Orosz - The Beginners Book of Meditation: A Practical Guide to Meditation and Breathing Techniques

Table of Contents

The Beginner's Book of Meditation

A Practical Guide to Meditation
and Breathing Techniques

Written and Illustrated by
Attila Orosz

1st Edition, Kindle published in 2014, by Attila Orosz

attila.orosz@mail.com

Attila Orosz, 2014

Copyleft notice: All text and illustrations in this work, The Beginners Book of Meditation: A Practical Guide to Meditation and Breathing Techniques, including the cover matter, are made available by the author, under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported license (International), a Free Culture License. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and/or adapt, remix, transform and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you follow the license terms and license your derived work under similar conditions. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. Attribution and fair usage guidelines apply. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 .

Disclaimer

The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, always consult a physician or other qualified health provider. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any exercise program. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this book or in any other source may or may not mentioned in this volume. The publisher and author are not responsible for any specific health needs that may require medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References or recommendations are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of other sources.

Preface

The book you are reading is a short compendium of some of the most common methods and techniques of meditation known today, while also being an attempt to disseminate some common misunderstandings about the subject. It is not meant to be a comprehensive work, but a practical guide of the basics, with some, hopefully easy to follow advice that might help one to set on a new journey, or just help to deepen the practice of those, already on their way.

Although there are, of course, many more meditation methods and techniques known to man, the ones selected for this book are those that are the easiest to learn and follow in daily practice, offering the greatest benefits, in return for a little invested effort.

Please do not take this for a fast-track sales pitch. Contrary to what contemporary marketing strategies often try to make believe, there are no short-cuts, especially not in mental or spiritual growth and advancement, such as one would expect from meditation. You will have to invest sufficient time and dedication, but this does not necessarily mean that the journey cannot be easy. Although it is not a fast solution, this book definitely offers some methods, which could work right out of the box. The only requirement from you, dear reader, is: Once you have finished reading, you should put your new-found knowledge into practice.

There are many excellent books on the market today, teaching and guiding through meditation techniques, some are more detailed, others may contain different, more recognised or more suitable methods for your individual needs. This book does not attempt to be better or superior to any other, or even try to compete.

The volume you are reading is simply a complementary effort, offering some less well-known methods, often omitted from other works, besides an in-detail introduction to the most common techniques, with probably a slightly different approach towards them. You will find less about the philosophy and history of meditation practices and more practical advice on how to perform and observe them.

This of course also means, that many commonly taught methods have had to be omitted. Indeed, this book will not cover some of the newer, more contemporary methods of meditation, it does instead focus on some traditional, time-proven techniques, without going too deep into the religious or spiritual and historical background, these traditional techniques usually complement.

The methods described in the book are not follow-along meditations, from beginning to end, that you can just sit down and do step-by-step, prescribed for specific goals, situations, or life events. While there are many excellent books, that offer such guidance, this volume aims to be different.

The goal of this book is, to help you understand meditation, through teaching the foundations of some popular as well as some lesser known techniques, empowering you with the knowledge and experience to build up your own routine, your own way, your own meditation practice. Although it may seem much easier to follow detailed advice from beginning to end, that would also restrict you to the pre-described path and no such advice may replace practice and personal experience.

Meditation is an intimately personal journey and this book will try to provide you with a useful way to begin on that path. Detailed instructions will, of course, be given to start practising any method you choose, yet you will have to proceed in your own pace. This will develop and strengthen your self-discipline, also making your practice independent from any external source or guidance.