Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience

by Sally Kempton, Elizabeth Gilbert (Foreword)

Meditation is like a love affair with your innermost self. At times it can be ecstatic and entrancing, other times simple and still—and sometimes you might not even feel its profound effects until later.

Now with Meditation for the Love of It, Sally Kempton shares practical secrets to help us turn meditation into an unconditional embrace of the fullness of our experience—on and off the meditation cushion. With the gentle wisdom and compassion of one who understands the nuances of practice, she opens us to the joy of exploring the deep and mysterious inner landscape of the heart, mind, and body.

Drawing on her 40 years as a teacher and a fellow meditator, Sally teaches us how we can connect to our inner longings and creative “shakti” energy to allow the transformative gifts and blessings of meditation to unfold. With playfulness and devotion—two key attitudes in sustaining a daily practice—she shares indispensable guidance for this voyage of self-discovery, including:

· How to tune in to your own “meditation channel,” a bandwidth of tranquillity, energy, and joy

· Why you don’t need a quiet mind to meditate

· How the force known as Kundalini can fuel your practice

· Connecting to your ever-present Inner Beloved to let go of conditioned ideas about yourself and make space for the True Self to come forth

· Ripening your practice beyond technique into the “sweet mysterious expanse of spontaneous meditation”

· More than 20 practices for bringing the peace and insight of meditation into your daily life

“Remember: what you seek in meditation is your own Beloved, your own inner intelligence, your own Awareness, and your own Truth,” teaches Sally. Meditation for the Love of It points us back to our own intimate heart of hearts, our own deepest experience, and the bliss of existence itself.

Contents

Introduction: Awakening to Meditation

Chapter One: The Lure of Meditation

Chapter Two: How Do We Experience the Inner Self?

Chapter Three: Preparing for Practice

Chapter Four: Choosing the Right Doorway

Chapter Five: Moving Inward: The Practice of Oneness

Chapter Six: Working with the Mind, Part I: Navigating the Thought-Stream

Chapter Seven: Working with the Mind, Part II: Liberating Your Thoughts

Chapter Eight: Letting the Shakti Land

Chapter Nine: Where Do You Find Yourself? A Road Map to the Meditation Journey

Chapter Ten: Coming Out of Meditation: Contemplation, Recollection, and Journal Writing

Chapter Eleven: The Daily Life of a Meditator: Holding Inner Attention

Chapter Twelve: The Three-Week Breakthrough Program

Chapter Thirteen: The Process of Ripening

Epilogue: Let the Inner Dance Unfold

Genres: Nonfiction, Meditation, Spirituality, Philosophy, Self Help, Personal Development, Magick

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 2010

About the author

Sally Kempton is a widely respected teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom, known for her capacity to kindle meditative states in others, and to help students work with meditative experience as a framework for practical life-change. A former journalist who wrote for Esquire, New York, and the Village Voice, she has spent over four decades practicing, teaching, and writing on meditation and spiritual philosophy. Sally spent 20 years as a swami in a traditional Vedic order of monks. She was deeply trained in the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism and Vedanta under the guidance of her enlightened teacher, Swami Muktananda.

Sally is the author of the best-selling books "Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga" and of "Meditation for the Love of It,” which Spirituality and Health magazine called “the meditation book your heart wants you to read”. Her audio program, Doorways to the Infinite: The Art and Practice of Tantric Meditation, was released by Sounds True in 2014. She is on the faculty at Esalen and Kripalu, teaches meditation on the websites Glo.com, Gaia.com, and Yogajournal.com, and is a contributing editor at Yoga Journal. Sally teaches online courses and seminars on meditation and spiritual philosophy, and leads retreats and workshops in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sixteenth-century Spanish mystic San Juan de La Cruz wrote extensively of the Dark Night of the Soul, of the spiritual obscurity that can precede awakening in the dawn, enfolded in the embrace of the Beloved. For this reason, he came to be known as The Spiritual Doctor. He diagnosed and prescribed remedies for so many situations that can deter seekers from spiritual life.

In the Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, darkness is no impediment to spiritual awakening. Just as Wordsworth proclaimed that poetry is emotion recollected in tranquility, the great Kashmir Shaivist Abhinavagupta described a deep inner peace that underlies every emotion, and thus every experience. He called this 'shanta rasa,' or the essential peacefulness at the core of every emotion, whether experienced in drama, in poetry, in music, or in life.

It is no wonder then, that in Kashmir Shaivism, contemplation of the ebony darkness of a moonless monsoon night is one of the many ways of transcending the world.

Immersed in this unflinching Tantric aptitude for embracing any and every human emotion, which all are but thin veils simultaneously concealing and revealing spiritual essense, Sally Kempton, a seasoned voyager in these realms, takes on any and every obstacle to meditation that can arise, revealing each as a divinely given invitation to discover what beckons just beyond.

She illumines these matters with throroughness, authenticity, authority, and love.

[Oaktreeyoga Recommended · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book about meditation from a great teacher. Sally Kempton wears her great expertise very lightly and writes about her own experiences as well as those of her students.

In this book Sally describes techniques to help you to deepen your meditation practice, problems/hurdles/blocks that you might encounter along the way, as well as explaining the beautiful depths of meditation and the feelings of deep calm, peace, love that you will find there.

Not at all intimidating, this is a brilliant book for beginner meditators and experienced yogis alike.

This book has helped me to deepen my own practice and to be more open to the truth of my own experience.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and would highly recommend it to those who wish to deepen their practice. It should be noted though that this is not a book on Buddhist meditation but follows the Shaivism tradition which I found to be more spiritually based. If you prefer a more zen approach and are uncomfortable with bringing spirituality into your practice, this may not be for you.

[Michelle Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book for my yoga teaching certification. Kempton provides an approachable way to learn more about meditation. She demystifies the practice and helps you to enjoy the benefits, frustrations and breakthroughs of a daily meditation practice. She is very inclusive of all spirituality, drawing connections to how people from different word views may define the the inner /true self which is accessed in meditation. For example a Buddhist might call it Buddha Nature or Big Mind, while a Christian might call it the Holy Spirit. She interweaves her own spiritual journey and foibles in a way that takes meditation out of the esoteric and brings it to the flawed human realm. She also leads you through some meditation exercises, many I found really soothing and helpful.

[Robin Koppensteiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. This is a thorough meditation course for beginners and definitely very enjoyable for the advanced. With an interesting insight into yogic practices and many parallels into other cultures and religions in order to shine a light on the one thing, they all talk about in their different stories and imagery.

If you want to learn to meditate and you are openminded to the idea of an underlying energetic Consciousness (otherwise known as God, Allah, Shakti, the Universe, ect.) in all being and non-being, this is the book you should get.

I'll likely read this again, for pleasure.

Enjoy.


[Edit: This book was clearly written with women as the target audience in mind. I got the recommendation from a man and I'll happily pass it on: Your little companion is not going to fall off, gentlemen. The book is worth every page.]

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely buy this book. It is great to have handy as a manual for meditation practice. Sally Kempton does a fantastic job of putting into words things that are difficult to explain. I love the instructional three week plan towards the end that outlines what to do to help get you started.

[Mary Gallucci]

I can't really rate this book, because I recognize I'm not really the target audience, and was kind of in it for 50% information, 50% guidance. That's about what I got out of it; it's surely really awesome instruction for recognizing and navigating towards its target, though I've not been heading in the direction of that target (and it assumes experience) so it's kind of a baffling new world. Some relatable, some appealing, some less so. At any rate, there's a LOT of spiritual and emotional sensitivity in here that's fascinating to read regardless of experience; some of the chapters were absolutely marvelous to me, and had me underlining and annotating and connecting much more than I would've expected.

I also think I read it wrong: cover-to-cover in a couple of days. Pretty sure to do any sort of justice, one should return to it periodically over a stretch of time. Maybe next year I'll give it stars....

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great starting point for yoga students who want to begin or deepen their meditation practice. Sally Kempton brings such wisdom and depth to her teachings - I encourage you to find her meditations on Glo and other online platforms to take practice with her as you’re beginning your practice if you haven’t. She is masterful at bringing in the depth of the practice in a simple, accessible way. She does the same in this book, which guides the reader slowly and steadily into a meditation practice all the while sharing yoga philosophy and the roots of meditation in the tantric tradition. I find myself returning to this book time and time again, either to practice one of the meditations or to get a deeper understanding of the practice and the philosophy for my life.

[Billye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience by Sally Kempton is a wonderful guidebook. I had a lot of resistance to meditation and this book helped me to begin building a solid meditation practice. It is important to read the book in its entirety including the Foreword and the Troubleshooting Guide. This book helps readers to understand where the underlying concepts of meditation come from and how many belief systems are very similar throughout the world and throughout the ages.

[Maha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing content 💜
I learnt that meditation should be part of your lifestyle, requires dedication, care and love just like anything we are passionate about.

The journey inward, being physically still in this dimension, juxtaposes the idea of travelling the entity to omnipresence.

Great writing. It was never an ego trip but just an honest writing to help and inform en masse.

Love the author. Thank you so much!

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrary to the happy-clappy-hippie design on front, I found this one to be a pretty serious primer on meditation. That and the detailed and very instrcutional advice should suffice as recommendation. For me on top of that (for others a caveat) comes the non-reductionistic bent of Kemptons writing which doesn't psychologize everthing but has a certain sympathy with the religious, which I appreceate as dedication.

[Emily Shearer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good as a reference to return to again and again. Like a zen meditation practice, this book can be new each time you go back to it. Useful for quotes to be used in yoga or mindfulness practice, or any positive living. Does not have to be read in one sitting; I came back to this little by little over about a year and half before I finished the first full read-through.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had issues with the physical book and the content. This was required reading for a yoga teacher training.

The margins were too large, the font too small.

Every chapter had at least one “a friend of mine once…” story

It felt very self important and cult like. Especially the meditation program at the end.

[Magdalena Moszynska · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best meditation resource book I've come across so far. It offers plethora of meditation exercises to explore as well as it explains the meditation process in an accessible way if you're ready to take the plunge.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest in learning more about meditation and some meditation ideas, this book was great. So glad to have found it. I love the 3 week challenge. Go for it! We can do this. 😀. To feel more peace, calm, and light in our lives…it’s so worth it. 💕

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Za mene je ovo prereligiozan i prefilozofski pristup tumačenja meditacije. Nisam uspjela doći do kraja, jednostavno me odbija.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book, a recommendation from my yoga teacher to help deepen my practice, and it has good tips and strategies to do just that. Recommended read.

[MaryHB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very helpful in providing different approaches and practices for meditation. I thoroughly recommend this book.

[Rachel Wrubel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book is a good alternative for those of us who can’t take a month-long meditation retreat. Very thorough and lots of great methods.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mentor recommended this book and it definitely helped me move from 10 minutes a day to 60+ minutes per day of meditation.

[Leah Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite meditation book. Entertaining the idea that God/the universe has my back was/is new for me.

[Nancy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive exile of meditation and how to develop a personal practice. I started reading it several years ago, but only recently picked it up again. I have found it extremely helpful

[Edward Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

And absolutely essential read for the beginner

This book is absolutely amazing. It contains dozens of practices that the absolute beginner could start off right away. A great read!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent meditation book; really enjoyed Kempton's musings and meditations.

[Olga Shatokha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure of a book 🙏🏻✨

[Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about tips for meditating in the Kashmir Shaivism tradition. I didn't expect this book to be so specific to this tradition, but it was interesting to read for that reason. I never understood yogic philosophy, and this book helped me make sense of it. But it also turned me off to it, and in some ways, confused me even more. Reading this book felt a little like a book on witchcraft I read a couple years back. Part of me was astonished that people actually believe this stuff, while part of me felt like it would make perfect sense if I had a certain perspective and a whole lot of imagination.

It liberally uses words that make no sense to me--even after it's explained--like kundalini, chakra, prana, and shakti. It also redefines several common English words by capitalizing them, to give them a whole different, I guess more spiritual, meaning, like Consciousness, Awareness, and Self. These redefinitions, too, I don't really understand. I'm sure they make sense and seem very real to some people, but I'm skeptical that their experiences are genuine. Until someone can show me a chakra on an x-ray, for example, I'm going to assume it's simply a useful metaphor for tuning into various parts of the body.

I was hoping this book would help me enjoy meditation more, but it didn't. If nothing else, it stirred some doubts that it's even right for me, definitely not the intended effect of this book. I've never experienced anything remotely transcendental when I meditated, and that's not really my goal in meditation, so this book makes me wonder if having such experiences is the only way to enjoy meditating like this book emphasizes.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me awhile to complete in fits and starts but now I think I’m ready to begin a 3 week challenge for December.

[Hrönn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book about meditation from a great teacher. Sally Kempton wears her great expertise very lightly and writes about her own experiences as well as those of her students.

In this book Sally describes techniques to help you to deepen your meditation practice, problems/hurdles/blocks that you might encounter along the way, as well as explaining the beautiful depths of meditation and the feelings of deep calm, peace, love that you will find there.


This book is a continuous resource for how to develop a strong relationship with your meditation practice and it has helped me to deepen my own practice as well as to be more open to the truth of my own experience

Not at all intimidating, this is a brilliant book for beginner meditators and experienced yogis alike.

[Malasana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meditation for the Love of It is a spiritual trove of information. This book is suited for both the newbie or the experienced meditator. Sally's book will help you establish your new practice or deepen your existing practice. A well-known spiritual teacher, Sally has 40 years experience in meditation.

Reasons to put Meditation for the Love of It on your bookshelf:
1. Trouble-shooting guide: I didn't expect to find a trouble-shooter in this book. What an awesome idea. The guide discusses many issues. - How to not fall asleep during meditation. - How to sink in deeper. - How to combat the fear that may come up.
2. Retreat: Sally lays out a 3-week program.... [read full review at http://www.yogashelf.com/book-review-...]

[Beth Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was way better than I expected. I bought it for my yoga teacher training about a year ago and figured I would maybe get around to reading it because who wants to read about meditation? But once I actually started it I was shocked. I loved it. It’s so accessible and the descriptions of such ethereal events are actually helpful and tangible. Kempton also doesn’t write down to you from on high even though she’s prolific in the medication world. She tells you about the times that it has sucked for her too and that helps to read when the practice can be frustrating at times. I feel lucky to own this book so I can return to it again and again. It’s fairly long and every chapter is useful.