Meditation – Buddhism & Science Aligned

by Florian Lau

This book covers the topic of Dhamma practice and meditation for skeptically inclined people, based on the lectures of the Buddha himself.
It leaves out most of the mythological components and focuses on the heartwood of what the Buddha actually taught.
This book challenges several widespread myths and ideas about meditation and explains all the expected benefits in detail.
If you are an experienced meditator in contemporary traditions, you might find your views challenged to the core.
I invite you to verify what I explain in your own experience, leaving your preconceived notions of meditation aside for the time being.
This book contains a complete guide on how to progress from a total beginner toward the first stage of awakening.
Every true scientist or Truth-seeker who is up for the task can find answers to the deepest questions about reality itself in this book.
That said, if you are looking for conventional meditation methods and ideas, this book might not be for you.
The target audience is explicitly those people who want to overcome suffering once and for all and attain Nibbana.
Most contemporary books offer little to no help in that domain, as they have fully moved away from the original Suttas.

Genres: Meditation

166 pages, Unknown Binding

Published December 1, 2022

About the author

I was born in Germany in 1990 and grew up in a relatively poor family. I finished school with medium grades at best and spent most of my teen years playing video games like World of Warcraft. While I was very good at it, I stopped when I started to
study computer science.

I spent the first few years continuing to play other video games, learning little. After that, I decided to take university seriously. With the help of my best friend(s), I made rapid progress. Without them, I
wouldn’t be where I am today, and I am deeply grateful for them.

I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2013 and my master’s degree in 2016 with ever-increasing grades. After that, I started working as
a research assistant and finished my Ph.D. thesis three to four years later, graded 1.0. I further received the KuVS award for the best Ph.D. thesis in 2020. During that time, I started meditating regularly, which
benefitted my academic performance tremendously.
Today I am working as a postdoctoral researcher and teacher at the university, a creator on YouTube, and an author in the pastime.

Since 2018, I have spent the majority of my leisure time studying Dhamma.
This means that I spend almost 4--8 hours each day either reading, meditating, or teaching in some way or another.
I have read a good 40 or more books on contemporary Buddhism but was left unsatisfied with the content/the translation, and the interpretations.
In the end, I started reading the Suttas from the Pali Canon itself.
Over time, the teachings suddenly started to make sense and became free from any contradiction.
From what I can tell, the way the Buddha himself expounded the Dhamma is utterly perfect.

While the time spent working on any subject is, at best, an approximate approach for estimating someone's wisdom, it is still better than nothing.
As I have no reputation myself, I have to borrow the credibility from my title and the Buddha himself.
Otherwise, people are seldomly willing to delay their disbelief to see for themselves as it would mean a big sacrifice of their valuable time.

I give you my word that everything the Buddha himself taught is true.

Reviews

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for seasoned meditators, those on a serious spiritual or self-improvement path that includes meditation, and also for those that are seriously studying and practicing Buddhism in particular. The author has a unique approach based on a complete understanding and use of all the facets of traditional Buddhism. Conduct, meditation and wisdom are all included, and most importantly, mapped out as to be fully useable and practical. This unique approach also works for both lay people and more monastically minded practitioners. The author's scientific background also works to systematise the teachings into a logical path and flow, along with some relevant experiments. There's no fluff or filler in this book at all, and it works well with the author's lecture series. I personally gained a lot from reading this, and incorporating its approach into my overall practice and outlook.

[Deicoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just another self-help book, Flaus knows what is up.

For beginning to dip your feet into meditation, it is a good starting book as it provides enumerous methods. Also goes on to describe the many benefits you are missing out from not undertaking some practise of meditation / sense restraint.

[Wilgot Qvant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the author's take on wisdom and insight, highlighting the fact that insight is available at any given moment. Insight could arise from conversation as well as from meditation.