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    #1

    meditation question

    Anyone know of a good Meditation 101 book or cd for somebody who's never really tried it in any "formal" way? I'm comfortable with my religious beliefs, so ideally, I'd like something that's not based on a particular set of beliefs - that said, I'm not one to get hyped up when people have different beliefs from me, so if it's something that's otherwise awesome, I can get over the religious part. That was a long and confusing sentence. Generally "spiritual" stuff is fine with me. Anway.

    Thanks!
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    #2
    meditation question

    Larisa, the very best beginner's book, in my opinion, is called Mindfulness In Plain English. I have a lot of other book recommendations, as well. Have written about this in some other threads, will bump them up for you. Feel free to PM me with more questions. I teach Vipassana (Mindfulness) meditation.

    wip

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      #3
      meditation question

      Work in Progress posted this link, which is an online mp3 for a "body scan".

      http://www.integrativehealthpartners...ody%20Scan.mp3

      Also check out Amazon under the topic "Mindful" and "Mindfulness"

      In the last week I got some CD's from Amazon covering Tai Chi (The full name is Tai Chi Chuang and now spelled Qigong, so try both spellings). This is an upright balance and motion meditation/exercise from China. I'm feeling very good about it in my first few hours, but don't have a specific CD to start with. I bought four CD's and one is too hard, one is too easy, and I have to to get through the other two.

      I don't feel there should be any conflict between Buddhist meditation and western religions. Most Asian beliefs tend to fit together, without demanding any sort of dominance. In college, when I lived in Japan, my host family was devout Tendai Buddhist. Tendai demands 30 minutes of daily chanting and among Japanese religions is more dogmatic than others. So I was a bit surprised when, preparing for a trip to see "Grandma", the entire family went to the Shinto Temple for safe airplane flights. A smile and a wink reveals that Japanese are very pragmatic, and like to keep all bases covered, in case they are wrong.

      Since my college years, I've spent time in China, HK and Taiwan, and also in my Unitarian faith. So I see no divide at all between the Chinese word for Chi (Qi) which is the universal life force, and what Unitarians call "the Creator", the force that created our world and all of us.

      For me it's eye opening that in our world of CD's we no longer need a class or teacher for "Meditation 101" or even advanced stuff like Tai Chi. Pop the CD in, watch, and do. If nothing else, the scenery and music is sublime.

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        #4
        meditation question

        Boss.man;442277 wrote:
        For me it's eye opening that in our world of CD's we no longer need a class or teacher for "Meditation 101" or even advanced stuff like Tai Chi. Pop the CD in, watch, and do. If nothing else, the scenery and music is sublime.
        I agree with MUCH of what you said... It is wonderful that we can learn a lot about practices such as meditation and yoga with books, podcasts, and DVD's; and we can take the beginning steps in learning how to engage in the practices, as well. However, most people find that they are not able to discipline themselves to sustain an ongoing regular practice in any of these disciplines without the support of a group; and most also find that having regular contact with a teacher is very important, if not essential... People begin learning about meditation, and learning how to practice meditation, with many, many misconceptions (for example, the idea that a person is supposed to feel nice and relaxed and peaceful while meditating, and/or that we are supposed to be able to get rid of all of our thoughts, otherwise we are doing it wrong), and it is very helpful to talk with a teacher about how the practice is going.

        It's a bit like learning how to serve a tennis ball or how to hit a golf ball. Reading about it, and watching others doing it, or having it explained to us in words, is not enough for us to be able to do these things competently. We have to practice the skill under the careful instruction of a teacher, who makes sure that we are not practicing it wrong!

        wip

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          #5
          meditation question

          Thanks so much, both of you, and sorry if I made you repeat old posts! I'll look back through the previous ones, and I'll check out that book, wip.

          I was brought up with quite a rigid set of beliefs. They have become much, much more flexible as they are constantly challenged - just want to be able to concentrate on learning how to meditate!

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            #6
            meditation question

            Hi Larissa, If you Google "The Meditation Society of Australia" you'll find quite a variety of what I think are wonderful meditations...free download too. Enjoy.....Gaia

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              #7
              meditation question

              Thanks, Gaia! Will check it out!

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