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Hi All,
Aware that the Meditation Circle is currently about getting out of our heads and into our bodies, and that progress is best achieved through practice rather than reading, I wonder whether there might be interest in a forum topic for sharing wider reading recommendations. As well as studying Bruce’s materials, my interests range quite widely around the broad theme of meditation. One particular topic is the physiology and neuroscience of meditation. E.g., I’ve found Rick Hanson’s and Daniel Siegel’s ‘Buddha’s Brain’ a very useful introduction, and wonder whether anyone can recommend other books covering this topic?
Livia Kohn has written a really good book, “Meditation Works In the Daoist, Hindu, and Buddhist Traditions,” that gives a solid, well-researched overview of the various Eastern meditation traditions. I’ve read Rick Hanson’s “Buddha’s Brain” and found it very interesting. If you can slog through it, Andrew Smith’s “The Dimensions of Experience: A Natural History of Consciousness” is worth it. His premise is that all things have some degree of consciousness and he presents a scientific discussion of the various types of consciousness, moving from the smallest atoms, through single-cell creatures, plants, animals and then up to man. I found it interesting because of how it relates to making our bodies conscious in the taoist tradition. If cells have some degree of consciousness, then it’s not hard to see how inner dissolving leads to making every cell of our body conscious. However, it’s heavy reading. I admit a skimmed some of the scientific stuff.
As a very good overview of meditation from different traditions I would recommend “The Meditators Handbook” by David Fontana
Not really instructional but as a interesting and cautionary tale about “fire method” techniques I would recommend “Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man” by Gopi Krishna.
Again not instructional a more modern take on the same subject would be “Path Notes of an American Ninja Master” by Glenn Morris (despite the cringeworthy title this is a very good and interesting book as are it’s sequels)
Finally, again not instructional but highly recommended for people who enjoy this sort of thing “Fourth Uncle in The Mountain” Quang Van
Nguen
Thank you Colin and Matthew. Just started reading “Buddha’s Brain” and it’s just fascinating. Livia Kohn sounds very good as well and have a request for “Health and Long Life the Chinese Way” from the library.
I’ll put in a word for “Warriors of Stillness” by Jan Diepersloot. Much of it is more advanced than I am, but the body alignment material has been helpful in standing meditation and taiji chuan.
Everyone be kind to the Earth today (and everyday).
……….thanks Kevin, I’m familiar with Warriors of Stillness and remember noting a key differences between Cai Song Fang’s dantien and mingmen ‘anatomy’ and that advocated by Bruce – it would be interesting to hear from more knowledgable students and teachers regarding these kinds of differences between ‘lineage technicalities’
……….thanks Kevin, I’m familiar with Warriors of Stillness and remember noting a key differences between Cai Song Fang’s dantien and mingmen ‘anatomy’ and that advocated by Bruce – it would be interesting to hear from more knowledgable students and teachers regarding these kinds of differences between ‘lineage technicalities’
………thanks Matthew, I’m really enjoying reading Livia Kohn’s ‘Meditation Works’, althought it cost an arm and a leg in the UK! I’ll look out for Andrew Smith’s book too. I’m just finishing an interesting read: Maureen Lockhart’s ‘The Subtle Energy Body,The Complete Guide’. It’s not quite complete because the Taoism chapter is mainly drawn from the fire traditions – that said it’s a fascinating compendium of the world’s spritual traditions’ histories and various takes on the subtle energy body (ies) – although I found the compare and contrast/fit with modern science stuff a bit tedious.
Article by Teja Bell, “Qigong for meditators: energy cultivation for a deepened practice,” in the latest issue of Tricycle:
http://www.tricycle.com/feature/qigong-meditators
Also, first of four instructional videos:
http://www.tricycle.com/blog/qigong-meditators
Thanks to Geoff Lister for posting this on Facebook!
“Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism” by Harold D. Roth. Roth is a professor of religion at Brown University and a leading Taoist scholar. This is his translation of an ancient Taoist text found in the Kuan Tzu. It is a long verse and one of most inspiring Taoist texts I have read.
“Inward Training is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation,and to the insights about human nature and the form of the cosmos derived from this practice.”
“Roth argues that Inward Training is the foundational text of early Taoism and traces the book to the mid-fourth century B.C. These verses contain the oldest surviving expressions of a method for mystical inner cultivation, which Roth identifies as the basis for all early Taoist texts, including the Chuang Tzu.”
Yes, this is a great book and a good translation.
I’m just finishing Quang Van Nguen’s Fourth Uncle in the Mountain and found it very readable and enjoyable. I would second your recommendation, Adrian for this book.
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