Overview

The meditation experience demystified—an essential guide to what goes on in meditation centers of many spiritual traditions. Today's would-be student of meditation is confronted with such a wealth of available traditions from which to learn that it can make the prospect intimidating. Where should I start? Which one should I try? Come and Sit is the perfect companion to guide you on your way. From Christian centering prayer, to Sufi dhikr (chanting the names of God), to Zen Buddhist zazen (formal silent meditation), this book demystifies both the kinds of meditation practiced in different spiritual traditions and the places people go to do them—and gives you a real feel for which method might suit you best. Why do people meditate? How might meditation affect my life? What kinds of meditation are there? What do people do in each meditation tradition? Do I have to be a member of a specific religion topractice meditation? Where should I start? Meditator and journalist Marcia Z. Nelson addresses all of these questions as she takes you on visits to meditation centers of seven different types—Christian, Zen, Insight (Vipassana), Tibetan, Hindu, Sufi, and Jewish—representing the wide range of spiritual traditions that can now be found throughout America. She shows what a typical visit to each is like and talks to the teachers and the people who go there to discover how they got started, why they keep going, and what benefits they derive from the practice. A list of further resources for in-depth exploration of each tradition, a directory of centers, and a glossary of terms make this guide exactly what you need to start meditating. Come and Sit is not only a handbook for the beginning meditator, but also an excellent resource for anyone who wants to know more about the world's great meditation traditions.

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9781683365532

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Reviews

This nonsectarian guide to meditation can help us understand the common ground of contemplative practice, and practice it according to our own belief system. Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within An excellent book for those who have curiosity about meditation, or those who want to learn to meditate but don't know where to begin. Father Kevin Hunt, Trappist monk and Zen teacher Mystical spirituality requires some sort of contemplative method of prayer or meditation, and these methods become the way to break through to the other side, to part the veil in order to see where everything comes from, and to where it will all return. They are ways to deepen our knowledge of reality, others, God, and ourselves. from the Foreword by Wayne Teasdale A fascinating walk-through of the world's major meditation practices, written in a lively, accessible style. Nan Fink Gefen, author of Discovering Jewish Meditation: Instruction and Guidance for Learning an Ancient Spiritual Practice, and co-director of Chochmat HaLev, a center of Jewish meditation This engagingly written and wise philosophical answer to how and why people meditate is a pleasure to read. Sylvia Boorstein, author of That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist

Author Information

Marcia Z. Nelson is a meditator, freelance journalist, teacher, and writer specializing in religion, whose articles have appeared in Utne Reader, Publishers Weekly, and the Chicago Tribune. She is also the author of The God of Second Chances: Stories of Lives Transformed by Faith (Sheed and Ward). Wayne Teasdale was a lay monk and best-selling author of The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions; Bede Griffiths: An Introduction to His Interspiritual Thought and A Monk in the World. As a member of the Bede Griffiths International Trust, Teasdale was an adjunct professor at DePaul University, Columbia College, and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Wayne Teasdale was coeditor of Awakening the Spirit, Inspiring the Soul: 30 Stories of Interspiritual Discovery.

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