Natural Mind Meditation

Dzogchen Mahamudra and the Dynamic Awakening of Consciousness: the core practice, the highest approach to immediate enlightenment via the rapid path of Natural Mind Meditation, this text begins at the very beginning while aiming to take the path of Vision through all the stages of higher Development, culminating at the level of No More Seeking. The instruction is clearly based on ancient authoritative tradition, but now at long last taught by a skilled Western expert in the field of spiritual counseling, Buddhist psychotherapy and Mahamudra Meditation, thus making a book that is ideal for the Western reader. The context for this practice is set within the wider scope of human evolution, its sources in the Ancient Wisdom, and the Wisdom Teachings of the world's great religions.

NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD-MEDAL WINNER FOR 2015 There’s no trying in meditation. Just as water runs naturally downhill … just as leaves float naturally to the ground … we can all settle naturally into meditation. Not trying, just allowing—not doing, just being. The key is effortlessness. Whether you’re a complete novice or you’ve “tried it before,” if you can breathe you can meditate. Guided by veteran teacher Dean Sluyter’s easy-going, down-to-earth approach, you’ll test-drive a variety of meditative “vehicles,” such as breath, sound, the senses, the sky, and the simple sense of “I,” and discover which ones fit you best. You’ll find all the practical tips you need for adapting these methods to your daily life, even for a few minutes a day on the subway or in an office cubicle. And as your life opens to deep happiness, clarity, peace, and creative energy, you’ll be inspired to keep on practicing—naturally.

"A Course in Meditation," the book, is an all-new design of the popular Internet-based course by Theodore (Ted) Phelps. It is a carefully designed set of instructions that enables self-motivated readers to learn an enjoyable, relaxing, health-supporting style of meditation in a few days and to learn it in a low-cost, culturally neutral format based in natural functions of the human body and mind. The seven-day course teaches how to meditate in a natural style (non-striving, based in natural functions of the mind and body) and how to get benefit from meditation by meditating in a daily practice. Sally Kempton, yoga meditation teacher, contributor to "Yoga Journal," and author of "The Heart of Meditation," calls the book a "classic manual for basic practice" extremely friendly and accessible and "true to the tradition." The second half of the book gives optional readings in practice. It also provides subtle, yet down-to-earth descriptions of naturalness and meditative theory, including the role of intention, the relationship of meditation to long-range growth, wisdom, and even enlightenment. These highly subtle topics are carefully presented in fresh terms accessible to ordinary human experience. Phelps, the designer of Natural Meditation teaching method, offers a rich source of new analysis of meditation, with helpful new definitions of "meditation," "meditative function," and "natural meditation," with an innovative and illustrated description of the journey through meditative stages leading to enlightenment.

Make time to slow down, breathe, be awake, be aware, and appreciate. Natural Meditation offers easy-to-follow meditation cues for meditating in natural settings or meditating on natural images or objects. Sidebars throughout the book provide suggestions on how to incorporate nature into your mindfulness practice. The short entries allow readers to open to a page during lunch break, at home in the evening, or on the weekend for a short "retreat," setting off down a quiet, natural path. This book acknowledges that nature has a lot to teach us about going with the flow, letting go, awareness, calm, silence, and pausing. Whether you practice these meditations in actual natural settings or on a cushion at home, the book's entries will inspire you to spend more time in nature. Natural Meditation emphasizes the spiritual, moral, and other tangible benefits of nature. The focus is on training the mind in relaxation, visualization, creativity, and rejuvenation, incorporating natural settings, plants, and animals. Sometimes a respite or quiet path is just what one needs in this crazy world.

Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa “shows us how the tremendous power of medical meditation can heal not only the body but also the mind and soul” (Deepak Chopra) in this practical and engaging guide to natural healing. Proven effective by scientific research and presented here by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa and Cameron Stauth, the practice of Medical Meditation revolutionizes the healing process. By balancing and regenerating the body's ethereal and physical energies through simple meditations, Medical Meditation unites the mind, body, and spirit into a powerful triad. Each Medical Meditation here has a specific physiological effect, targeting afflictions from arthritis to ulcers to cancer. Dr. Khalsa details the five unique attributes that endow this type of meditation with far more power than standard meditation. The combination of special postures and movements; exact positioning of the hands and fingers; particular mantras; specific breathing patterns; and a unique focus of concentration can change your entire biochemical profile, easing you into a calm, healing state. Practiced in conjunction with conventional or alternative medical treatments, cutting-edge Medical Meditation activates the healing force within you.

A unique fitness program from a highly respected spiritual leader that blends physical and spiritual practice for everyone - regardless of age, spiritual background, or ability - to great benefits for both body and soul. As a Tibetan lama and leader of Shambhala (an international community of 165 meditation centers), Sakyong Mipham has found physical activity to be essential for spiritual well-being. He's been trained in horsemanship and martial arts but has a special love for running. Here he incorporates his spiritual practice with running, presenting basic meditation instruction and fundamental principles he has developed. Even though both activities can be complicated, the lessons here are simple and designed to show how the melding of internal practice with physical movement can be used by anyone - regardless of age, spiritual background, or ability - to benefit body and soul.

The best-selling books of Andrew Weil, "the guru of alternative medicine," (San Francisco Examiner) offer a comprehensive blend of traditional and alternative methods that help to achieve better health in the modern world. A bestseller in its original edition, The Natural Mind was Dr. Andrew Weil's frst book and the philosophical basis for all of his resulting beliefs and tenets on health, healing, and the mind. Revised and updated for the twenty-first century, The Natural Mind suggests that the desire to alter consciousness periodically is an innate, normal human drive. A landmark in his career, and in America's approach to the drug problem in general, The Natural Mind is essential reading for anyone interested in Andrew Weil's philosophy of integrative medicine and optimum health.

"We all have the same human mind - each and every one of us has the same potential. Our surroundings and so forth are important, but the nature of mind itself is more important... To live a happy and joyful life, we must take care of our minds." - His Holiness the Dalai Lama At the heart of this book is The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel of the Oral Tradition, an accessible and nonsectarian treatise on penetrating the nature of mind by Khonton Peljor Lhundrub, a teacher of the Fifth Dalai Lama. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama's broad-ranging overview of this work insightfully distills some of the most central themes of Buddhism: why the mind is so essential to the tradition, what distinguishes the levels of consciousness, and how different schools of Tibetan Buddhism elaborate those distinctions. Profound and erudite, it brings the reader closer to a fresh and direct experience of Buddhism's central truths. Along with his lucid translations, Jose Cabezon provides an introduction to the root text and presentations of the life and works of Khonton Rinpoche, all richly annotated.