Official Review: Meditation for Beginners in Six world Re...
Posted: 17 Jul 2020, 11:23
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Meditation for Beginners in Six world Religions" by Gabriel J. Gomes.]
Meditation for Beginners in Six World Religions is an excellent introduction to various practices of meditation. It functions not only as an introduction, but also as a beginner’s manual. This book took me longer to read than I expected. I thought the first fifty pages of the book were quite slow, even though they were very informative on the background of meditation. Throughout the book, I was intrigued by the overlapping elements of meditation in the different religions. While they are were unique, it seemed to me that there were undercurrents and practices that aligned more than I anticipated.
The author first lays the foundation for the reader by looking at various elements of meditation, such as the physiological, psychological, and spiritual realms. Meditation has an impact on all three of these levels. Before introducing the different meditation practices in different religions, he also makes clear the differences between formal meditation and Informal Awareness Meditation. The former indicates a practice undertaken in a set time and place and the latter, to my understanding, is a constant practice to break negative conditioning patterns and build new, positive ones. Gomes then dedicates separate chapters to each religion’s meditation and thoughtfully includes a couple of chapters on the importance of choosing a path that suits your life, choosing a teacher, and on the relationship between teacher and student.
As I am not of any religion, I found the earlier chapters on yoga and meditation to engage me the most, even though the sections on the history and details of meditation in the various religions were also very interesting. I intend to revisit the different step-by-step areas for beginning a meditation practice, as I am interested in building a habit of meditation into my own life. I appreciated how the author also took the time to break down the etymology of key terms. The clarification of the tantra practice of yoga was particularly interesting to me. I have only been exposed to the sexual nature of tantra, but Gomes' explanation of the true intention and practice of tantra was fascinating and really clarified how tantra has been misportrayed.
I am rating this book four out of four stars. It is well-written and thoughtfully organized. The only editing error I discovered was in the Table of Contents where the chapters often did not always align with the listed page number. I am not counting it against the book, as it could just be an error in the PDF version.
I would recommend this book to any who are interested in beginning a practice of meditation. While it delves into the practices of various religions, I do not think that it would be offensive to any person of faith. The only moment of unease I had regarding this book was in the section on Informal Awareness Meditation (IAM) where the author states that he used IAM to treat his depression. He also, being Roman Catholic, attributes the cure of his depression to the Holy Spirit. In my view, this falls dangerously close to the narrative of praying ailments away or telling those with depression to just change the way they think, but perhaps I misunderstood. However, I definitely recommend reading Meditation for Beginners in Six World Religions!
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Meditation for Beginners in Six world Religions
View: on Bookshelves
Meditation for Beginners in Six World Religions is an excellent introduction to various practices of meditation. It functions not only as an introduction, but also as a beginner’s manual. This book took me longer to read than I expected. I thought the first fifty pages of the book were quite slow, even though they were very informative on the background of meditation. Throughout the book, I was intrigued by the overlapping elements of meditation in the different religions. While they are were unique, it seemed to me that there were undercurrents and practices that aligned more than I anticipated.
The author first lays the foundation for the reader by looking at various elements of meditation, such as the physiological, psychological, and spiritual realms. Meditation has an impact on all three of these levels. Before introducing the different meditation practices in different religions, he also makes clear the differences between formal meditation and Informal Awareness Meditation. The former indicates a practice undertaken in a set time and place and the latter, to my understanding, is a constant practice to break negative conditioning patterns and build new, positive ones. Gomes then dedicates separate chapters to each religion’s meditation and thoughtfully includes a couple of chapters on the importance of choosing a path that suits your life, choosing a teacher, and on the relationship between teacher and student.
As I am not of any religion, I found the earlier chapters on yoga and meditation to engage me the most, even though the sections on the history and details of meditation in the various religions were also very interesting. I intend to revisit the different step-by-step areas for beginning a meditation practice, as I am interested in building a habit of meditation into my own life. I appreciated how the author also took the time to break down the etymology of key terms. The clarification of the tantra practice of yoga was particularly interesting to me. I have only been exposed to the sexual nature of tantra, but Gomes' explanation of the true intention and practice of tantra was fascinating and really clarified how tantra has been misportrayed.
I am rating this book four out of four stars. It is well-written and thoughtfully organized. The only editing error I discovered was in the Table of Contents where the chapters often did not always align with the listed page number. I am not counting it against the book, as it could just be an error in the PDF version.
I would recommend this book to any who are interested in beginning a practice of meditation. While it delves into the practices of various religions, I do not think that it would be offensive to any person of faith. The only moment of unease I had regarding this book was in the section on Informal Awareness Meditation (IAM) where the author states that he used IAM to treat his depression. He also, being Roman Catholic, attributes the cure of his depression to the Holy Spirit. In my view, this falls dangerously close to the narrative of praying ailments away or telling those with depression to just change the way they think, but perhaps I misunderstood. However, I definitely recommend reading Meditation for Beginners in Six World Religions!
******
Meditation for Beginners in Six world Religions
View: on Bookshelves