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Awakening through the Nine Bodies: Exploring Levels of Consciousness in Meditation
Based on meditation practices Phillip Moffitt learned twenty years ago from Himalayan yoga master Sri Swami Balyogi Premvarni, this beautifully illustrated book is a guide to exploring the nature of mind and gaining a better understanding of experiences that arise during meditation. The Nine Bodies teachings map out a journey that starts with consciousness that arises in the physical body and is directly observable, and then travels through ever more subtle levels of consciousness to that which is not manifest and is only potential, and therefore has to be inferred. The book includes a series of mysterious illustrations that Balyogi created during his time of intense Samadhi explorations. Each illustration is a rich composition of symbols that express aspects of inner experiences that are almost impossible to express with language.
Moffitt makes these teachings available for meditation students from all spiritual traditions to use as gateways for exploring the nature of mind and as additional means for tracking and classifying meditative experiences. Students of yoga will also find value in the teachings of the Nine Bodies as they provide a means for contextualizing and connecting with yogic teachings on chakras, koshas, gunas, and the Three Bodies.
Moffitt makes these teachings available for meditation students from all spiritual traditions to use as gateways for exploring the nature of mind and as additional means for tracking and classifying meditative experiences. Students of yoga will also find value in the teachings of the Nine Bodies as they provide a means for contextualizing and connecting with yogic teachings on chakras, koshas, gunas, and the Three Bodies.
- GenresNonfiction
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2017
61 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
About the author
Phillip Moffitt
19 books65 followersAt the peak of his career, former CEO and Editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine, Phillip Moffitt, traded in his worldly success to explore the inner life.
He subsequently founded the Life Balance Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to the study and practice of spiritual values in daily life.
Phillip is a co-guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He teaches vipassana meditation at Spirit Rock and at retreat centers around the United States and Canada, and he teaches a weekly meditation class in Marin County, California.
Phillip is the author of Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering and the co-author of The Power To Heal and Medicine’s Great Journey: One Hundred Years of Healing. He has written numerous magazine articles about Buddhism and yoga for Yoga Journal, Shambhala Sun, and Body and Soul. His writings have been selected for publication in Best Buddhist Writing 2004 and 2009.
He is currently writing a book on skillful living.
He subsequently founded the Life Balance Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to the study and practice of spiritual values in daily life.
Phillip is a co-guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He teaches vipassana meditation at Spirit Rock and at retreat centers around the United States and Canada, and he teaches a weekly meditation class in Marin County, California.
Phillip is the author of Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering and the co-author of The Power To Heal and Medicine’s Great Journey: One Hundred Years of Healing. He has written numerous magazine articles about Buddhism and yoga for Yoga Journal, Shambhala Sun, and Body and Soul. His writings have been selected for publication in Best Buddhist Writing 2004 and 2009.
He is currently writing a book on skillful living.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 25, 2023
The textual explanations of each of Balyogi’s drawings are the expected wisdom and clear transmissions Phillip Moffitt is known for. The impact for me was in going slowly and Being with each illustration. They are powerful activators and took me directly to those refinements of consciousness available to me, speaking a compelling invitation into those I had not yet occupied. I will continue to engage these drawings in daily practice.
October 3, 2019
Every Phillip Moffit book is worth driving into for the beginner or advanced Yogi/Buddhist Scholar. He also generously offers a free yearly workshop on how to work with his books with a study group or individually.
March 19, 2018
This is a truly wonderful volume, an introduction to meditation and a system of thought and religious structure to support the step by step approach. Moffitt is really open about his background in relation to the teachings of his master Balyogi, whose thinking he sums up. What I like especially is that he makes no pretense that this is the only system or best system of meditation. He offers a genuine approach and tools that can help a sincere person seeking a path.
September 7, 2017
I received my copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
The author, an experienced Buddhist meditation teacher, follows the relationship between the Vajrayana understanding of the nine bodies and awakening through meditation. As a grumpy western Christian I remain skeptical, but the book is a well-written, clear argument for his point of view on this rather subtle topic.
The author, an experienced Buddhist meditation teacher, follows the relationship between the Vajrayana understanding of the nine bodies and awakening through meditation. As a grumpy western Christian I remain skeptical, but the book is a well-written, clear argument for his point of view on this rather subtle topic.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews