How To Meditation

The story of the 80-year-old Catholic priest who sheds tears his first time meditating; the parable of potatoes that are best cleaned by being rubbed against each other; the koan about the sound of one hand--in 365 Zen, Jean Smith mines the now vast body of English language Zen literature, plucking out gems for appreciative handling. Laid out for daily contemplation, each passage is less than a page in length, and although short enough to be read in just a few moments, they have enough gleaming facets to keep you turning them over all day. Seasoned students and avid readers of Zen will find much of the material familiar--Thich Nhat Hanh, Shunryu Suzuki, Charlotte Joko Beck--but having it sorted and refined into daily doses makes for convenient practice. And whether you are a novice or an expert, you will be sure to find enough treasures to keep your mind unbusy every day of the year. --Brian Bruya

Zen combines hundreds of traditional kong-ans with vivid artwork, in a unique volume exploring the crucial balance between the self and the world. The kong-ans, selected from the work of an eminent Zen Master, encompass not only Chinese and Korean Zen, but also the Zen of Lao-tzu and even the Christian tradition. Original Chinese calligraphy and ornamental line art adorn every page, and are augmented by a dozen full-color photographs upon which to meditate. Packaged with a beautiful satin-bound cover and clasp.

Listen to an audio excerpt online in MP3 format—click here.  Through Zen meditation it is possible to find stillness of mind, even amidst our everyday activities—and this practical book-and-CD set reveals how. John Daido Loori, one of America's leading Zen teachers, offers everything needed to begin a meditation practice. He covers the basics of where to sit (on a cushion, bench, or chair), how to posture the body (complete with instructional photographs), and how to practice Zen meditation to discover the freedom of a peaceful mind. The accompanying CD is a meditation companion. It has ten- and thirty-minute timed practice sessions, along with guided instructions from Daido Loori and an encouraging talk on the benefits of meditation. Page 15 Page 22

Take a trip through the topography of the brain, and you're likely to get lost somewhere around the medulla oblongata. Zen can lose you before you've even pretzeled your legs into the lotus position. But a unique neurologist-Zen Buddhist has written a tome that is a map to all the mysteries of meditation and mind. Take breathing out, for example. We spend just over half of our breathing time exhaling. For meditating monks, it's a full three-quarters. EEGs show us that the act of exhaling helps physically quiet the brain. Many other causal connections can be found between Zen practices and the physiology of the brain, and James H. Austin lays them out one by one, drawing from his own Zen experiences and the latest in neurological research. So if you've ever wondered what the corpus callosum has to do with consciousness or how the limbic system contributes to enlightenment, Austin will get your brain racing and put your mind at ease. --Brian Bruya

Newly revised, this classic meditation book has brought an eloquent message about living one day at a time to more than a million recovering addicts. Its inspirational passages augment and reinforce AA principles about coping constructively with life's daily problems, staying sober, and growing spiritually.