The Myth of Meditation: Restoring Imaginal Ground through Embodied Buddhist Practice

by Paramananda

Overview

From his three decades of teaching Buddhist meditation, Paramananda, offers an approach that is a challenge both to the way we experience ourselves, and the way in which we see and ‘be’ in the world. He contends that the historical Buddha offered not a panacea for the ills of his time but rather a radical alternative way of living in the world, still as valid today as it was 2500 years ago. At the very heart of this radical vision is the art of meditation. Engaging in this art is what Paramananda outlines in The Myth of Meditation. Enlivened by his love of both the natural world and poetry, he guides us in a threefold process: grounding meditative experience in the body, turning towards experience in a kindly and intelligent way, and seeing through to another way of understanding and being in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911407218
Publisher:	Windhorse Publications
Publication date:	08/26/2019
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paramananda came into contact with the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1983 and two years later was ordained within the Order itself. Since then he has been teaching meditation and Buddhism full-time in San Francisco and in London, where he now lives. He is author of Change Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Meditation (2005), A Deeper Beauty (2002) and The Body (2007), all published by Windhorse Publications.

Table of Contents

About the author vii

Author's and publisher's acknowledgements viii

Audio downloads ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Grounding 9

Chapter 1 Grounding as image 11

Chapter 2 Beginning to ground: the role of a good posture 19

Chapter 3 Trusting what is there 29

Lying down and letting the earth support us 29

Using the breath to release tension in the body 34

Chapter 4 Remembering the world 39

Meditating in the world 39

Chapter 5 The diamond throne 45

Taking our place in the world 45

Grounding in the posture 51

Part 2 Turning towards 55

Chapter 6 An elephant's stance 57

Chapter 7 Embracing the depths 63

The mindfulness of our breathing body 65

Chapter eight A call to kindness and care 73

Calling of your name meditation 79

Chapter 9 Our own aliveness in life itself 85

Energy-circuits meditation 87

The Metta Bhavana using the body and the breath 96

Chapter 10 Beings thrown into time and history 99

Tonglen meditation 106

Part 3 Seeing through 111

Chapter 11 The paradoxical aspect of seeing through 113

The six-element practice 118

Chapter 12 The gateway of suffering 125

Prayer to the world meditation 131

Chapter 13 The other side of insight 133

Notes and references 143

Index 146

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

‘A critical and necessary book to read, to practise and to embody. Brilliant in its depth and simplicity, Paramananda allows meditation to become poetry, to return to its “original face.”’ Michael Shea, PhD, meditation teacher and founder of sheaheart.com

‘Paramananda beautifully examines how spiritual practice is both a deeply intimate relationship with oneself, and inextricably connected to the world we live in. He brings far-reaching Buddhist teachings down to earth and encourages us to be curious, as we simply sit with the breathing body, or open to suffering – our own and others' – in such a way that liberates the heart.’ Vajradevi, meditation teacher and author of uncontrivedmindfulness.net

‘Paramananda’s latest book has grown out of a depth of practice and engagement. It is beautifully simple, earthy, inviting a subtle, sensitive and poetic meeting of ourselves. It is perhaps something of a cliché to say it speaks both to beginners and experienced meditators alike, I can’t speak for beginners, though reading it I was reminded of another great meditation teacher – Shunryu Suzuki, and his famous book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Paramananda is able to encourage us to the openness of the beginner’s mind, drawing the reader back to their own experience, giving them enough instruction and encouragement to be with the elusive, the understated, the difficult. This book will help you find your way back to your own vulnerable heart, connected to the mythic heart of the world.’ – Jayaraja, Chair of Buddhafield, author of The Yellow Book of Games and Energizers