PDF Ebook Meditation: The Inward Journey
Why meditate? Why now? ... because you have no choice. No choice according to you. You already know that you are way too busy. So busy that you have become a stranger to yourself. All of us have paid so much attention to the world around us, that we know nothing about the world within us. Our life has kept us running here and there, succeeding, failing, winning and losing -- this is all we seem to know. When we are not socializing with our friends and family, we are socializing with the Internet or the television.
What happens when we become a stranger to ourselves? We lose our confidence. We get confused about why we are living such a hectic life. We feel empty inside. As our outer pillars of support crumble around us, we become afraid. Very afraid. We expect answers to magically come from heaven and solve all of our problems. We hope that our politicians will solve all the social ills and the police will keep us safe. In short, we have become so powerless that we blame others for our troubles and we demand others to take care of us. Peace and prosperity was just a wish, a mere desire, we never made it a priority and thus, we did not make it happen.
In ancient times, we used Mother Nature’s herbs and fresh foods to help us heal. Then for decades we ignored all of this. Today modern medicine is re-awakening the knowledge of herbs, nutrition and natural healing. Why? Because traditional medicines have a very long tradition of helping us. These methods worked way back then and we are seeing that they still work today. The ancient knowledge of meditation is also coming back. This inward science can lead us to the heights of spiritual wisdom and worldly success.
I have been practicing meditation since I was 17. It started as a search for happiness - an antidote to the pain and confusions of adolescence. Over time, an awareness and an identity started to emerge. It was not as a Christian or a Jew, Republican or Democrat, it was a purely human identity. I was starting to identify myself with the plain, simple me. Fallible, lovable, trainable, me.
For over 30 years I have continued to meditate. The insights and rewards are too numerous to count. If you have the slightest doubt about the benefit of meditation, jump right now to Chapter 12 and read some of the 2000-plus clinical trials that show meditation’s benefits on physiology and emotions.
There is a true humanness to the science of meditation. All of us know things we could do to improve our lot in life - but we do not always do them. This is not a modern dilemma, this is a human dilemma.
This straight-forward view of human frailty and sincere human effort is what endears me to the science of meditation. The best thing that I can do for you and that you can do for me, is to be real and authentic. Meditation lifts us out of our false fantasies and out of our troubling trifles. Uplifted from these, we finally see the wonder and beauty of the true human spirit.
Contents
Introduction
1. Learning to Pay Attention
2. The Setting
3. You
4. Sit Down
5. Be Still & Use Your Breath
6. Your First Meditation
7. Alternate Nostril Breathing
8. Your Second Meditation
9. Making Friends with Your Mind
10. Inward Traveling & Holistic Health
11. Your Happiness & Your Destiny
12. The Health Benefits of Meditation
13. Resources
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