Hi all,
There's a recently published book called
Don't Give Up Until You Do: From Mindfulness to Realization on the Buddhist Path that, as the title suggests, has a pretty robust ("hardcore?") approach to the teachings. Here's an excerpt:
Buddhist practitioners rarely give personal accounts of their realization experiences, since this invites both skepticism and the perception that they may be seeking attention. This book is less reserved on the subject. The fruitions of Buddhism are as crucial as the teachings and practices that lead to them, and should be discussed as openly. Furthermore, one of the book’s major purposes is to democratize realization, to show that regular people like you and me can attain it; that it is not the exclusive province of the robed, titled, or “chosen,” as many people believe. We all have a mind, and mind is both what experiences realization and what is realized, so we all have everything we need to attain the highest levels of insight.
So I thought you might find the author a kindred spirit. He's my dad and I love him very dearly, so that's a start for a testimonial.
If anyone likes, I'd be happy to continue posting book excerpts in this thread. Also, if you want to see what the author is like, he's posted a series of videos on YouTube under the username "tsultrimserri".
Best wishes,
Frederick