How To Meditate

[Fyrenze]

How to Meditate; A Guide to Self-Discovery

by Lawrence LeShan

Not a bad book so far, I like some of the techniques he gives, and he seems well researched in many areas. One thing I don't like is the constant quoting of famous mystics, saints, monks, philosphers, and scientists.

Also, this is the bit I wanted to share and ask opinions on. Everyone's entitled to opinions, I just wanted to hear some other takes on this.

He makes a comparison about how both Plato and Taoism both start with strikingly similar takes on three main currents in the body - The generative currents, the vital-emotional currents, and the intellectual-spiritual currents.

The differences arise in their "metaphors." Plato used the metaphor of a city to describe the differences between the two. Clearly, this would not get confused as to being specific things inside a person. When Plato referred to the vil-emotional currents as soldiers, one would not ask where they could find these soldiers and make them get to work in their own body.

But in Taoism, specific body locations were given for these different currents and then they became concrete, forming belief in things such as chakras.

My feelings, however, are that chakras or the same basic thing have been discovered by many different cultures, have they not? At least, this was my limited understanding so far.

He also thinks that vibrations and tingling that occur during meditation are to be observed passively but that is all. He feels that to become overly interested in them impedes any real progress toward eventual self enlightenment. This interest causes us to "invent" things like an etheric body to explain them.

I just thought all of this was interesting. That one who seemed so objective in his gathering of information about meditation could suddenly be so subjective towards something which I consider to be very related is suprising, to say the least.

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