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What Is Meditation? BUDDHISM FOR EVERYONE
Buddhist meditations, to help calm the mind and anxiety!
96 pages
First published January 1, 1993
9 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Rob Nairn
14 books5 followersNairn's first contact with Buddhism was with a Theravadin monk in the 1960s, and he trained in this tradition for around ten years. From 1989 to 1993 he took part in a four-year isolation retreat at the Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre in Scotland.
Currently Nairn is the African representative for Akong Rinpoche and is responsible for eleven Buddhist centres in South Africa and three other African countries.
As he was instructed by the 14th Dalai Lama to teach meditation and Buddhism in 1964 and also instructed by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa to teach insight meditation in 1979, Nairn spends much of his time teaching and running retreats in Southern Africa as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, the United States, Italy, The Netherlands and Germany.
Currently Nairn is the African representative for Akong Rinpoche and is responsible for eleven Buddhist centres in South Africa and three other African countries.
As he was instructed by the 14th Dalai Lama to teach meditation and Buddhism in 1964 and also instructed by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa to teach insight meditation in 1979, Nairn spends much of his time teaching and running retreats in Southern Africa as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, the United States, Italy, The Netherlands and Germany.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 3, 2021
Torn between giving 4 stars for be a good, straightforward, informative book on meditation , and 3 stars for being "just" that. I went with 3 stars, maybe because I ve already read plenty on meditation, maybe because it didn't really strike enough cords in my brain to even remember to rate it shortly after I was done.
Nevertheless, I remember looking up the writer and being super impressed with his track record, engagements, and studies. I'd love to read more from him, and maybe if it's a deeper dive on the subject, I would be able to call it "life changing" piece of work.
Nevertheless, I remember looking up the writer and being super impressed with his track record, engagements, and studies. I'd love to read more from him, and maybe if it's a deeper dive on the subject, I would be able to call it "life changing" piece of work.
August 20, 2019
Clear, concise introduction to Buddhism
As its subtitle suggests, this handsome little book is really an introduction to Buddhism for the general reader, and is not a discourse on the nature of meditation. Part One is "An Introduction to Buddhism" and Part Two, "An Introduction to Meditation." The question "What is Meditation?" is addressed on page 56, and the following answer given: "Meditation is the process of learning to work skillfully with the mind in a way that will lead by successive stages to tranquillity, insight, spontaneous purification and the total liberation from all negative states." As such, this definition will do just fine, although an understanding of what "total liberation from all negative states" might mean is something that comes only after a long practice. Additionally, as revealed in the next paragraph and on the following pages, there are "many different systems and methods of meditation," and the one "dealt with here" is called "Insight meditation." Incidentally, the last two words are the title of a book by Joseph Goldstein, who was one of author Rob Nairn's teachers.
Buddhists generally insist on adding "insight" to meditation because the process of Buddhism itself is predicated on insight into the human predicament leading to action toward liberation. What Buddhism says in a nutshell is that there is suffering, that there is a way out of the suffering, and this is what it is. So taught the Buddha nearly twenty-six hundred years ago. This book emphasizes the compassionate nature of Buddhism while giving a quick outline of the general principles of the religion, followed by an outline of the Buddha's teaching. In the section on meditation there are twenty or so pages to guide the reader into how it is done. As someone who has practiced meditation for many years, I can tell you that this method will work, but the important thing to understand about meditation is that it is a practice, an acquired skill that takes a while to learn. Once learned it can be let go of easily in the hustle and bustle of daily living, but once mastered and completely entered into, it becomes an essential part of our lives and transforms us.
While this book does not completely fulfill the promise of the title (meditation varies for every individual and indeed over time varies for each of us), nonetheless it is valuable as a clear, concise introduction to one of the great world religions.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
As its subtitle suggests, this handsome little book is really an introduction to Buddhism for the general reader, and is not a discourse on the nature of meditation. Part One is "An Introduction to Buddhism" and Part Two, "An Introduction to Meditation." The question "What is Meditation?" is addressed on page 56, and the following answer given: "Meditation is the process of learning to work skillfully with the mind in a way that will lead by successive stages to tranquillity, insight, spontaneous purification and the total liberation from all negative states." As such, this definition will do just fine, although an understanding of what "total liberation from all negative states" might mean is something that comes only after a long practice. Additionally, as revealed in the next paragraph and on the following pages, there are "many different systems and methods of meditation," and the one "dealt with here" is called "Insight meditation." Incidentally, the last two words are the title of a book by Joseph Goldstein, who was one of author Rob Nairn's teachers.
Buddhists generally insist on adding "insight" to meditation because the process of Buddhism itself is predicated on insight into the human predicament leading to action toward liberation. What Buddhism says in a nutshell is that there is suffering, that there is a way out of the suffering, and this is what it is. So taught the Buddha nearly twenty-six hundred years ago. This book emphasizes the compassionate nature of Buddhism while giving a quick outline of the general principles of the religion, followed by an outline of the Buddha's teaching. In the section on meditation there are twenty or so pages to guide the reader into how it is done. As someone who has practiced meditation for many years, I can tell you that this method will work, but the important thing to understand about meditation is that it is a practice, an acquired skill that takes a while to learn. Once learned it can be let go of easily in the hustle and bustle of daily living, but once mastered and completely entered into, it becomes an essential part of our lives and transforms us.
While this book does not completely fulfill the promise of the title (meditation varies for every individual and indeed over time varies for each of us), nonetheless it is valuable as a clear, concise introduction to one of the great world religions.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
September 20, 2018
Back in 2002, this was my first "real" book on Buddhism and meditation, and I've been reading them ever since. I had read Phil Jackson's Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior describing how he led the Chicago Bulls to several NBA championships. And he used mindfulness meditation to do so! That intrigued me, and I wanted to know more. So, I visited my local library and found Rob Nairn's little book. It's a gem. I read it and loved it so much that I purchased my own copy, and re-read it. I've now re-read it again. It is a simple, straightforward, introductory description of Buddhism and Buddha and how to meditate (and also important for beginners, how not to meditate).
Nairn is a proponent of insight meditation, and only recently I heard one of his teachers, Joseph Goldstein, talk at InsightLA (in Los Angeles, of course). Both the talk and this book have made me go back to the basics of my practice and really focus on what I want to get from my meditation, and how I want it to inform my life.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism and/or meditation.
Nairn is a proponent of insight meditation, and only recently I heard one of his teachers, Joseph Goldstein, talk at InsightLA (in Los Angeles, of course). Both the talk and this book have made me go back to the basics of my practice and really focus on what I want to get from my meditation, and how I want it to inform my life.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism and/or meditation.
March 12, 2013
A short, concise, easy-to-read and understand book that speaks to the fundamentals of Buddhism as well as meditation—including instructions and exercises. For someone who has struggled with how to quiet the mind and meditate, it was very informative and helpful.
May 4, 2017
Very good. Concise and informative.
November 12, 2021
Ce livre constitue une bonne introduction au bouddhisme et à la méditation.
September 9, 2022
A snappy little summary of Buddhism & meditation. Well written and clear-- recommended for the beginner (i just reread it in an hour to verify it's a good place to start for a friend) or those who want a quick reminder about the essentials.
April 27, 2008
This is an excellent beginner's book. It is very basic and well-organized. It is written in two parts, the first explains Buddhism and the second dabbles into meditation.
July 10, 2012
Molto meglio il da me precedentemente letto Vivere, sognare, morire.
September 17, 2020
Great, great book. Simple but complete (for novices ).
Every school should have a copy.
Every school should have a copy.
August 8, 2007
haven't read it yet!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews