Meditation for Beginners

by Jack Kornfield

Multimedia, 2004

Status

Checked out
Due 8-06-2024

Tags

Publication

Sounds True, Incorporated (2004), 88 pages

Description

Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML: Over the past decade, the number of Buddhist meditation centers in the United States has more than doubled. Many more meditators practice in the Christian, Jewish, transcendental, and other traditions. Until now, however, surprisingly few teaching aids have shown beginning practitioners the most fundamental techniques of meditation. Meditation for Beginners fills that niche�??with clear, authentic instructions from one of America's most trusted teachers. Created specifically for beginners, this complete introduction to meditation features four classical mindfulness exercises. The vipassana, (insight) practice on which these are based is said to have originated with the Buddha himself�??yet it lends itself gracefully to a wide range of spiritual traditions, both secular and religious. On Meditation for Beginners, Jack Kornfield teaches this ancient practice in its purest form, making meditation easy to understand and practice for even those with no previous experience or spiritual context. Clearly articulated and skillfully presented, Meditation for Beginners is designed to bring the peace and power of mindfulness into our everyday lives. It is the definitive resource for anyone who ever thought about learning to meditate but didn't know where to start… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
Let me just explain from the outset (especially since I gave this book such a low rating) that I am probably far from the target audience for this book. My mind is much more rational than spiritual, and I've had enough religious experiences that left a foul taste to make me wary of anyone who
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relies on feel-good storytelling more than the scientific method. Because there is some scientific data pointing to the helpfulness of meditation for physical and mental health, I was more than willing to listen to something on meditation. But I suppose my logical mind expected that something titled Meditation for Beginners might give a little background into why and how meditation is a good practice (with the scientific backing) rather than a loose collection of seemingly unrelated anecdotes and jokey stories, which sounded far too much like the "reasoning" of evangelical preachers from my youth. My mile-a-minute mind also just doesn't seem well-suited to the practice of meditation, and I felt there was nothing in here that helped to tell me how to actually stop obsessing, worrying, thinking ahead, remembering back, etc. and just focus on the meditation. All that being said though, I think this guided meditation did help me at least stop and breathe deeply and try to calm down my thoughts a bit, even if it wasn't entirely successful. I'm sure that for others who are more open to the idea of meditation specifically and spirituality generally, this audiobook is probably a good start for them. But it just wasn't my cup of tea at all.
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Physical description

88 p.; 7520 cm

ISBN

978-1-59179-148-5 / 9781591791485

UPC

600835078122
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