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Online:
Good Reads Steve Woods Review March 2012
Sally Taylor in Presence Winter 2006


Below:
Donna Coomer Between the Lines Reviewer (October 2006)
Bob Howdy, PhD in The Exchange (November 2006)
Sacred Journey Review (February 2007)
Mary Jo Meadows in Inquiring Mind (May 2007)

"We wake up each day to a world filled with complexity. We are surrounded with a whirling array of choices and circumstances that we must deal with. Mary Rees offers us an invitation to move our consciousness into a place where "we learn to stay with our experience neither running nor fighting."

She shows us a variety of ways to achieve this. We get a chance to read about concepts such as "creating a holding", understanding "sense doors" and "dynamic receptivity." Her chapters present a concept, suggest beginning practices, and conclude with recommended reading. In this fashion each one is like a book within itself. And Rees is careful not to overload us. As she says, "Be faithful to your heart's deepest intentions. Revisit them every day and during the day. Let them expand and unfold." With her many years of teaching guiding her, she leads us gently, suggesting we move forward, pause, revisit, and grow, all at our own pace.

With appendices that include Prayers of Intention, an overview of the Satipatthana Sutta, and an additional reading list broken down into categories, BEING PRAYER becomes not only a guide to transformation but the type of book that you'll always want close at hand and close to your ever expanding heart."

Donna Coomer
Between the Lines Reviewer
Cedar City, UT USA
October 26, 2006

"The forward to this beautifully compact book tells the author's endeavor: "To elucidate some parallels that these two great spiritual traditions (Christianity and Buddhism) possess, to foster understanding between them, and, most importantly, to make their contemplative practices more accessible to the general public." Certainly this isn't just a "Don't Worry, Be Happy" spit in the ocean of Buddhism. Her endeavor is a much taller order of seriousness with a purpose. Big issues and solemn questions are covered - like how to harmonize life with deepest intentions, why develop a greater facility of attention and awareness, and what it takes to feel at ease at te roots of imagination.

The author has a Master of Science degree in Specific Learning Disabilities, and is a teacher, educational diagnostician, and consultant. She has practiced Insight Meditation (Vipassana) since 1985 and has been teaching mindfulness and insight since 1989. Her writing came out of a dedication to the maturing of culture, and to the arisig of wisdom and compassion, possible through willingness to see clearly.

Her book is finely split in half. The first half is 70 pages divided into 5 Chapters which comprise the thematic section. Chapter One says to get in touch with your body and your senses. Chapter Two sayt so know your mind. Chapter Three says to free your mind. Chapter Four says to shape your mind. And Chapter Five says to participate in righteous reality. Each chapter ends with a follow up activity o practice plus helpful recommended reading. The next half contains 3 Appendices (A - Prayers of Intention, B - Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and C- Recommended Reading by Category) plus end notes, and an extensive bibliography alphabatized by author.

Before you hesitate to tackle her book you should know that it is thoughtfully designed for a thorough, uncomplicated reading. The dedicated author makes plenty of clear material accessible to you and politely encourages you to use it to your advantage. It is well worth reading because you don't have to rack your brains against the obscurity of typically indecipherable printed resources on Buddhism, therby turning off an avenue to illusive wisdom and true virtue. And, if you like it, the references are invaluable for a continuing study of the fascinating practice of the religious and philosophical system of central and eastern Asia founded in India about twenty-five hundred years ago.

Fasten the gate,
Bob Howdy, PhD"
The Exchange
Portland, OR USA
Nov. 17, 2006


Both the Buddha and Jesus Christ offered the teachings that they did in order to help people change themselves for the better. In this small book Mary Rees brings together a number of essential Buddhist-based practices which can help to effect such positive changes, yet which are cast in a language and form that also render them highly useable by those of a Christian faith—indeed, of any religious faith at all. ~ Ajahn Amaro, from the Foreword

According to author Mary Rees, her purpose in writing Being Prayer was “to elucidate some parallels that these two great spiritual traditions (Christianity and Buddhism) possess, to foster understanding between them, and, most importantly, to make their contemplative practices more accessible to the general public.”

This book is full of teachings and contemplative practices which are relevant for all levels of study, regardless of an individual’s particular spiritual orientation or beliefs. Each chapter includes practical instructions in applying the teachings and the meditations in one’s daily life, and ends with a recommended reading list related to the topics presented in that chapter.

“Being Prayer begins the important work of inching two religious traditions closer together. If Buddhism is to root within this culture, it must come to terms with the Christian language of God, heart, and prayer. . . Mary takes hard concepts like consciousness and mind and makes them accessible,” says Rodney Smith, MS, Insight Meditation Teacher.

Being Prayer includes three appendices: “Prayers of Intention,” both Buddhist and Christian; “A Summary of the Satipatthana Sutta,” the Buddha’s teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness; and “Recommended Reading by Category.” The author also provides an extensive bibliography.

Mary Rees, MS, worked for twenty years in public education as a teacher, consultant, and specialist in learning disabilities. She is a Christian spiritual director, a Buddhist practitioner, and a meditation teacher. She is also a community Dharma Leader in the Insight Meditation network and has taught Insight Meditation since 1989. The purpose of her work is to walk with others toward wholeness.

Sacred Journey
February 2007