Is this a good introduction to trascendental meditation? If not, which one is?
>>7715034
I have that book but I haven't read it. I'll let you know when I do.
>transcendental meditation
Sorry to say that it's just a money making scam designed to profiteer from centuries old knowledge. You'd be better off looking into either vipassana or samatha meditation. Although these have a foundation in sectarian Buddhism, the message most practitioners give (in the west at least) is surprisingly secular, and benefits from not being a system that requires you to pay for some esoteric 'knowledge'.
Start with a daily mindfulness practice. Of you can handle that, you can move on to advanced transcendental shit.
While this thread is here, anyone got a copy of "Sit Like a Buddha" by Lodro Rinzler?
>>7715084
watch first videos of talks during a retreat
https://www.youtube.com/user/AjahnBrahmRetreats/videos
then two books are good
Moment to Moment Mindfulness, A PICTORIAL MANUAL FOR MEDITATORS, Achan Sobin S. Namto
http://vipassanadhura.com/momenttomoment.htm
and
a short video on the jhanas
>[YouTube] What is Jhana? By Ven. Henepola Gunaratana Nayaka Maha Thera(Bhante G) (embed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lv0PFLZ12o
>[YouTube] Bhante Gunaratana (1) What is samatha-vipassana? Part 1: samatha (embed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFOjJtEd2g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESQOi9djyaA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41NpmB2le3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=div3NnAIoYU
and all the others videos from this series
>The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation by Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch1.3
>Mindfulness in plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.
http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf2/Mindfulness%20in%20Plain%20English%20Book%20Preview.pdf
>>7715084
also, remember that for the dhamma, the jhanas are for the study of conciousness, in order to stop being agitated for good, more than for getting pleasures.
Lynch is not that smart.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/david-lynchs-german-guru-angers-students-with-goebbels-rallying-cry-758742.html
>>7715963
That doesn't mean he isn't a genius
>>7715972
If it makes you feel better to believe he's a genius, why wouldn't you?
>>7716000
>if it makes you feel better
ok
>>7715084
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, is an excellent teacher from the Theravada tradition of Buddhism, but as I mentioned before he talks how the values that result from meditation are completely secular.
His book, as the other anon mentioned, Mindfulness In Plain English is probably the best beginner book on meditation you can get. It is literally a hands-on guide on what to do, and how to do it. It begins with a little talk on Buddhism which I'd recommend you learn and digest. You don't need to accept Buddhism as doctrine to benefit from meditation, but it helps to understand where the practice comes from.
Bhante G has other books that follow from Mindfulness In Plain English that will help you along the way once you've got to grips with the basics. If you want a spiritual foundation on which to build a meditation practice then it's worth exploring the dhamma more and those Youtube links the other anon posted will give you a flavour of that.
>>7715963
you're going to write him off entirely based off one stupid thing he said?
my understanding is all meditation techniques are basically the same, tm is just a commercial version of the real deal. really what you're paying for is privacy. if you wanted to go learn say vipassana, you could do so at no cost, but you would have to sit on a pillow for 16 hours a day for about a week with a bunch of smelly poor people, being fed gross poor people food. with tm it's just you and your teacher, and probably a sweet couch instead of a pillow. also with tm they sell you a personalized mantra based on your age and gender, which is really just placebo bullshit.
