The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make Our Life Happy and Meaningful

by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Overview

The New Meditation Handbook is a practical guide to meditation that teaches us how to make ourselves and others happy by developing inner peace, and in this way making our lives more meaningful.

• 21 Kadampa Buddhist meditations leading to inner peace and enlightenment
• Advice on how to apply the meditations in daily life
• Step-by-step guide on how to start a meditation practice

From the author of Joyful Path of Good Fortune, The New Eight Steps to Happiness and Introduction to Buddhism. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s remarkable books are clear and accessible, yet they contain the essential meaning of all Buddha’s teachings. Suitable for people at all levels of interest, these books offer wise advice and genuine guidance for everyone in these troubled times. He is the founder of over 1000 Kadampa Meditation Centers, branches and Temples for World Peace throughout the world that host study and meditation programs, courses, retreats and international festivals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616060268
Publisher:	Tharpa Publications
Publication date:	05/01/2013
Edition description:	2
Pages:	238
Sales rank:	889,107
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a fully accomplished meditation master and internationally renowned teacher of Buddhism who has pioneered the introduction of modern Buddhism into contemporary society. He is the author of 22 highly acclaimed books that transmit perfectly the ancient wisdom of Buddhism to our modern world. He has also founded over 1200 Kadampa Buddhist Centers and groups throughout the world.

In his teachings, Geshe Kelsang emphasizes the importance of meditation and how to apply it in daily life. He reveals practical methods for developing wisdom, cultivating a good heart and maintaining a peaceful mind through which we can all find true and lasting happiness. Demonstrating these qualities perfectly in his own life, Geshe Kelsang has dedicated his whole life to helping others find inner peace and happiness.

Read an Excerpt

Meditation is a mind that concentrates on a virtuous object, and that is the main cause of mental peace. The practice of meditation is a method for familiarizing our mind with virtue. the more familiar our mind is with virtue, the calmer and more peaceful it becomes. When our mind is peaceful, we are free from worries and mental discomfort, and we experience true happiness. If we train our mind to become peaceful we will be happy all the time, even in the most adverse conditions. But if our mind is not peaceful, then even if we have the most pleasant external conditions we will not be happy. Therefore, it is important to train our mind through meditation.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
Part 1	Foundation
	Introduction	3
	What is Meditation?	6
	The Benefits of Meditation	9
	How to Begin Meditation	11
	Background Knowledge Required for Meditation	13
	How to Meditate	20
Part 2	The Twenty-one Meditations
	The Initial Scope
1	Our Precious Human Life	30
2	Death and Impermanence	33
3	The Danger of Lower Rebirth	37
4	Refuge Practice	40
5	Actions and their Effects	42
	The Intermediate Scope
6	Developing Renunciation for Samsara	46
	The Great Scope
7	Developing Equanimity	68
8	Recognizing that all Living Beings are our Mothers	71
9	Remembering the Kindness of Living Beings	75
10	Equalizing Self and Others	78
11	The Disadvantages of Self-cherishing	81
12	The Advantages of Cherishing Others	85
13	Exchanging Self with Others	88
14	Great Compassion	91
15	Taking	94
16	Wishing Love	96
17	Giving	98
18	Bodhichitta	100
19	Tranquil Abiding	103
20	Superior Seeing	107
21	Relying Upon a Spiritual Guide	113
	Conclusion	117
Appendix I	Prayers for Meditation	119
Appendix II	A Commentary to the Preparatory Practices	127
Appendix III	A Special Breathing Meditation	141
Appendix IV	A Suggested Retreat Schedule	151
Appendix V	The Commitments of Going for Refuge	157
Appendix VI	A Traditional Meditation on Emptiness	167
Appendix VII	The Kadampa Way of Life	179
	Glossary	193
	Bibliography	206
	Study Programmes	211

Editorial Reviews

• “Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has proven to be a popular and accessible authority” –Library Journal
• “Geshe Kelsang Gyatso illuminates the very heart of Buddhist thought and practice.” –Booklist
• “Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a highly respected meditation master and scholar of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.” –Spirituality & Health

From the Publisher