How to Meditate

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and accessible!
Review: If you are initiating yourself in meditation, I think this is a great book for you. It teaches you how to do it, its effects, etc. I found the chapter "Integration of Psychotherapy and Meditation" very interesting, and the breathing meditations very helpful and relaxing.

Rating:
Summary: Complete, thorough, yet clear and easy
Review: If you are initiating yourself in meditation, I think this is a great book for you. It teaches you how to do it, its effects, etc. I found the chapter "Integration of Psychotherapy and Meditation" very interesting, and the breathing meditations very helpful and relaxing.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first book on mediation
Review: If you are interested in buying just one book on meditation, this should be it. Very straight-forward, readable, and re-readable. An excellent value.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first book on mediation
Review: If you are interested in buying just one book on meditation, this should be it. Very straight-forward, readable, and re-readable. An excellent value.

Rating:
Summary: good but is not deep enough
Review: Leshan has written a book that presents some meditation exercises gathered from the tibetan, christian and other religions. The meditation techniques are valid and they do work. He gives good advice on using meditation as a method of self discovery. However, the author is a psychologist and know very little about mysticism. What suprised me is his flippant attitude toward mysticism. He writes that he does not understand why the mystics talked about the ways meditation must be performed. The author attempts to divorce meditation from its mystical aspects and this is very unwise. Meditation is steeped in the tradition of yoga and eastren religions. The purpose of meditation is to attain nirvana or union with God, which is very lofty indeed. Meditation invokes a cosmic energy called prana. When enough is accumalated it clears the mind and body of obstructions. This can lead to symptoms of dizziness, difficulty breathing for a short while, symptoms of what appear to be heart attacks, rapid heartbeat, headaches and so forth. These are nothing to be alarmed about. However, Leshan does a disservice to his readers by treating the mystics and their teachings in such a off hand manner. Meditation is serious buisness and it cannot be divorced from its religious aspect, no matter what Leshan says. The mystics studied meditation and its effects for thousands of years, they know what they are talking about. Leshans book is good as an introduction to meditation. But the serious seeker should look to other sources. A good place to start is to get a book called Energies of Transformation by Bonnie Greenwell. She is a Psychologist who does not disparage the mystics, but provides a book, which shows the effects of meditation in a non biased view.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and accessible!
Review: Leshan is a scientist who writes like a poet with the wisdom of a mystic and the pragmatism of an athletic coach.

Rating:
Summary: FINE EXPLORATION OF MEDITATION FORMS & STYLES
Review: LeShan wrote How to Meditate years before the hundreds of popular books presenting easier, more simplistic approaches to meditation. And being a scientist himself, LeShan was compelled to stick to a more clinical, validated -- and thorough -- approach. How to Meditate is an excellent volume for those who've been meditating for a period of time and are interested in expanding into different forms of meditation. LeShan provides sufficient background and helpful lessons for each form. Take note that his approach is not touchy-feely and his writing is borderline austere. This is a slim, but informative book you can refer back to year after year.

Rating:
Summary: FINE EXPLORATION OF MEDITATION FORMS & STYLES
Review: LeShan wrote How to Meditate years before the hundreds of popular books presenting easier, more simplistic approaches to meditation. And being a scientist himself, LeShan was compelled to stick to a more clinical, validated -- and thorough -- approach. How to Meditate is an excellent volume for those who've been meditating for a period of time and are interested in expanding into different forms of meditation. LeShan provides sufficient background and helpful lessons for each form. Take note that his approach is not touchy-feely and his writing is borderline austere. This is a slim, but informative book you can refer back to year after year.

Rating:
Summary: A well grounded overview and how to on meditation.
Review: This is a simple and deceptively sophisticated book on meidtation well suited to the Western reader. Dr. LeShan de-mystifies meditation and makes it accessable to everyone. He gives a clear description of the techniques of several different types of meditation, and tells you how to decide which is the best one for you. His discussion of the pitfalls and poorly qualified gurus hits a home run

Rating:
Summary: Valuable insights but you can live without this book
Review: Well, I bought the book because of all the 5 stars reviews and I was disappointed. I feel it is a little outdated because a lot has happened since it was first written (`70s) and New Age beliefs, whatever opinion we hold, have made all of us more aware of the spiritual quest and its many practices. I felt as if Shehan did not dare really expose his personal beliefs although there are hints that he is a Christian. There are valuable insights on the traps in the meditative practice and I appreciated his serious insistence on them. I did not quite share his clear-cut criticism of non-proven notions like prana or vibrations,... but he is a honest writer and goes on saying that great men have assured us they were real and their opinion ought to be respected. I wish he would have taken a stronger stand on this one. IS IT or IS IT NOT ? The way he talks about "scientifically proven facts" is quite outdated too. Good presentation of the schools of meditation. On the HOW (which is the title of the book), there is a lot missing I think and I am not an expert. I think it must have been an very good book at the times but would need to be re-edited and maybe revised. If you have meditated before, you might want to look for a more comprehensive book. I think you can live without this one.