Michie - Hurry Up and Meditate

This compact, humorous, and informative book demystifies the practice of meditation for the curious and skeptical alike...

Mandala Magazine

You get the sense that this guy practices what he preaches. Theres a confidence and peace that inspires.

Modern Sage Magazine

Michie skillfully takes meditation out of the hippy, trippy, New Age sentimental or magical realm and brings it down to the basic practical level that it is. His style is very simple and accessible. This book is for vaguely interested skeptics, a most difficult group to satisfy. That he succeeds in doing so makes this indeed a wonderful, highly commendable book...

The Middle Way

A delight to read! David makes clear the simple factancient news for Buddhists but still pretty radical for us Westernersthat we can change our lives by working on our minds.

Robina Courtin, Tibetan Buddhist nun

Direct, unsentimental, and compelling, this is a book for the skeptics, ditherers, and those (many) of us who lapse in our meditative practices. If there is someone in your life youd like to introduce to meditation, Hurry Up and Meditate is an ideal conversation-starter.

Amanda Sinclair, Melbourne Business School

[Michie] doesnt try to sell a particular belief system, but rather focuses on making the case for why meditation is a good thing before giving instruction on simple methods for how to meditate... I recommend this book to any beginning meditator...

Darren Littlejohn, author of The 12 Step Buddhist

A time to rest and think has numerous health benefits... but really, who has the time? Hurry Up and Meditate is a guide to making time for a little peace, quiet, and meditation when ones life doesnt seem to present any opportunity for it. With a blend of scientific logic and poignant wisdom, Michie offers a plan that can improve ones quality of life in ways they didnt think possible.

Library Bookwatch

... well-written... [Michie] advocates that anyone and everyone can benefit from meditation, and has the research to back up his claims... the perfect book for the businessman/woman who really sees the need for more mindfulness in their lives.

Elephant Journal

... attractively, convincingly, and in great detail presents the healing powers of meditation... enables one to make meditation an integral part of ones daily life.

East and West Series

Hurry Up and Meditate is a practical, fun to read and highly motivating introduction for an inexperienced meditator.

Fitness First Magazine

If meditation has bobbed up on your radar but appeared too time consuming or inaccessible think again. This book is a key to a new world.

The Good Life Book Club

www.davidmichie.com

HURRY UP AND
MEDITATE

Your starter kit for inner peace and better health

DAVID MICHIE

This edition published in 2010

First published in 2008

Copyright Mosaic Reputation Management 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

Inspired Living, an imprint of
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: info@allenandunwin.com
Web: www.allenandunwin.com

Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available
from the National Library of Australia
www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au

ISBN 978 1 74237 406 2

Internal design by Nada Backovic Designs
Illustration by Ian Faulkner
Index by Trevor Matthews
Set in 10/13 pt Sabon by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Based on scientific evidence

Based on scientific evidence and referring to applications in psychotherapy

The important basics you need to get started

Some mainstream practiceswhat to do and how they feel

How to make meditation a valued part of your life

The nine levels of meditative concentration

Key benefits and practices

Higher-level questions about meditation

How meditation provides a pathway for personal growth

This book is dedicated with heartfelt gratitude to my meditation teachers: Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden, Founder of the Tibetan Buddhist Society, and Les Sheehy, Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Society in Perth, Western Australia, whose kindness I can never repay, and without whom this book could never have been written.

Last December I received an email from some longstanding friends in Scotland. Instead of the Christmas letter and family pictures I was expecting, when I opened up the email it was to discover news of an altogether different kind. Mary, who, like her husband, Grant, was a contemporary of mine, had gone to the doctor in early December suffering from fatigue. Instead of being prescribed a booster to help her through the festive season, within days of blood tests and other examinations she was told that she had inoperable cancer and would be lucky to survive till Christmas.

In the weeks that followed this shocking news, Mary and her family were often in my thoughts. After all, youre not supposed to die in your forties, leaving behind a devastated husband and two young kids. In Marys case that wasnt all she was leaving behind. A gifted artist and designer, her work was in demand both in the UK and internationally, enriching the lives of many people.

When Mary passed away in January, apart from offering wholly inadequate moral support by email, Im sure I wasnt the only one among her friends who wondered: how would I react if I was given similar news? What if, perhaps next December, the same thing happened to me?

It was at this point I decided to write Hurry Up andMeditate, a book Id been contemplating for some time, but putting off for no particular reason. Were I to die in twelve months time, I decided, like Mary I would rather do so having left behind something which may be valued, even if only by a few people.

So my first heartfelt acknowledgement is to Mary and also to Grant, whose honesty and courage through the whole experience have been quite humblingand without whom this book may still very well be just an idea in my filing cabinet.

I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to all my fellow meditators who have been so encouraging of my literary efforts. Louise Bladen, Susan Cameron, Richard Ross, Rhonda Sheehan, Cheryl Stedman and Ineke van Staveren have all been very generous in offering advice, reading typescripts and showing patience at my spectacular inability to distinguish between the two kinds of practicenoun vs verb! My special thanks also to Marg Sheehy, not only for reviewing my work, but also for her tireless management of the many meditation retreats from which I, and my fellow retreatants, have benefited so much.