Lion’s Roar’s “How to Meditate” Reader’s extras

Thanks for reading Lion’s Roar’s special edition, How to Meditate: Buddhist Practices for Your Heart & Mind.

Throughout this special publication, we’ve listed great further readings to help deepen your experience with and understanding of Buddhist meditation.

You’ll find all of those here, by section, along with still more support for your practice, from Lion’s Roar.

Copies of How to Meditate can be ordered directly from Lion’s Roar, here.

“Your First Experience of Meditation”

Listen along to an audio presentation of the simple meditation instructions introduced on page 8 of How to Meditate:

Further reading:

You Can’t Fail At Meditation: Dan Harris gets the inside story on mindfulness and compassion from Buddhist teachers Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Mark Epstein.

Section 1: What Is Buddhist Meditation?

Further reading:

Matthieu Ricard’s Journey to Compassion: Andrea Miller profiles scientist, monk, and humanitarian Matthieu Ricard, author of “What Meditation Is—And Isn’t,” found on page 14 of How to Meditate.

6 Tips for Getting Ready for a Meditation Retreat: After reading Spring Washam’s account of her first meditation retreat, you may want to try it too. Karen Maezen Miller offers some helpful perspective.

Section 2: Why Do Buddhist Meditation?

Further reading:

How Sharon Salzberg Found Real Happiness: A profile of the author of this section’s lead article, “How Meditation Helps Clear the Way for Happiness.”

Why We Meditate: We don’t meditate to become better people or have special experiences, says Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Meditation is simply the way we relate to our already existing enlightened state.

That Time I Sobbed My Way Through a Himalayan Meditation Retreat: After soldiering through his grief, Jaimal Yogis sat down, looked at his mind, and let the floodgates open. There were a lot of tears — but who said that’s a bad thing?

Section 3: How To Do Buddhist Meditation

Further reading:

Buddhist Teachings on Mindfulness: Perfect for anyone who wants to explore the Buddhism-and-mindfulness connection, this special page gives you the the basics of mindfulness practice and its Buddhist roots, plus easy-to-follow instructions and additional reading.

How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation: A step-by-step, question-by-question approach to Insight meditation.

Thich Nhat Hanh on Walking Meditation: These words of inspiration on the practice are a perfect complement to Leslie Booker’s instructions found on page 56 of How to Meditate.

Being Love: Awash in the pain of betrayal and a failed marriage, Laura Munson practices Pema Chödrön’s teachings on loving-kindness. It’s hard but it helps.

Transforming the Heart of Suffering: In order to have compassion for others, says Pema Chödrön, we have to have compassion for ourselves.

Zazen: Just Ordinary Mind: The practice of Zen meditation, says Susan Murphy, is simply to abandon anything extra. Then the ordinary reveals its magic.

Section 4: Where & When to Meditate

Further reading:

DIY Dharma: You Have Everything You Need: Buddhist teacher Judy Lief offers helpful guidelines for the path ahead of you, including her advice for “Making Room for Meditation” found on page 98 of How to Meditate.

Section 5: What’s Next?

Further reading:

Your Guide to Going on a Buddhist Retreat: Know what to expect so that your retreat experience can be optimally immersive and positive.

10 Buddhist Books Everyone Should Read: Just as How to Meditate‘s “Build Your Meditation Library” booklist on page 124 will help you better understand Buddhism’s approaches to meditation, this list points the way to helpful books that illuminate basic Buddhist concepts.

Creating a Good Ground for Meditation: Meditation isn’t a one-way street—it’s not like you can just meditate and your life will automatically get better. You have to change the way you live to improve your meditation. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, author of “Mind What You Eat” on page 120 of How to Meditate, outlines five principles conducive to meditation practice.

Other approaches to Buddhist meditation:

Here you’ll find links to teachings on the types discussed on pages 122 and 123.

• “The Taste of Liberation: The Jhanas” by Bhante Gunaratana
• “How to Practice Zen Koans,” by John Tarrant
• “How to Do Mahamudra Meditation,” by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
• “Discovering the True Nature of Mind,” a Dzogchen teaching by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
• “Buddhist Visualization Practice is Clear, Pure, and Vibrant,” by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Learn Lots More With Lion’s Roar Guides

If you want to learn more about Buddhism and Buddhist meditation, you’ll love Lion’s Roar’s special online guides, including:

• Who Was the Buddha?
• Your Guide to Going on a Buddhist Retreat
• Buddhist Teachings on Mindfulness
• Buddhism and Meditation for Beginners

Also featured are guides to the lives and teachings of some of today’s best-loved Buddhist teachers, including Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, and more. View more on our Lion’s Roar Guides page.