books on meditation

[ghost]

So i was wondering if any one knows about some good books on meditation? i have been searching for a while but dont always seem to get one that has some good techniques. so any help would be much appreciated!! thanks.

[Jason]

If you are a beginner I always recommend two books that have really simple beginning techniques which work well. One is that old chestnut, 'The Relaxation Response' by Herbert Benson:

http://www.amazon.com/Relaxation-Respon ... 408&sr=8-1

... which has a good basic technique with absolutely no belief system attached, so you can use it for anything you want. And it works, and anyone can do it.

The other is "Finding the Still Point" by John Daido Loori. He's a zen Buddhist but the book is very light on Buddhism and the technique works for anyone, plus he acknowledges that you don't have to be a Buddhist to use it. It's a very short book with a minimum of information, to get you up and running intuitively.

http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Still-Poi ... 471&sr=1-3

There are others, depending on what you want to do, but for a beginner who wants to experiment in getting their mind in order, these work great. Personally I meditate in many different positions; it can be fun to experiment. Enjoy. If you need advice you can always pm me.

All best wishes,

Jason

[ghost]

Thanks for the info Jason. that is awesome i am defently gonna check those out!!!! yeah i have exparemented with meditation before i did have a postive expirence with it however was unable to reproduce results so i decided to start looking for info. again thank you very much!!!!

[Jason]

You're most welcome! Good luck with it. I think these will get you somewhere, but I'd love to know exactly what it was that you could not recapture? J

[PS: My answers are good but that doesn't mean they're definitive... I'd be interested to see what others on the forum recommend for this subject, too.]

[ghost]

well i have been reading up on Wicca for some time and some of what i read talked about meditation. now i was in karate for about 8 years when i was younger and at the start of every class there was about 30 seconds or so for meditation. now i did not understand what it was at the time, just what we did. so i decided to try it after reading several books on Wicca. i sat down out side on my back deck.(it was summer at this time) and i lit a stick of incense i had bought a while back, i held it in my hand. and i just tried to relax and go with the flow. (i had read you know it takes a lot of regular decipline to get it right.) after a while it was like the world closed in on me. like the air and everything else was an inch from my face pushing in on me (not in a bad way it was very relaxing) and then all of a sudden i felt like all the cares and stress just fall away. and it was like. the only way i can describe it was like i became part of the Earth i felt the wind just pass through me, i heard the birds singing, felt the disturbance in the air of the bugs flying. like the whole world was communcating to me. it was a wonderful feeling. and i have never been able to feel that since. dont know if you or anyone else has felt this before but i still try to wrap my head around it and i just cant. So i figure i will try and see if books or anyone else has experence with that to try and figure out what it was. and how to do it again. any help would be awesome thanks

[Jason]

I've never heard this particular effect before, but I do know that many people find themselves doing something as a beginner that they later can't figure out. It sounds like it was a great experience! I have a feeling you will click with something eventually... It's funny, I've heard many stories about people's initial experiences being positive like that, and it seems to me it is the universe encouraging you to proceed. Stay aware and maybe you will get more information.

Of the two books I recommended, having read what you wrote here, I recommend more the first one, because it is freer and more exploratory. But try anything you can think of.

And post what happens!

All best wishes,

Jason