{"id":1754,"date":"2011-11-15T21:32:53","date_gmt":"2011-11-16T02:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=1754"},"modified":"2011-11-15T21:32:53","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T02:32:53","slug":"meditation-the-complete-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html","title":{"rendered":"Meditation: The Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220\" alt=\"Meditation - The Complete Guide: Techniques from East and West to Calm the Mind, Heal the Body, and Enrich the Spirit [Book]\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hard to imagine one book so content rich about such a subject as vast as meditation, but nearly lifelong meditator, professor\u00a0and practicing Quaker Patricia Monaghan and ecologist, \u00a0author and yoga instructor who has studied world religions Eleanor G. Viereck have compiled a comprehensive manual to this ancient art. It is called <strong><em>Meditation: The Complete Guide<\/em><\/strong> which is celebrating its 10th anniversary\u00a0 in this newly revised edition. They set the stage for the reader&#8217;s journey by defining what meditation is and what it is not. The first thing they indicate is that it is indeed a practice in which people are encouraged to engage. There is no one size fits all modality here.\u00a0 They then shine the light on the idea that meditation is about fully being in the now. It is not, according to the authors; relaxation or self hypnosis. It is a portable tool that is not unique to any one religion AND it is not sacrilegious. The authors view nature as a cathedral in which to engage in practice and enchance its power.<\/p>\n<p>The book invites the reader to sample from a veritable buffet, including &#8220;hesychasm&#8221;,\u00a0 (chapter 20) otherwise known as The Jesus Prayer which encourages stillness,\u00a0 brush painting (chapter 14) that brings with it the opportunity to allow meditation to create works of art, and candle meditation (chapter 25) which spans many traditions.\u00a0 One of my favorites is the use of prayer beads (chapter 29), since I use a \u00a0japa mala\u00a0 to count my blessings, chant a mantra or acknowledge meaningful people in my life by running their names and faces through my mind. Metta or lovingkindness meditation (chapter 10) is a backdrop, it seems for all other\u00a0 styles.<\/p>\n<p>It could literally take a lifetime to engage in these various practices,\u00a0 as described in the book, but what a life well lived it would be.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newworldlibrary.com\">www.newworldlibrary.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Hard to imagine one book so content rich about such a subject as vast as meditation, but nearly lifelong meditator, professor\u00a0and practicing Quaker Patricia Monaghan and ecologist, \u00a0author and yoga instructor who has studied world religions Eleanor G. Viereck have compiled a comprehensive manual to this ancient art. It is called Meditation: The Complete&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,55,22,14,4,54,5,16,7,10,38,18,37],"tags":[1097,1092,1094,1096,1099,1095,4839,1090,1098,1091,1093],"class_list":["post-1754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-book-review","category-healing","category-how-to-invite-bliss","category-inspiration","category-interfaith","category-meditation","category-my-personal-bliss","category-re-creating-your-life","category-spirituality","category-transformation","category-wellness","category-writing","tag-candle","tag-eleanor-g-viereck","tag-hesychasm","tag-japa-mala","tag-lovingkindness","tag-mantra","tag-meditation","tag-meditation-the-complete-guide","tag-metta","tag-patricia-monaghan","tag-the-jesus-prayer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meditation: The Complete Guide - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditation: The Complete Guide - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Hard to imagine one book so content rich about such a subject as vast as meditation, but nearly lifelong meditator, professor\u00a0and practicing Quaker Patricia Monaghan and ecologist, \u00a0author and yoga instructor who has studied world religions Eleanor G. Viereck have compiled a comprehensive manual to this ancient art. It is called Meditation: The Complete&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-16T02:32:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meditation: The Complete Guide - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meditation: The Complete Guide - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"&nbsp; Hard to imagine one book so content rich about such a subject as vast as meditation, but nearly lifelong meditator, professor\u00a0and practicing Quaker Patricia Monaghan and ecologist, \u00a0author and yoga instructor who has studied world religions Eleanor G. Viereck have compiled a comprehensive manual to this ancient art. It is called Meditation: The Complete&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2011-11-16T02:32:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html","name":"Meditation: The Complete Guide - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220","datePublished":"2011-11-16T02:32:53+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-16T02:32:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220","contentUrl":"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=x336tgAACAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;l=220"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/11\/meditation-the-complete-guide.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meditation: The Complete Guide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. www.opti-mystical.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.opti-mystical.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","https:\/\/x.com\/EdieWeinstein1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/author\/eweinstein"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}