Mind Space - by Ronald Edward Purser (Paperback)

About the Book

Mind Space offers a liberating vision of meditation without striving or self-optimization. Drawing on the insights of Time, Space, and Knowledge, Ronald E. Purser reveals how awareness is already open, radiant, and available in ordinary life--inviting readers beyond commodified mindfulness into a freer and more intimate way of being.

Book Synopsis

We are told to sit still, focus on the breath, and watch our thoughts. But what if the very act of "being mindful" is what keeps us trapped?

In Mind Space, Ronald E. Purser--author of the international bestseller McMindfulness--turns meditation inside out. Drawing inspiration from Time, Space, and Knowledge by Tibetan Buddhist master Tarthang Tulku, Purser shows that the real obstacle to awakening is not distraction but the quiet inner manager forever striving to get practice "right." Most guides promise calm or clarity if only we can perfect our technique, be mindful enough, or finally arrive in the present moment. That endless deferral, Purser argues, is the trap.

Here is a radical alternative: meditation without the meditator. Practice no longer means grinding for results--it means discovering the openness already shining through the ordinary. With vivid prose and simple, experiential exercises, Mind Space reveals how space itself--expansive, dynamic, inexhaustible--becomes our ally. The blue sky overhead, a conversation with a friend, light falling across a floor--each moment becomes a doorway into the brilliance we've been overlooking.

Whether you're weary of spiritual striving, skeptical of commodified mindfulness, or simply curious about a freer way of being, Mind Space opens a liberating vision: freedom is not a distant prize to earn. It is already here--radiant, intimate, hiding in plain sight--waiting only to be recognized.

Review Quotes

"A brilliantly stimulating and moving book, by one of the wisest writers about mindfulness anywhere."
--Johann Hari, Author of three New York Times bestselling books, including Stolen Focus, Lost Connections, Chasing the Scream

"Grounding us into spaciousness, Mind Space offers the reader the opportunity to experience for themselves what it means to touch into radical freedom. Ron's balance of clarity and down to earth practical presentation is a medicine for all of us who seek a different way of relating to an ourselves and a world that increasingly feels constricting and out of control. I rejoice in the publication of this work and trust that it will aide many in the pursuit of wisdom and ease."
--Lama Justin von Bujoss, Author of Modern Tantric Buddhism, and Spiritual Director, Yangti Yoga Retreat Center.

"This book lights a warm candle in the dark room of consciousness--not by adding heady theory or dogma, but by inviting the reader into a direct experience of true illumination."
--Della Duncan, Renegade Economist, host of the Upstream Podcast

"The fruit of four decades of exploring the terrain Tarthang Tulku opened with his provocative Time, Space, and Knowledge, Ron Purser's Mind Space invites us into a lived experience of space as a living presence, dynamic, generative, and radiant. Instead of a manual of techniques to master or analysis to comprehend, these provocative reflections and exercises offer a vision of vibrant relationality, freedom, and creativity accessible in our everyday lives."
--William Edelgrass, Director of Studies, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

"Ronald E. Purser is renowned for his McMindfulness critique and now has produced an equally provocative work entitled Mind Space. Drawing on the work of Tarthang Tulku, Purser explores notions of Time, Space, and Knowledge (TSK) that challenge conventional perspectives on reality, on the self, and on expressions of time. He invites us to reorient our experience through reflective exercises whereby we can imagine the Great Space through quantum possibilities that may endorse human and planetary flourishing."
--Kathryn Pavlovich, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion

"After McMindfulness, it was clear that Ron was capable of untying some of the most tangled knots in the confluence of traditional contemplative traditions and capitalist materialist culture. But now we have a radiant testament that all the while, Ron has been writing from Great Space itself--not just with the capacity for radical deconstruction, but with the lion's roar of wisdom view. Mind Space and its practices have a genuine capacity for opening hearts and minds in ways we need most right now."
--Lama Karma Justin Wall, Spiritual Director, Milarepa Retreat Center

"A transformative journey into the heart of awareness! With clarity and wisdom, Purser guides his readers beyond traditional meditation techniques, inviting them to explore the spaciousness of mind and the freedom that arises when letting go of the observer. Mind Space is an asset for anyone seeking a fresh and profound perspective on meditation, personal growth, and the nature of reality. It is an insightful work that will be of value for both beginners and seasoned practitioners."
--Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., Research Professor, California Institute for Human Science and author of Personal Mythology, Dream Telepathy and Varieties of Anomalous Experience

"Mind Space inspired me to imagine the coming together of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which argues for the inseparability of time and space, and Zen master Dogen's teaching of Time-Being, which argues for the inseparability of time and awareness of being. Since a being's awareness is always in the being's mind, and that mind is always positioned in space (body), we have in Ron Purser's book an exquisite mapping of time, space, mind, body, and awareness coming together. Purser does it all within the dharmic context, and it is a gift to all of us."
--Mu Soeng, Scholar Emeritus, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

"After a ground-breaking critique exposing how the culture industry of mindfulness is merely an accommodation of contemporary capitalism, Ron Purser now offers us a constructive vision for our lives and the world. Mind Space is a practical guide towards a revisioning our experience of being, a transformation of existence that is enabling and foundational towards living and creating a better world."
--Debashish Banerji, Ph.D, Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophy and Culture, California Institute of Integral Studies

About the Author

Ronald E Purser PhD is the Lam Larsen Distinguished Research Professor of Management at San Francisco State University and a senior instructor at Dharma College in Berkeley, California. He is best known for McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality, the international bestseller that ignited a global debate on the commodification of meditation. An ordained Zen priest in the Korean Taego order of Buddhism, Purser has appeared in documentaries, featured across major media outlets worldwide, and hosts The Mindful Cranks podcast. He lives in Pacifica, California.