Meditation for Beginners

by Jack Kornfield Ph.D.

Overview

Step-by-Step Instruction for Newcomers to Meditation

Have you ever thought about trying meditation, but didn't know how to get started? On Meditation for Beginners, renowned teacher Jack Kornfield uses clear language and step-by-step guidance to show us how to start—and stick with—a daily meditation practice. From the basics of how to get started to dealing with distractions, this complete course introduces us to the Insight tradition of meditation that has helped practitioners throughout the ages cultivate profound inner calm and a lasting capacity for happiness.

Available in three formats, Meditation for Beginners offers us a variety of entry points into this life-changing practice. In the DVD edition, we join Jack in a live 99-minute session that brings you the experience of a meditation retreat in your living room. With the book with online audio tracks version, Jack shares teachings based on the original video program plus six guided practices on audio. The two-CD audio program distills the information from the DVD and book, providing four guided meditations for those ready to dive right in to practice. Topics covered in each program include:

How to use breathing, posture, and attention to enter the meditative state
• Simple and effective strategies for dealing with "busy brain," and other common challenges in meditation
• How meditation can help you deepen compassion, find healing through forgiveness, and dissolve your fear of death
• Four cornerstone meditations for your practice—from resting in the moment to experiencing lovingkindness, and more
With his gentle delivery and ability to translate ancient practices for modern audiences, Jack Kornfield has become one of the most accessible and sought-after teachers for helping first-time meditators get their start. Now you can begin to develop the foundational skills to start your practice immediately—and discover the life-changing power of meditation for yourself—with Meditation for Beginners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591799429
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/01/2008
Pages:	104
Sales rank:	243,411
Product dimensions:	6.42(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Jack Kornfield
Jack Kornfield, PhD, trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India and has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practices to the West. He co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and founded the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre California. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology and has taught in centers and universities worldwide. Jack has led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama, worked with many of the great teachers of our time, and is a father and activist. He is co-creator of the Awareness Training Institute and has written more than a dozen books, including Meditation for Beginners; A Path With Heart; After the Ecstasy, the Laundry; and more.

Read an Excerpt

Meditation for Beginners offers the central trainings and teachings found in the best Buddhist monasteries translated for Western society. In Meditation for Beginnings, you will find some of the simplest and most universal of the practices of meditation-in particular, the practices of mindfulness and lovingkindness.

The point of these teachings has nothing to do with becoming a Buddhist, or learning any Eastern ceremonies or rituals or bowing. The point is that you learn how to work with meditation in order to find benefits from it in your life. When we take time to quiet ourselves, we can all sense that our lives could be lived with greater compassion and greater wakefulness. To meditate is to support this inner potential and allow it to come forth into our lives.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: The Ancient Art of Meditation

Chapter Two: Why Meditate?

Chapter Three: The Benefits of Meditation Practice

Chapter Four: Meditation 1: Connecting with the Breath

Chapter Five: Meditation 2: Working With Sensations in the Body

Chapter Six: Meditation 3: Working With Feelings and Emotion

Chapter Seven: Meditation 4: Witnessing Your Thoughts

Chapter Eight: Meditation 5: Forgiveness Meditation

Chapter Nine: Meditation 6: Loving Kindness Meditation

Chapter Ten: Meditation 7: An Eating Meditation

Chapter Eleven: Meditation 8: A Walking Meditation

Chapter Twelve: Meditation and Social Responsibility

Chapter Thirteen: How to Cultivate a Daily Meditation Practice

Editorial Reviews

With humor and insight, Jack Kornfield patiently explains the Buddhist way to bring deep spirituality into your everyday life.” —TRICYCLE

“It's encouraging to find Westerners who've sufficiently assimilated the traditions of the East to be able to share them with others as Jack is doing” —HH the Dalai Lama

“Jack Kornfield is a remarkable and thoughtful teacher” —Sogyal Rinpoche

From the Publisher

Kornfield, an ordained Buddhist monk, seasoned master, and author, conducts a series of five sessions on Vipassanna, or insight meditation. Vipassana shows how to incorporate Buddhist teaching into everyday living experiences, such as eating, driving, and walking. Kornfield instructs his class on developing an awareness of the present in order to reawaken the capacity to live more fully, compassionately, wisely, and lovingly. General audiences aspiring to a higher spiritual plane will find this an effective, practical, and enlightening course by a sensitive guide with a great sense of humor. The program is a bit lengthy, allowing time for meditation and class participation. It is not for the hurried. It also requires perseverance, as does any worthy self-actualization program. Its only detraction is the nearly inaudible students' comments and questions.-- Barbara J. Vaughan, State Univ. Coll. at Buffalo Lib., N.Y.\

Library Journal