Seeing That Frees
Seeing That Frees by Rob Burbeaby Rob Burbea
Ranked 3 of 3 meditation books by recommenders
Recommended for challenging how you view the world, and one reader called it probably the best book they've read. One critic says it is not truly Buddhist.
Recommended for challenging how you view the world, and one reader called it probably the best book they've read. One critic says it is not truly Buddhist.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Challenges your view of the world
“Highly recommended if you want to challenge your view of the world.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Called probably the best book read
“probably the best book I've read”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “Creating West Coast Buddhism (2024)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not truly Buddhist in teaching
“It took me a long time to learn that what burbea was teaching is not 'buddhist' in any sense of the word.”
Comment from 1 Aug 2026 in “The Absurdity of Albert Camus”
Other meditation books people recommend
The two most recommended other meditation books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mind Illuminatedby Culadasa John Yates and Matthew Immergut PhD and Sean Runnette and Jeremy Graves | 8 | 2 | 80% | 5 | — | — |
| Zen Mind, Beginner's Mindby Shunryū Suzuki | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Seeing That Freesby Rob BurbeaThis page | 3 | 1 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Highly recommended if you want to challenge your view of the world.”
“It took me a long time to learn that what burbea was teaching is not 'buddhist' in any sense of the word.”
“probably the best book I've read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.