Rating: 
Summary: For new explorers of spirituality & meditation
Review: A friendly invitation and beginner's guide to meditation--of various forms, from various traditions, Eastern and Western--with suggestions for picking a form suited to you, and helpful advice for the times when you get lost or stuck. Sprinkled with quotes from all sorts of wise people and cute little drawings of a meditator. Includes an extensive directory of groups offering meditation instruction, plus a good list of suggestions for further reading. Ram Dass, born Richard Alpert, left his position as a psychology professor at Harvard in the 1960s to explore mind-expansion through psychedelic drugs and then through the guidance of an Indian guru. His bestselling 1971 book "Be Here Now" includes a chronicle of this journey and, like "Journey of Awakening," invites the reader to spiritual practice, but it focuses more on Hinduism and is written, illustrated, and typeset in a very hippie, psychedelic style, so you might prefer or definitely not prefer that book. Welcome to spiritual practice!
Rating:
Summary: For new explorers of spirituality & meditation
Review: A friendly invitation and beginner's guide to meditation--of various forms, from various traditions, Eastern and Western--with suggestions for picking a form suited to you, and helpful advice for the times when you get lost or stuck. Sprinkled with quotes from all sorts of wise people and cute little drawings of a meditator. Includes an extensive directory of groups offering meditation instruction, plus a good list of suggestions for further reading. Ram Dass, born Richard Alpert, left his position as a psychology professor at Harvard in the 1960s to explore mind-expansion through psychedelic drugs and then through the guidance of an Indian guru. His bestselling 1971 book "Be Here Now" includes a chronicle of this journey and, like "Journey of Awakening," invites the reader to spiritual practice, but it focuses more on Hinduism and is written, illustrated, and typeset in a very hippie, psychedelic style, so you might prefer or definitely not prefer that book. Welcome to spiritual practice!
Rating:
Summary: Yeah, yeah, what he said... ;)
Review: All the reviews here are right on target. This book states some HUGE truths in a very simple, elegant manner. The talk about the ego and the mind chatter echos A Course in Miracles, Hiduism, and probably many other spiritual paths. His understanding of the human mind in general and meditation in particular drips from the page. I especially like that he doesn't "sell" one particular style of meditation but gives a fair introduction to all. Many roads, same destination. A must read for both the interested and the experienced.
Rating:
Summary: Yeah, yeah, what he said... ;)
Review: All the reviews here are right on target. This book states some HUGE truths in a very simple, elegant manner. The talk about the ego and the mind chatter echos A Course in Miracles, Hiduism, and probably many other spiritual paths. His understanding of the human mind in general and meditation in particular drips from the page. I especially like that he doesn't "sell" one particular style of meditation but gives a fair introduction to all. Many roads, same destination. A must read for both the interested and the experienced.
Rating:
Summary: Sober Understanding
Review: Awesome amounts of information about meditation, unique in that it does not focus on any particular technique. It has generous amounts of information on many different methods of meditation.
Rating:
Summary: awesome book
Review: Awesome amounts of information about meditation, unique in that it does not focus on any particular technique. It has generous amounts of information on many different methods of meditation.
Rating:
Summary: Sober Understanding
Review: Helps one deal with the psychological changes one goes through when one begins to meditate. Helps to keep it together. Helps keep a clear perspective. When you start to meditate you are going through a life change. The book helped me deal with the changes and that it was OK to feel what I was feeling. Helped me to understand the body mind complex so I could deal with it rather than just be confused by it.
Rating:
Summary: I have given away over a dozen copies so far.
Review: I love this book. It covers meditation from the ground up. It lays the groundwork for a good meditation practice, then shows us many paths we may choose to enhanced our practice depending on our personal interests. The many well placed quotes also have led me to many other great books. Ram Dass has a wit and charm that brings a lightness to the topic.
Rating:
Summary: A Meditation in itself
Review: I read this book as a form of meditation. The pace, the language, even the mandalas and other drawings can be used as tools to launch onesself into the deeper life. Best read or listened to during the morning commute to set a good tone for the rest of a hectic day.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!
Review: I was amazed by the different techniques he suggests in the book. It has been a great help in living my life. You should read it too.
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