secular Buddhism and meditation reading list

My new interest in secular Buddhism and meditation began when my daughter Megan came to visit, lugging Dan Harris's 10% Happier with her, a few months ago.  She hadn't read it.  But the title intrigued me.  So I bought it, read it, and have spun away on this summer's self-actualization journey.


Harris's memoirs inclined me toward researching Buddhism and later, practicing mindful meditation. From there, I met with my colleague Narendra, who gave me much great advice and lent me 4 books on meditation.  You'll see those books first.  You'll see the advice he gave me after my reading recommendations.

1. Meditation-the Complete Guide, Revised Edition. By Patricia Monaghan and Eleanor G. Viereck

These are the sections that I found practical and meaningful: lying down exercises, loving-kindness meditation, Zen work practice, Taosim, Tai Chi Tao, Qigong, walking meditation, 3 sections of the human brain, nature sketching as meditation, guided meditation, gardening as meditation, & meditations for pain and grief

2. Luminous Mind (Meditation and Mind Fitness).  By Joel Levey and Michelle Levey

Read the chapters on Concentration, Mindfulness, Reflective, Creative, and Heart-Centered Meditation to give you a solid breath of different meditation purposes and practices.

3. Meditative Therapy.  By Michael and Janet Emmons
I don't seem to have any notes on this one... So from Amazon.com:  "For more than three decades Dr. Michael Emmons has shown thousands of readers how to tap their own powerful "inner source" of emotional healing. Here, he and Janet Emmons colloborate to offer the professional therapist a full description of the therapeutic procedures that facilitate inner-directed healing and explains the therapist's role in guiding clients' growth psychologically, physiologically and spiritually."

4. Healing Anxiety Naturally. By Harold Bloomfield

Amazon.com Review..The bestselling author of Hypericum & Depression has compiled here the latest dosage information on kava kava, valerian root, ginkgo, ginseng, licorice root, milk thistle, and many other natural remedies for anxiety, nervousness, and insomnia. It's more than a listing of suggested herbs, though, and includes a natural self-healing program of mental and physical exercises meant to reduce stress and ease anxiety, tension, and anger and their requisite physical manifestations: rapid heartbeat, sweating, hyperventilation, dizziness, panic attacks, cigarette cravings, and more. Bloomfield encourages readers to try breathing exercises, visualization, mediation, music therapy, and anger therapy, and includes an extensive list of Internet resources, mental health associations, and self-help groups. --Erica Jorgensen --

After these 4, I read...

An Easy guide to Meditation: For Personal Benefits and Spiritual Growth.  By Roy Eugene Davis

This is more religious than the first 4.  I have only 2 highlights--both very general and not unique.

5.  Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom. By Joseph Goldstein.

I took an abundance of notes on this.  Particularly instructive are the anecdotes, the secularized approach to Buddhism, and practical applications--not just in meditation but in everyday situations.  Dan Harris speaks frequently of Goldstein in his book.

6. The Essence of Buddhism.   By David Tuffley

Tuffley's focus is on the "enlightened person"--who is she and how does she act?

7.  Modern Buddhism.  By Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Gyatso takes an historical look at the Buddha's teachings.  There are several volumes.  I'm still reading this one.

8. Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart.  By Mark Epstein. 

Epstein offers a secular approach to Buddhism.  Most of this coincides with the philosophy and techniques of GetSomeHeadspace.com.  I found this to be a practical refresher for what Andy Puddicombe tries to accomplish. Also, I seem to recall that Harris speaks of Epstein in his book.

Here's what Narendra sent me about The 4 Noble Truths...

For A Better Life...

1. Suffering exists. (Birth, Aging, Sickness & Death) 

     Presence of Objects we loath, separation from what we love, and not getting what we      want are sorrow/sufferings. 

2. Suffering has a cause. (Attachment, Craving, Aversion & Ignorance)

    Aversion is desire to avoid it because it gives pain. You do not want to think about it. 

    And.....that in sense is ignorance. Ignorance is cause of suffering, ignorance keeps 

    you in the suffering state.

3. Suffering can end.  (Training your brain)

    Your mind belongs to you. Say that it’s a traffic jam. No big deal.  Make it a perfect           moment, a prefect day. Make it a pleasurable traffic jam. It is a walk toward freedom.     Try it.

4. There is a method to end suffering.  (Eight-fold Path)

     I.  Wisdom--Right View & Right Intention)

     II. Ethics--Right Speech, Right Action, & Right Livelihood; truth & non-     

     violence (Gandhi Ji’s philosophy) – Buddha said – “Those who associate with people of      good character will consequently become upright in heart, deed, and word.”

     III. Mental development--right effort, right mindfulness, & right concentration

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.               

     It isn't more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment,        pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.” - - -        Sylvia Boorstein

Plus...

“Be present in your present."

Right Effort is not about “Just do it.” it’s more about “Just keep doing it." 

Right Mindfulness is the “IT”. Right Concentration is Meditation and beyond.

Here are my notes from my conference with Narendra: 

Mind-body Connections

Synchronize my actions with my breathing and my thinking.

Weigh in and take my blood pressure weekly.

Eat foods with vibrant colors.

Breathe in 1 nostril & out the other, switching off: 5 times.

Slow down--like a turtle.

Be present in the present; forget the past and the future.

Practice mindfulness and mindful meditation.

Coordinate my wavelength with my partner's.

I am not my body and not my mind.  I am me.

Finally, I have joined GetSomeHeadspace.com and look forward to my meditation sessions every day.  You could try the 10-minute/day free trial sessions and see if it's for you!