Download or read book Passage Meditation written by Eknath Easwaran and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-09 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pioneered by spiritual master Eknath Easwaran, passage meditation consists of memorizing an inspirational spiritual passage and then sending it deep into consciousness through slow, sustained attention. It keeps meditation fresh and varied because readers can select the passages - from one tradition or many - that embody their chosen ideals. Many readers also enjoy the passages for their poetic and intellectual appeal. This form of meditation offers all the richness and depth of traditional wisdom, together with a practical method for bringing that wisdom into daily life. The book situates passage meditation as part of Easwaran's eight-point program that, based on traditional spiritual practices but adjusted for modern lifestyles, shows readers how to stay calm and focused at work and home. This edition includes a new preface of previously unpublished material by Easwaran and an epilogue that explains the story behind the book and invites new readers to join the author on this adventure in the ''world within.''

Download or read book Meditation in Christianity written by Swami Rama and published by Himalayan Institute Press. This book was released on 1983 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays providing seven insightful perspectives on meditation in Christianity.

Download or read book Meditation in Judaism Christianity and Islam written by Halvor Eifring and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meditative practices have flourished in widely different parts of Eurasia, yet historical research on such practices is limited. Research to date has focused on contexts rather than actual practices, and within individual traditions. For the first time in one volume, the meditative practices of the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are examined. They are viewed in a global perspective, considering both generic and historical connections to practices in other traditions, particularly in India and East Asia. Their cultural and historical peculiarities are examined, comparing them both to each other and to Asian forms of meditation. The book builds on a notion of meditation as self-administered techniques for inner transformation, a definition which focuses on transformative practice rather than notions of meditative states and mystical experiences. It proposes ways of studying meditative practice historically, and concludes with an essay on the modern scientific interest in meditation.

Download or read book Mind in the Balance written by B. Alan Wallace and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-03 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By establishing a dialogue in which the meditative practices of Buddhism and Christianity speak to the theories of modern philosophy and science, B. Alan Wallace reveals the theoretical similarities underlying these disparate disciplines and their unified approach to making sense of the objective world. Wallace begins by exploring the relationship between Christian and Buddhist meditative practices. He outlines a sequence of meditations the reader can undertake, showing that, though Buddhism and Christianity differ in their belief systems, their methods of cognitive inquiry provide similar insight into the nature and origins of consciousness. From this convergence Wallace then connects the approaches of contemporary cognitive science, quantum mechanics, and the philosophy of the mind. He links Buddhist and Christian views to the provocative philosophical theories of Hilary Putnam, Charles Taylor, and Bas van Fraassen, and he seamlessly incorporates the work of such physicists as Anton Zeilinger, John Wheeler, and Stephen Hawking. Combining a concrete analysis of conceptions of consciousness with a guide to cultivating mindfulness and profound contemplative practice, Wallace takes the scientific and intellectual mapping of the mind in exciting new directions.

Download or read book Meditation written by Charles H. Spurgeon and published by Felipe chavarro. This book was released on 2021-03-01 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To encourage God’s people, we present this issue of the Free Grace Broadcaster on Meditation. Meditation is essential for a healthy walk with Christ and growth in grace. Charles Spurgeon introduces this subject with a helpful overview of the importance, practice, and benefits of biblical meditation. Thomas Watson defines what it is. Thomas Manton is convinced meditation is a biblical duty, and he tells us why. What is the nature of meditation? Isaac Ambrose answers that and describes the time, place, and matter of that holy practice. William Bates beautifully instructs us in occasional meditation, focusing on God’s creation, and George Swinnock offers five descriptions of solemn and set meditation on sacred subjects. Are there real dangers in neglecting this holy act of deep thinking? Edmund Calamy lists twelve! And they are sobering. John Owen, a deeply spiritually-minded pastor and theologian, presents us with practical helps for meditating upon God, and then A. W. Pink meticulously shows us how to approach a biblical text so that we can chew the Bread of Life. Are you new to meditation and wonder what to meditate about? In a second article, Thomas Watson gives a beautiful panorama of biblical themes to fix our hearts on, starting with God in eternity, progressing to Christ in history, and extending to heaven and hell. Then, Jonathan Edwards urges us to show our love to Christ; he does so by giving us a wonderful description of His loveliness. Spurgeon, a great advocate and practitioner of meditation, closes this issue by instructing us with sweet meditations of Jesus Christ our Lord. And how precious they are! Be forewarned: meditation is hard in our too-busy, distracted world; but this FGB is a brief “how-to” that we pray will fan the flames of your heart to seek the glory of Christ in Scripture and to love Him as never before.

Download or read book The Mindful Christian written by Irene Kraegel and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mindfulness can help you live more joyfully and wholeheartedly in the world God created. The Mindful Christian provides readers with an overview of mindfulness practice through the lens of faith, showing how the ancient healing practice of mindfulness can help them live more joyfully and wholeheartedly. For Christians who are experiencing emotional pain, spiritual lethargy, or feelings of disconnection--or for Christians who are simply curious about how mindfulness can fit with their lives and their faith--this book will help them learn about and engage mindfulness practices in ways that leave them more compassionate, joyful, content, and at peace with themselves--and with God. The book offers easy-to-do mindfulness practices that will impact daily activities and relationships--empowering readers with the benefits of mindfulness for their emotional, spiritual, and relational health within the Christian life.

Download or read book Yoga Meditation and Mysticism written by Kenneth Rose and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-08 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemplative experience is central to Hindu yoga traditions, Buddhist meditation practices, and Catholic mystical theology, and, despite doctrinal differences, it expresses itself in suggestively similar meditative landmarks in each of these three meditative systems. In Yoga, Meditation and Mysticism, Kenneth Rose shifts the dominant focus of contemporary religious studies away from tradition-specific studies of individual religious traditions, communities, and practices to examine the 'contemplative universals' that arise globally in meditative experience. Through a comparative exploration of the itineraries detailed in the contemplative manuals of Theravada Buddhism, Patañjalian Yoga, and Catholic mystical theology, Rose identifies in each tradition a moment of sharply focused awareness that marks the threshold between immersion in mundane consciousness and contemplative insight. As concentration deepens, the meditator steps through this threshold onto a globally shared contemplative itinerary, which leads through a series of virtually identical stages to mental stillness and insight. Rose argues that these contemplative universals, familiar to experienced contemplatives in multiple traditions, point to a common spiritual, mental, and biological heritage. Pioneering the exploration of contemplative practice and experience with a comparative perspective that ranges over multiple religious traditions, religious studies, philosophy, neuroscience, and the cognitive science of religion, this book is a landmark contribution to the fields of contemplative practice and religious studies.

Download or read book Beat Zen Square Zen and Zen written by Alan W. Watts and published by . This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Compassion and Meditation written by Jean-Yves Leloup and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-06-25 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A profound reflection on how complementary themes in Buddhism and Christianity could serve as the basis for a truly ecumenical faith • Compares Zen meditation with the Greek Orthodox practice of Hesychasm (prayer of the heart) • Shows how Buddha and Jesus represent the distinct yet complementary values of meditation and compassion In Asian spiritual traditions the mountain traditionally symbolizes meditation while the ocean signifies compassion. Jean-Yves Leloup uses this metaphor to compare Buddhist and Christian approaches to meditation and compassion to reveal the similarities and divergences of these profound practices. Emphasizing their complementary nature, Leloup describes how Jesus and Buddha are necessary to one another and how together they form a complete system: Jesus as awakening through love, and Buddha as awakening through meditation. Where Buddha represents the forests, Jesus represents the trees. Buddha is brother to the universe, whereas Jesus is brother to humanity. Nevertheless, these two religious traditions have a profound common ground. Compassion is central to Buddhism, and meditation practices have been central to many Christian traditions. Both view murder, theft, and the destructive use of sexuality as great barriers to realizing our essential being, and both agree on the need to rise above them. Here, however, Leloup suggests that both faiths could benefit from the precepts of the other. The complementary aspects of Christianity and Buddhism offer the possibility for a truly profound ecumenical religion whose interfaith relations are based on deep understanding of the true meaning and practice of meditation and compassion and not merely shared goodwill.

Download or read book Transcendent in America written by Lola Williamson and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yoga, karma, meditation, guru—these terms, once obscure, are now a part of the American lexicon. Combining Hinduism with Western concepts and values, a new hybrid form of religion has developed in the United States over the past century. In Transcendent in America, Lola Williamson traces the history of various Hindu-inspired movements in America, and argues that together they constitute a discrete category of religious practice, a distinct and identifiable form of new religion. Williamson provides an overview of the emergence of these movements through examining exchanges between Indian Hindus and American intellectuals such as Thomas Jefferson and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and illuminates how Protestant traditions of inner experience paved the way for Hindu-style movements’ acceptance in the West. Williamson focuses on three movements—Self-Realization Fellowship, Transcendental Meditation, and Siddha Yoga—as representative of the larger of phenomenon of Hindu-inspired meditation movements. She provides a window into the beliefs and practices of followers of these movements by offering concrete examples from their words and experiences that shed light on their world view, lifestyle, and relationship with their gurus. Drawing on scholarly research, numerous interviews, and decades of personal experience with Hindu-style practices, Williamson makes a convincing case that Hindu-inspired meditation movements are distinct from both immigrant Hinduism and other forms of Asian-influenced or “New Age” groups.

Download or read book Christian Insight Meditation written by Mary Jo Meadow and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-08-28 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the long history of mysticism within Christianity and its many and varied approaches to meditation and contemplative prayer, more and more Christians have turned to Eastern religions to find a kind of guidance for their interior life that they were not able to find in Christianity. Some have completely abandoned the religion of their childhood, believing they have found the "pearl of great price" in Eastern meditation. Christian Insight Meditation offers an ancient Buddhist meditation practice within a Christian prayer tradition, to teach readers a process of inner purification meant to lead to deeper Christian faith and to the direct vision of God. This wonderful, inspiring book offers reliable guidance and a way for any of us to begin to follow the footsteps of such towering figures as John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Readers will soon discover for themselves the power of Christian Insight Meditation to bring inner peace and healing and to deepen and enhance their Christian life, and the inseparable connection between wisdom and compassion known for centuries to both Christian and Buddhist meditators.

Download or read book Christian Meditation written by Edmund P. Clowney and published by Regent College Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What place does meditation have in Christian devotion? Is the same thing as the ?

Download or read book The Making of an Ordinary Saint written by Richard Foster and published by Monarch Books. This book was released on 2014-10-17 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nathan Foster has lived with the spiritual disciplines all his life, but has had to find his own unique path. As he sought - sometimes rebelliously - to develop habits that would enable him to live more like Jesus, he encountered problems both personal and universal. Gradually he discovered creative new ways to practice disciplines such as fasting, meditation and simplicity, to live as Jesus lived. With a foreword from Nathan's father Richard, who provides a fresh introduction to each of the disciplines, The Making of an Ordinary Saint invites us to be formed into the likeness of Christ's character.

Download or read book Growing in Love and Wisdom written by Susan J. Stabile and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-02 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although raised Roman Catholic, Susan Stabile was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and devoted 20 years of her life to practicing Buddhism before returning to Catholicism in 2001. In Growing in Love and Wisdom, she draws on this unique dual perspective to explore the value of interreligious dialogue, the spiritual dynamics that operate across faith traditions, and how Buddhist meditation practices can deepen Christian prayer. She begins by examining the values and principles shared by the two faiths and shows that both traditions seek to effect a fundamental transformation in the lives of believers. Both stress the need for experiences with deep emotional resonance that goes beyond the level of concepts to touch the heart. The center of the book offers 15 Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practices, adapted for Christian use. Stabile provides clear instructions on how to do these meditations and helpful commentary on each, explaining its purpose and the relation between the Buddhist original and her Christian adaptation of it. Throughout, she highlights the many remarkably close parallels between the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha. The meditations offered in this unusual book will be extremely useful to thoughtful Christians, to those responsible for giving spiritual direction, and also to Buddhist sympathizers who will be intrigued and pleased to see familiar contemplations handled so skillfully by a former Buddhist practitioner who has gratefully learned so much from her former religion and now introduces the riches of that tradition to her fellow Christians.

Download or read book Christ Centered Meditation Handbook for Spiritual Practice written by Pam Blackwell and published by . This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides the reader with insights and tools to enrich his/her spiritual practice through "passive" meditative techniques, which involves stilling the conscious mind, and "active" meditative techniques, using guided visualizations and interaction with others. These are derived from Christian contemplative and Eastern meditation traditions. Unique to this handbook are exercises for couples and families. Included is a thirty-day plan of contemplation on Christ.

Download or read book Meditation and the Classroom written by Judith Simmer-Brown and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meditation and the Classroom inventively articulates how educators can use meditation to educate the whole student. Notably, a number of universities have initiated contemplative studies options and others have opened contemplative spaces. This represents an attempt to address the inner life. It is also a sign of a new era, one in which the United States is more spiritually diverse than ever before. Examples from university classrooms and statements by students indicate benefits include increased self-awareness, creativity, and compassion. The religious studies scholars who have contributed to this book often teach about meditation, but here they include reflections on how meditation has affected them and their teaching. Until recently, though, even many religious studies professors would find sharing meditation experiences, let alone teaching meditation techniques, a breach of disciplinary and academic protocols. The value of teaching meditation and teaching about meditation is discussed. Ethical issues such as pluralism, respect, qualifications, power and coercion, and avoiding actual or perceived proselytization are also examined. While methods for religious studies are emphasized, the book provides valuable guidance for all those interested in this endeavor.

Download or read book Meditation and the Martial Arts written by Michael L. Raposa and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2003-12-11 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The relationship between meditation and the martial arts is a multifaceted one: meditation is one of the practices in which martial artists engage in order to prepare for combat, while the physical exercises constituting much of the discipline of the martial arts might well be considered meditative practices. Michael Raposa, himself a martial arts practitioner, suggests there is a sense in which meditation may in turn be considered a form of combat, citing a variety of spiritual disciplines that are not strictly classified as "martial arts" yet that employ the heavy use of martial images and categories as part of their self-description. Raposa, in this extraordinary alloy of meditation manual, historical synthesis, and spiritual guide, provides a fascinating approach to understanding the connection between martial arts and spirituality in such diverse disciplines as Japanese aikido, Chinese tai chi chuan, Hindu yoga, Christian asceticism, Zen Buddhism, and Islamic jihad. What happens when spiritual discipline is appropriated for exercises meant for health or recreation? How might prayer, meditation, and ritual be understood as martial activities? What is the nature of conflict, and who is the enemy? These are some of the questions Raposa raises and responds to in Meditation and the Martial Arts, his rumination on the martial arts as meditative practice and meditation as a martial discipline.