Product Description

Have you ever thought about trying meditation, but didn't know where to start? With Meditation for Beginners, trusted teacher Jack Kornfield shows you how simple it is to start--and stick with--a daily meditation practice. Now, this indispensable guide that has sold more than 100,000 copies in previous formats, is available in paperback for the first time. "Insight" or vipassana meditation is the time-honored skill of moment-to-moment mindfulness which results in greater clarity and "effortless flow" in any situation. In this complete course created especially for beginners, renowned teacher Jack Kornfield offers a straightforward, step-by-step method for bringing the fruits of insight meditation into your life. Using the six guided meditations on the included CD, readers will discover how easy it is to use the breath, physical sensations--and even difficult emotions--to create tranquility and lovingkindness in everyday life. These simple, elegant practices are so easy to learn that readers will begin enjoying the benefits of meditation immediately--while laying the foundation for a lifetime of inner discovery and awakening.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37524 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781591799429
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
" 'Jack Kornfield is a remarkable and thoughtful teacher' A Path with Heart - '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'"

From the Publisher
According to a recent Time magazine cover feature about meditation, ten million American adults say they practice some form of meditation regularly.

About the Author
Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. is a teacher, psychologist, and author who resides in California. After graduating in Asian studies from Dartmouth College in 1967, he trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India. In 1975, Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and later, the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and his works include bestseller A Path with Heart (Bantam, 1993), The Roots of Buddhist Psychology (Sounds True, 1996), After the Ecstasy, the Laundry (Bantam, 2001).

Customer Reviews

The Most Perfect Beginning To Meditation!
I have been a practicing Yogi for many years and have a library full of books, videos, tapes and CD's on Yoga, meditation, sprituality and the like.

This program by Jack Kornfield (available as a video as well as audio) is the best single place I can think of starting from if you want to begin a meditation practice..

Jack Kornfield is a perfect teacher of meditation, especially for Westerners because he approaches it in a non-sectarian way. He gets to the heart of the practice, uses clear explanations and stories to give the listener/viewer some sense of the depth of the practice. He leads the meditations in a way that gives enough guidance without becoming a distraction. He also has a very soothing voice which enhances the overall experience of the program.

The program starts with the most basic form of meditation on the breath, and leads through ever slightly more subtle forms of Vipassana Meditation.


Very Highly Recommended!


Some other related meditation programs I would highly recommend are: Plum Village Meditations w/ Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Jina which are guided Meditations. I have been using this tape for about 7 years daily. I use it during the day prior to lunch to renew myself for the rest of the day.

Stephen Cope's "Yoga For Emotional Flow" which has 2 CD's, the 1st CD is about Yoga Philosophy and the 2nd has guided practices which I find very helpful in my life. Also check out his book "Yoga and The Quest for the True Self" which is contains the ideas of the 1st CD in an in depth manner, one of the best books I've ever read (and I'm re-reading it for the 3rd time).

Jack Kornfield has many other wonderful books and audio programs in the "Sounds True" catalogue which are wonderful, one is a more in depth series (6 tapes) on meditation called "The Inner Art Of Meditation".

Jon Kabot-Zinn is a wonderful teacher as well. See his "Meditation for Optimum Health w/ Andrew Weil, as well as Andrew Weils audio, "Breathing, the Master Key To Healing" which is very much related to meditation, these are guided breathing (pranayama) exercises plus an in depth explanation as to the benefits of breath work.

Namaste

Non-intimidating introduction for people who never meditated
I like this DVD because it's a good introduction for people who have never meditated and for people who might not be the typical audience for such topics.

Jack Kornfield was a monk in Thailand, but is also a Western clinical psychologist. He approaches introducing people to meditation very gently and from a practical standpoint. While it is clear he is committed to a Buddhist path, he presents meditation in an unbiased, impartial and often humorous manner.

While the guided meditations aren't particularly long or deep, they give the listener a good taste of what meditation is about without making it seem esoteric. There are also some very nice stories on the DVD, which is worth getting just for this reason.

Something that distracts from the DVD is the timing and volume of bells sounding. Here and there this is bordering on corny, but I didn't find it a problem in any MAJOR way. It doesn't change the credibility of the core message or value of the instruction.

The biggest strength of this DVD is Jack Kornfield's ability to tell stories and use powerful analogies. For example, he compares "training the attention" to house breaking a puppy! He says, you gently bring the attention back to the breath as you would bring a puppy back to a newspaper and you do this over and over again patiently. You don't kick or beat the puppy and you don't judge yourself for letting your mind wander! I found this to be a very clever and useful analogy.

In my opinion, this is not Jack Kornfield's best work. However, it's a good resource for a lot of people. My favorite Jack Kornfield book is "A Path with Heart" and my favorite recorded material is your "Buddha Nature." However, I still enjoy listening to this DVD and often recommend it to beginning meditators.

If you want deeper material on meditation, try Breath by Breath by Rosenberg. This is my favorite introductory book on meditation for Westerners. If you want a recording that has more depth, then Insight Meditation by Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein is pretty good and has quite a bit of detail.

Kwan Yin Society highly recommends these tapes...
Jack Kornfield is perhaps the most gifted meditation teacher in the West. His humor, compassion, clarity and insight make this tape series a life-long treasure. Perfect for anyone who is new to meditation or who wantsmore peace and compassion to stream from the heart.