A Beginner's Guide to Meditation Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9781611800579
• ISBN10: 1611800579
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-03-11
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

A practical, accessible guide to the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation, with pointers from some of today's most respected Buddhist teachers, including Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, Cyndi Lee, and Sharon Salzberg.

As countless meditators have learned firsthand, meditation practice can positively transform the way we see and experience our lives. This practical, accessible guide to the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation introduces you to the practice, explains how it is approached in the main schools of Buddhism, and offers advice and inspiration from Buddhism’s most renowned and effective meditation teachers, including Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Sharon Salzberg, Norman Fischer, Ajahn Chah, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Sylvia Boorstein, Noah Levine, Matthieu Ricard, Judy Lief, and many others.

Topics include how to build excitement and energy to start a meditation routine and keep it going, setting up a meditation space, working with and through boredom, what to look for when seeking others to meditate with, how to know when it’s time to try doing a formal meditation retreat, how to bring the practice “off the cushion” with walking meditation and other practices, and much more.

Author Biography

ROD MEADE SPERRY is an editor and writer for the Shambhala Sun, North America's leading Buddhist-inspired magazine. Sperry is also the Editorial Director of LionsRoar.com and of Lion's Roar's Special Projects. He was a founding member of what is now called Boundless Way Zen, a rapidly growing Buddhist community based in New England.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
 
PART ONE: LET'S GET STARTED
Basic Breath Meditation: It Doesn't Get Simpler Than This …… Melvin McLeod
On Motivation: “Meditate as a Hobby, Not as a Career” …… Clark Strand
Getting Started …… Norman Fischer
What Meditation Isn't …… Bhante Gunaratana
Dedicating Your Practice …… Matthieu Ricard and Sharon Salzberg
Finding Your “Breathing Room” …… Thich Nhat Hanh
What's What …… Ajahn Chah
Meditation: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness …… Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
 
PART TWO: CULTIVATING CALM AND INSIGHT (AND MORE)
Who Will Tame the Tamer? …… Tsoknyi Rinpoche
How to Practice Shamatha Meditation …… Gen Larimpa
How to Practice Insight Meditation …… Sayadaw U Pandita
A Mind Like Sky …… Jack Kornfield
Working with “Method 2” …… Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
Developing Insight …… Sylvia Boorstein
Getting Grounded Through Walking Meditation …… Thich Nhat Hanh
Compassion and Loving-Kindness …… Noah Levine
 
PART THREE: A TASTE OF ZAZEN
Sitting Zen …… John Daishin Buksbazen
This Life Which Is Wonderful and Evanescent …… Blanche Hartman
The Practices of Zen …… James Ishmael Ford
Going Nowhere …… Lewis Richmond
The Power of Koan Practice …… John Tarrant
Study Yourself …… Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
 
PART FOUR: INDO-TIBETAN INNOVATIONS
What the Practice Can Do …… John Powers
Buddhist Meditation is Relaxing With the Truth …… Pema Chödrön
Developing the Mind of Great Capacity …… The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Looking Into Lojong, or Mind Training …… Judy Lief
You Can Do It! …… Pema Chödrön
Mahamudra and Dzogchen: Thought-Free Wakefulness …… Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche
 
PART FIVE: KEEP YOUR PRACTICE GOING
It's All in Your Mind …… Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Bringing the Practice Home …… Larry Rosenberg
My First Meditation Retreat: A Checklist …… Karen Maezen Miller
Yoga Body, Buddha Mind …… Cyndi Lee and David Nichtern
Stabilize Your Practice …… Andy Karr
Building Your Mental Muscles …… Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Keeping It Real: Working with Boredom, and without Self-Deception …… Carolyn Rose Gimian
Signs of Spiritual Progress …… Pema Chödrön
 
Glossary of Non-English Terms
Contributors
Sources