Mod+ Meditation

Best book on meditation, in my view, is Culadasa's John Yates "The Mind Illuminated". It's quite an exhaustive study of all the aspects of meditation and I heartily recommend it.
 
I don't recommend any books in particular. I think my system is best because it works for me ...

http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/meditation.1784/#post-106029

... but different people might have different needs and ways of learning.

So, if you want something to read, these free books (below) are ... um ... uh ... free. Some people like them. I've read a few. Nothing I read helped me very much except that they gave me techniques which I drew upon and extened to develop my own system. The thing that is unique, as far as I know, about my system that I haven't heard anyone else teaching is to observe the pleasant feeling of relaxation as you inhale and exhale. It's the key to my meditation technique and I don't know of any books on it, only my own web site. I believe it's technique 4 in the Anapanasatisutta but I haven't seen it translated or explained the way I understand and experience it..

I am not fond of modern interpretations of the Buddhist sutras. They never made sense to me until I had experiences of my own that clarified them. In my experience, reading them doesn't help you attain anything, they are useful only to tell you when you have experienced the things mentioned in them. I have not studied the commentaries on the sutras extensively. I agree with Bhante V's opinion on them. His system of meditation is probably the nearest thing to my own that is taught by a genuine certified Buddhist Monk who studied in Asia for decades. Thich Nhat Hanh's system is also somewhat close to my own too. I have three of his books Miracle of Mindfulness, Breathe You are Alive, and Transformation and Healing. Breathe You Are Alive is his translation and discussion of the Anapanasatisutta

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Free books on meditaton:

Buddhism Free E-Books

What the Buddha Taught (Revised edition) by Walpola Rahula. Where Buddha is quoted as saying, "When the Aggregates arise, decay and die, O bhikkhu, every moment you are born, decay and die."
http://hermitmusic.tripod.com/rahula_buddha.pdf

Mindfulness in Plain English By Ven. Henepola Gunaratana
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/personal-deve...rkshop_resources/Mindfulness_in_plain_english

The Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau
http://selfdefinition.org/zen/Philip-Kapleau-Three-Pillars-of-Zen.pdf

The Dhammapada
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/scrndhamma.pdf

The Jataka Volume I tr. Robert Chalmers ed. E. B. Cowell [1895]
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/j1/index.htm

Shobogenzo The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching A Trainee’s Translation of Great Master Dogen’s Spiritual Masterpiece Rev. Hubert Nearman, O.B.C., translator
http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/Shobogenzo.pdf

In the Buddha's Words An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon Edited and introduced by Bhikkhu Bodhi
http://www.pacificbuddha.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/In-the-Buddhas-Words.pdf

With Each & Every Breath A GUIDE TO MEDITATION by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
http://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/withEachAndEveryBreath_v160221.pdf

Practical Vipassana Exercises by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/mahasit1.pdf

Satipatthana The Direct Path to Realization Analayo
https://ahandfulofleaves.files.word...rect-path_analayo_free-distribution-copy2.pdf

Books at forestsangha.org
https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books

Non-duality

Lester Levenson's story at releasetechnique.com
http://www.releasetechnique.com/web...nique2014/downloads/lester-levenson-story.pdf

KEYS TO THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM Thoughts and Talks on Personal Transformation By Lester Levenson at stillnessspeaks.com
http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/sitehtml/llevenson/keystoultimate.pdf

Who Am I? - (Nan Yar?) The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Translation by Dr. T. M. P. MAHADEVAN from the original Tamil
http://www.nonduality.com/ramana1.htm

Be As You Are The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Edited by David Godman at selfdefinition.org
http://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Ramana Maharshi - Be As You Are--The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi--Godman.pdf

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, an Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book by Daniel Ingram.
http://www.dharmaoverground.org/dharma-wiki/-/wiki/Main/MCTB+

More
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/p/62014-...afterlife.html#articles_by_subject_meditation
 
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Does this cover OBE meditations?

No,I don't think it does. An effective OBE meditation would be Monroe's technique of initiating an OBE described in his first book. It can be found online I'm sure, but it requires some visualization skills and the instructions are not quite clear.
 
I am not a fan of obe meditations because the experts who write books on techniques cannot routinely obtain verifiable information from an obe meditation technique. Their books only list a few unusual experiences. There are a few natural psychics who have participated in experiements who do get verifiable information while obe. But evidential mediums get verified information every day, and I had many experiences of that taking classes in mediumship. So for me, obe techniques are not that interesting. I don't say obe's are not genuine spiritual experiences, just that the phenomenon is not interesting to me because it does not produce verifiable information. I also think the books and audio programs on obe are a scam because people think they are going to be able to leave their body at will, go where they choose, and obtain verifiable information to prove they were obe. That doesn't happen. Keeping a dream log is the easiest way to have a psychic experience because dreams are often precognitive.

But that is just my opinion, some people like obe techniques and I don't want to discourage anyone from trying them or diminish other people's experiences.
 
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In Buddhism, meditation is the last step of the eight fold path. The eight fold path is last of the four noble truths. The four noble truths are the last step of the six stage gradual training. In Buddhism, meditation is not intended to work by itself. It is the last step of a much larger framework.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/
Here is the Buddha's six-stage gradual training in more detail:​

  1. Generosity(dana)
  2. Virtue(sila)
  3. Heaven(sagga)
  4. Drawbacks(adinava)
  5. Renunciation(nekkhamma)
  6. The Four Noble Truths(cattari ariya saccani)
    1. The Noble Truth of Dukkha(dukkha ariya sacca)
    2. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha(dukkha samudayo ariya sacca)
    3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha(dukkha nirodho ariya sacca)
    4. The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha(dukkha nirodha gamini patipada ariya sacca)— The Noble Eightfold Path. The Commentaries group the eight path factors into three divisions:
      Right View(samma-ditthi)
    5. 2.Right Resolve(samma-sankappo)
      Virtue(sila):Right Effort(samma-vayamo)
 
I've been listening to a lot of Eckhart Tolle videos and am attracted to a lot of his ideas about cultivating non-thinking, Being, quieting the mind, throughout the day (your daily life), as opposed to just meditating for specific periods.

There's good advice about using different moments - stopping at a red light, waiting in line, to practice stillness (non-thinking, through various "techniques" like inner body awareness, acute sensory awareness i.e. perception without thinking, awareness of breath, listening to the silence) - to practice this, which I've been doing. I'll practice non-thinking whenever I drive my car period, and I find my automatic reflexes are enough to take care of the driving.

In this video he addresses the question as to whether it's important (or not) to have a formal meditation practice.

A lot of his teachings reminds of me of when I read The Way of Zen and would practice Zen meditation.

I'm interesting in integrating a "formal" practice, the simplest really where I just sit and don't think, but with the intention, as a first priority, of practicing stilling the mind (ego) constantly, throughout life.

(p.s. if you like this video, download it, it might not stay long.)
 
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