the integration of spiritual practice in life. The book is filled with practical techniques and guided meditations that can help ease your journey through the world.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.

This life is a test – it is only a test.

As we encounter new experiences with a mindful and wise attention, we discover that one of three things will happen to our new experience: it will go away, it will stay the same, or it will get more intense. whatever happens does not really matter.

When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment.

When the stories of our life no longer bind us, we discover within them something greater. We discover that within the very limitations of form, of our maleness and femaleness, of our parenthood and our childhood, of gravity on the earth and the changing of the seasons, is the freedom and harmony we have sought for so long.

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha is a fictional novel about the spiritual journey of a young man named Siddhartha. It’s a beautiful exploration about the search for meaning in life. Through Siddhartha's journey, you can gain insight into the importance of self-awareness and develop a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. The book is also a powerful reminder of the need to find our own paths in life, rather than following the paths of others.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.

“When someone seeks," said Siddhartha, "then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal.”

It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.

Also Read: 31 Best Books to Read for Life and Transform It

One-Minute Mindfulness, by Donald Altman

One-Minute Mindfulness is another popular book on mindfulness to read. It’s a practical guide to mindfulness with quick and easy techniques for incorporating mindfulness into daily life. The book explores the importance of mindfulness as a way to reduce stress. It states that mindfulness meditation can help you improve focus and cultivate a sense of calm and well-being. It’s divided into short and simple exercises that can be done easily. And it’s one of the best books about mindfulness for beginners.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

To forgive does not mean we condone the misdeeds of another. Forgiveness is a way to move on.

Greet the day gently and with utmost care.

The body knows things the thinking mind can only imagine.

Shifting our awareness to what is pleasant and beautiful and good is deeply affirming. It taps into the fundamental goodness of life.

As a mindfulness student once said to his teacher, “Every time I start to think about how I’m finally in the here and now, I realize the moment has already passed.”

Into the Magic Shop, by James R. Doty

Into the Magic Shop is a memoir by James R. Doty, a neurosurgeon and entrepreneur who was transformed by a chance encounter with a woman named Ruth. It shows how Ruth helped James overcome his negative emotions and self-destructive tendencies through mindful practices. It chronicles James’s journey from a troubled childhood to a leading neurosurgeon.

Top 5 Lessons from the book:

When our hearts are wounded that's when they open. We grow through pain. We grow through difficult situations. That's why you have to embrace each and every difficult thing in your life.

She taught me the pointlessness of wishing for a different past and the futility of worrying about all of the frightening futures over which I had no control.

Another mystery of the brain is that it will always choose what is familiar over what is unfamiliar.

Others will create your reality if you can’t make it for yourself.

You need to understand that what you think you want isn’t always what’s best for you and others.

Make Peace with Your Mind, by Mark Coleman

Make Peace with Your Mind is a practical guide to mindfulness and meditation. It’s designed to help readers overcome negative self-talk and cultivate greater compassion. In the book, Mark explores the nature of the mind and how our beliefs can shape our experiences. It also has stories of people who are living a free and happy life through the power of compassion. It’s among the best books about living in the moment, with constructive insights into what creates, drives and disarms the inner critic.

Top Lesson from the book:

If we had no faults, we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others.

Also Read: 7 Best Books for Anxiety

OK, those were some of the best books on mindfulness meditation I have for you. These mindfulness books aim to help you make peace with your life and live in the moment.

Liked the article?

Join Book Blabbers WhatsApp group to bond over books, memes and quotes.

Subscribe to Book Blabber's Bulletin to get book summaries, reading tips and occasional hugs in your inbox.