HOW TO MEDITATE: A Guide to Self-Discovery

An array of neon shibboleths often accompanies meditation training -- charts of the universe, exhortations to withdraw from daily life, pronunciamentos of self-proclaimed gurus who will teach you only if you'll stop asking questions, anti-intellectual asservations, and proclamations of great white lights, heavenly benediction, truth, beauty and enlightenment. Such embarrassments distort the process, LeShan argues, and they contradict the traditions of Zen, Yoga, Sufi, Hasidism, and Christian mysticism. Much of meditation is hard discipline, but it's also pleasant, serene and relaxing. It offers a different (but not superior) view of reality (LeShan likens it to an Einsteinian vs. a Newtonian perspective), providing a background for quotidian reality -- in fact, integrating the two. LeShan, a psychotherapist, asserts that meditation has benefits both psychological and physiological; he does so calmly, directly, without fanfare. He sees a connection to ESP, but, following the classical line, he insists that the meditator ignore such powers as irrelevant. It's best to have a teacher, but since a good one is hard to find, the author suggests you begin on your own. He offers some meditations, starting with breath counting, and cautions against certain pitfalls such as pulse rate observation. A sound, discriminating manual for those put off elsewhere by cultist rhetoric.