Meditation for Beginners Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00005498V | Format: EPUB
Meditation for Beginners Description
Mindfulness meditation is the time-honored practice of calming the spirit and clearing the mind for higher understanding. In this guide, designed specifically for beginners, meditation teacher, author, and psychotherapist Jack Kornfield offers a straightforward, step-by-step method for bringing meditation effortlessly into your daily routine. You'll discover how easy it is to use your breath, physical sensations, and difficult emotions to create tranquility and kindness in your life. Kornfield lived in Asia as a Buddhist monk for 5 years and later cofounded the Insight Mediation Society in Barre, MA, and obtained a doctorate in clinical psychology.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 1 hour and 38 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Sounds True
- Audible.com Release Date: December 17, 1999
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00005498V
I have been a practicing Yogi for many years and have a library full of books, videos, tapes and CD's on Yoga, meditation, sprituality and the like.
This program by Jack Kornfield (available as a video as well as audio) is the best single place I can think of starting from if you want to begin a meditation practice..
Jack Kornfield is a perfect teacher of meditation, especially for Westerners because he approaches it in a non-sectarian way. He gets to the heart of the practice, uses clear explanations and stories to give the listener/viewer some sense of the depth of the practice. He leads the meditations in a way that gives enough guidance without becoming a distraction. He also has a very soothing voice which enhances the overall experience of the program.
The program starts with the most basic form of meditation on the breath, and leads through ever slightly more subtle forms of Vipassana Meditation.
Very Highly Recommended!
Some other related meditation programs I would highly recommend are: Plum Village Meditations w/ Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Jina which are guided Meditations. I have been using this tape for about 7 years daily. I use it during the day prior to lunch to renew myself for the rest of the day.
Stephen Cope's "Yoga For Emotional Flow" which has 2 CD's, the 1st CD is about Yoga Philosophy and the 2nd has guided practices which I find very helpful in my life. Also check out his book "Yoga and The Quest for the True Self" which is contains the ideas of the 1st CD in an in depth manner, one of the best books I've ever read (and I'm re-reading it for the 3rd time).
I like this DVD because it's a good introduction for people who have never meditated and for people who might not be the typical audience for such topics.
Jack Kornfield was a monk in Thailand, but is also a Western clinical psychologist. He approaches introducing people to meditation very gently and from a practical standpoint. While it is clear he is committed to a Buddhist path, he presents meditation in an unbiased, impartial and often humorous manner.
While the guided meditations aren't particularly long or deep, they give the listener a good taste of what meditation is about without making it seem esoteric. There are also some very nice stories on the DVD, which is worth getting just for this reason.
Something that distracts from the DVD is the timing and volume of bells sounding. Here and there this is bordering on corny, but I didn't find it a problem in any MAJOR way. It doesn't change the credibility of the core message or value of the instruction.
The biggest strength of this DVD is Jack Kornfield's ability to tell stories and use powerful analogies. For example, he compares "training the attention" to house breaking a puppy! He says, you gently bring the attention back to the breath as you would bring a puppy back to a newspaper and you do this over and over again patiently. You don't kick or beat the puppy and you don't judge yourself for letting your mind wander! I found this to be a very clever and useful analogy.
In my opinion, this is not Jack Kornfield's best work. However, it's a good resource for a lot of people. My favorite Jack Kornfield book is "A Path with Heart" and my favorite recorded material is your "Buddha Nature.
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