“Meditation helps us to cut through the agonizing clutter of superficial mental turmoil and allows us to experience more spacious and joyful states of mind. It is this pure and luminous state that I call your Wildmind.”
The second edition of my book, Wildmind, is coming out in July (August in the US). Joseph Goldstein, author of Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom and founder of the Insight Meditation Society, has described Wildmind as being “of great help to people interested in meditation and an inspiring reminder for those on the path.”
Wildmind explains how to:
- Use the mind-body connection in order that your meditation posture can help you attain clarity and confidence
- Tune into the breath in order to still the mind and develop a vibrant awareness
- Create a spacious awareness around your emotions in order to experience a loving calmness
- Use the everyday activity of walking as a potent means of spiritual development
- Bring greater awareness into every action, so that your entire life becomes practice.
According to Lorne Ladner, therapist and author of The Lost Art of Compassion,
Bodhipaksa has written a beautiful and very accessible introduction to meditation. He guides us through all the basics of mindfulness and also lovingkindness meditations with the voice of a wise, kind, and patient friend.
Wildmind is available to preorder from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Windhorse Publications (UK), and other outlets.
7 Comments. Leave new
I was hoping to find a site where I could get instruction on meditation without someone trying to sell me something. Apparently this is not the site I was looking for. I’m retired on Social Security and can not be buying books or anything else. If you could direct me to such a site I would very much appreciate it. Thank you, James Worthen
Traditionally, meditation teachers are supported by donations. Sadly, not many people are willing to support meditation teachers out of the goodness of their hearts. Most people are prepared to pay for meditation instruction by buying a book or CD, or by paying for access to a course. Some people take the attitude that they want meditation instruction for nothing, and don’t even wish to see so much as a mention of books being available for sale. I’ve had people come to meditation centers and insist that the meditation instruction should be free. I’ve suggested that we go outside and meditate on the sidewalk (no heating, not lighting, no rent to be paid for), but no one has ever taken me up on the offer.
Besides, there’s lots of free stuff on the site too!
Indeed! And it strikes me as being rather peculiar to visit an author’s website and suggesting that you don’t want him to mention his books.
I suggest googling meditation and spending the time doing the research if you can’t afford to have someone else do it for you.
Or going to used books stores or thrift stores etc, I was just at value village this last weekend and I found like 5 books on meditation and zen, you just need to have patience.
I do understand having a tight buget, I’m on disabilty myself, and if it wasn’t for my family supporting me, I would litterally need to make the choice between medication and food, nevermind rent, I know the amount we get is very very small, but you have the internet, so you have alot at your fingertips, and theres always the library and bookswaps.
Keeping in mind I am a very new begginer, here is something to start you on your journey.
The book I’m read right now suggests counting your breaths to 4, for an easy beginer thing to do. Essentially you close your eyes, breath in and out 1, in and out 2, in and out 3, in and out 4, and in and out 1 again etc.
The trick is to ONLY think about that, to not let yourself think of anything else, to allow your mind to do only 1 single task for 10 minutes or whatever you can manage.
Now both the book, and I, stress that it is waaaaaaayyyyyy harder than it sounds, the book says you probably wont be able to go for more than a second or 2 when you first start, I couldn’t even go for a single second! It seems my brain needs something more complicated to occupy itself while I train it to be capable of the much more difficult “simpler” way.
So I’ve been trying to come up with ways to help ease my mind into it through more “complicated” methods until I’m good enough to do the simpler ones, and so far, here are a few of my ideas.
Counting small objects:
I’m going to try to track down something that is small enough to keep alot of them together in a bag or box or bowl, but big enough to not be able to lose one while counting, because it will mess up the goal. And so what the goal is, is to count the hundreds of *somethings* unaided, relying only on consentration, and each time I get to the end, writing down the number, and then doing it again, and again, until every single time I count it, I get the exact same number each time, for maybe 10 times, to know that I managed to stay focused enough not to lose count.
And then trying to find something that uses less and less brain power, until I am able to be alone with my mind and have at least a chance of succeding.
Also, I’m going to keep a notebook with me, and any time a “pay attention to me now, I’m important” thought pops into my head that can wait for at least 15ish minutes to deal with (which most can) I’ll give that thought to the notebook to hold onto, so my mind doesn’t have to carry it for a while, so I can try to let it go, and get back to my task.
So for now, while you are still searching the net, try finding a simple task to focus all of your mind on for a few minutes a day, trying not to let anything else enter your mind during that time. It really is alot more complicated than it sounds, but it’s very eye opening to the amount of stress that is constantly buzzing in your mind for attention.
Also, there are alot of free tips here, and if you go to google books, you can find some books that you can preveiw, and that way if you do decide to buy a book, you can make a more informed decision, and amazon has used books for really cheap sometimes, you’ll just have to shop around a bit.
Unfortunately I’m litterally just starting on my search myself, and that’s all I can suggest… other than one thing, try not to frame your requests with a tone of insult next time and you may recieve more help, as they say, you get more flys with honey than vingar.
Good luck on your search, and remember to think for yourself, if something seems off it probably is.
Meditation is a natural state which most of us in our hurried lives have lost our sensitivity to experience fully. I appreciate the simple instruction from the Buddha to a woman in a village who asked him how to meditate. He asked her: “What is the first thing you do in the morning?” Her answer, “draw water from the well”. The Buddha said: “make drawing water your meditation”. To do someting with clear intention; even drawing water every day with presence of mind is a gift.
Thank you for your reminder that even meditation teachers, as the Buddha himself, require and deserve support as do all beings.
This is the best site I’ve found. I’ve been coming here for years and taking advantage of the free classes and the paid classes. There is something very powerful about the sharing and presence of a teacher. Check the site closer. I’m sure you’ll find everything you need to build a solid foundation. Namaste