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Rating: 
Summary: A Great Guide for Beginning or Advanced Meditation Students
Review: I had always wanted to know how to meditate. I remember when I was younger, I would sit in my room and try to be at peace, but I just couldn't do it for very long, because I never felt as if I had anything to concentrate on -- my mind would always drift on to something else. Thus, I began to wonder if I would have a reason to continue meditating, as I never had any experiences of inner peace or any of that. Then, a few years ago I was sitting in a chair, moreso because I just wanted to relax than anything else. The room was slightly warm, and suddenly I just felt spontaneously happy -- not the kind of happy like getting a new gift or a large sum of money, it was as if I was ecstatic just being alive. Later, upon reading this book, I found out that, "The quality of joy arising during meditation and providing inspiration for continued practice is unlike the temporary pleasurable feelings that come from having a desire satisfied. Joy arising from meditation is different from the experience of simple pleasure because it arises from feelings of unification of our own body, heart, mind, and consciousness with universal forces greater than ourselves" (pgs 38-39).
Since that experienced opened my eyes to the power of meditation, I have since tried to learn as much about the theory and practice of meditation as I could. As I said before, one of the main problems I had with meditating on my own was that I never felt as if I could sustain a deep meditative state without having something to take my mind off of my everyday problems. This book solved that problem in a big way. First, I had heard about the chakras before, and I understood that it was necessary to raise your "life energy" (whatever you want to call it) up through your "root chakra" and try to get it to the top chakra "crown chakra". However, I never really understood HOW to do that...until I got this book, that is. Basically, the main thing that I was missing was that you needed to focus on each chakra individually, thus activating the energy within it. As this book says, "As the energy rises through the chakras, each center is activated and the physical, mental, and spiritual qualities of each chakra are experienced" (pg 122). This helped me understand a lot about life, such as how some people can be very creative (they've activated the fifth chakra), or loving (fourth chakra). This book also gets into some yoga postures, but unfortunately, doesn't describe the steps that go into achieving the pose that the model in the book does. Frankly, if you try to do some of the postures in the book (such as "The Plow", "The Bridge" or "The Spinal Twist", to pick a few) without a good step by step guide you may end up hurting yourself. The same is true for the Kriyas (cleansings), which are described on page 109. The part of this book that I used the most were probably the two CD's that came with it. Yes, the same meditations are described in detail in the book, but if you are meditating, do you really want to keep opening your eyes to read what the next step is? Therefore, I have found that listening to the authors' voice on the two CD's that are provided greatly enhanced the speed in which I was able to learn the particular meditation. If you don't feel any benefits from this, it's important to be patient, as the book states, "Patience is vital on the path of meditation. There are moments when a person feels like nothing is happening in spite of regular or intense meditative practices. Discouragement is quite common and progress is often slow" (pg 38). Another chapter that I liked was the chapter dealing with meditation and health. Many people who don't meditate seem to think that it is somehow "New Age" -- even though, as the author states on the back cover of this book, these practices have been "...handed down from teacher to student for thousands of years." Thus, many people don't believe that it actually works (the Holistic Healer episode on the popular TV show "Seinfeld" emphasizes this point). However, if people can understand that meditation (and yoga) are actually good for the body, then they may take it more seriously. Overall, this book achieved for me what the author set out for it to do, when he said that he hoped readers would "find this information useful in helping to understand the theory and principles of meditation and as a systematic guide to establishing a consistent and deep meditation practice" (pg 11). Without this book, I would still be unable to concentrate long enough to get anything out of meditation, nor would I have understood what I was even meditating for. Now I know, and it has allowed me to live a more peaceful and compassionate life.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Guide for Beginning or Advanced Meditation Students
Review: I had always wanted to know how to meditate. I remember when I was younger, I would sit in my room and try to be at peace, but I just couldn't do it for very long, because I never felt as if I had anything to concentrate on -- my mind would always drift on to something else. Thus, I began to wonder if I would have a reason to continue meditating, as I never had any experiences of inner peace or any of that. Then, a few years ago I was sitting in a chair, moreso because I just wanted to relax than anything else. The room was slightly warm, and suddenly I just felt spontaneously happy -- not the kind of happy like getting a new gift or a large sum of money, it was as if I was ecstatic just being alive. Later, upon reading this book, I found out that, "The quality of joy arising during meditation and providing inspiration for continued practice is unlike the temporary pleasurable feelings that come from having a desire satisfied. Joy arising from meditation is different from the experience of simple pleasure because it arises from feelings of unification of our own body, heart, mind, and consciousness with universal forces greater than ourselves" (pgs 38-39).
Since that experienced opened my eyes to the power of meditation, I have since tried to learn as much about the theory and practice of meditation as I could. As I said before, one of the main problems I had with meditating on my own was that I never felt as if I could sustain a deep meditative state without having something to take my mind off of my everyday problems. This book solved that problem in a big way. First, I had heard about the chakras before, and I understood that it was necessary to raise your "life energy" (whatever you want to call it) up through your "root chakra" and try to get it to the top chakra "crown chakra". However, I never really understood HOW to do that...until I got this book, that is. Basically, the main thing that I was missing was that you needed to focus on each chakra individually, thus activating the energy within it. As this book says, "As the energy rises through the chakras, each center is activated and the physical, mental, and spiritual qualities of each chakra are experienced" (pg 122). This helped me understand a lot about life, such as how some people can be very creative (they've activated the fifth chakra), or loving (fourth chakra). This book also gets into some yoga postures, but unfortunately, doesn't describe the steps that go into achieving the pose that the model in the book does. Frankly, if you try to do some of the postures in the book (such as "The Plow", "The Bridge" or "The Spinal Twist", to pick a few) without a good step by step guide you may end up hurting yourself. The same is true for the Kriyas (cleansings), which are described on page 109. The part of this book that I used the most were probably the two CD's that came with it. Yes, the same meditations are described in detail in the book, but if you are meditating, do you really want to keep opening your eyes to read what the next step is? Therefore, I have found that listening to the authors' voice on the two CD's that are provided greatly enhanced the speed in which I was able to learn the particular meditation. If you don't feel any benefits from this, it's important to be patient, as the book states, "Patience is vital on the path of meditation. There are moments when a person feels like nothing is happening in spite of regular or intense meditative practices. Discouragement is quite common and progress is often slow" (pg 38). Another chapter that I liked was the chapter dealing with meditation and health. Many people who don't meditate seem to think that it is somehow "New Age" -- even though, as the author states on the back cover of this book, these practices have been "...handed down from teacher to student for thousands of years." Thus, many people don't believe that it actually works (the Holistic Healer episode on the popular TV show "Seinfeld" emphasizes this point). However, if people can understand that meditation (and yoga) are actually good for the body, then they may take it more seriously. Overall, this book achieved for me what the author set out for it to do, when he said that he hoped readers would "find this information useful in helping to understand the theory and principles of meditation and as a systematic guide to establishing a consistent and deep meditation practice" (pg 11). Without this book, I would still be unable to concentrate long enough to get anything out of meditation, nor would I have understood what I was even meditating for. Now I know, and it has allowed me to live a more peaceful and compassionate life.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, YOU can meditate
Review: This book is a must read for anyone interested in meditation. Beginners and advanced students alike will attain insights into the many benefits of meditation. Divided into five parts, this book is concise, easy to read and put into practice. Part five of this book is dedicated to step by step instruction on how to meditate that is clear and easy to follow.
My thanks to Dr. Chernin for writing a book on meditation that, as a book store manager I can recommend to any of my customers with confidence.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, YOU can meditate
Review: This book is a must read for anyone interested in meditation. Beginners and advanced students alike will attain insights into the many benefits of meditation. Divided into five parts, this book is concise, easy to read and put into practice. Part five of this book is dedicated to step by step instruction on how to meditate that is clear and easy to follow.
My thanks to Dr. Chernin for writing a book on meditation that, as a book store manager I can recommend to any of my customers with confidence.
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