Mind Space:
Discovering Meditation Without the Meditator

Paperback – March 10, 2026

“A brilliantly stimulating and moving book,  by one of the wisest writers about mindfulness anywhere.” – Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus, Lost Connections, Chasing the Scream

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, the international bestselling author of  McMindfulness, turns meditation inside-out. The peace and clarity we seek as sought after rewards, attained hopefully after a long and disciplined struggle on a path, is often fraught with doubts, obstacles and frustration. Our compulsive inner manager is forever monitoring our spiritual progress, questioning whether we are mindful enough, in control of mental ruminations, and paying attention to the present moment. Purser suggests this goal-orientation creates a trap that defers our fulfillment and experience of an unconditioned inner freedom.

Drawing from the renowned Tibetan Buddhist master Tarthang Tulku’s visionary “Time, Space and Knowledge” seminal teachings, Purser provides a radical alternative to formal meditation that goes beyond stress reduction or attention training, dispensing with the endless pursuit of results: a way of practicing meditation without the meditator.

By learning how to recognize and embody the openness of Space, a new vision of reality naturally unfolds. Through a combination of reflective prose, experimental exercises and imaginary dialogues, Purser gently introduces and invites us into this new vision, allowing for an organic growth of understanding that naturally unties the knot of self-centeredness. By letting go of the subtle inner manager, a natural concentration and unfabricated presence arises that is not limited to formal meditation sessions.

As a deep sense of appreciation and wonder emerges, the taste of an expansive freedom and heart-centered intimacy becomes available in every moment – our true refuge of Being. Life itself then becomes a constant field of practice where the most ordinary shimmers in sacredness-the blue-sky overhead, a difficult meeting at work, a glimpse of light falling across the floor-all reveal a hidden brilliance and the open dimension of Mind Space.