Customer Reviews

The Book of Meditation

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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In this book, Carrington answered most of the unanswered questions I had about meditation. I've been reading about and practicing meditation for 25 years now, and I had some questions lurking in the back of my mind like: Are some mantras really better than others? Is it possible to meditate too much? (And if so, how much is too much?) Is there any scientific evidence that meditation makes you more creative? Can it make you less productive? Carrington answers these questions and many more in The Book of Meditation. And her answers are not derived from tradition or what her teachers told her, but from compelling evidence and controlled experiments.

And yet she doesn't dismiss tradition as long as it hasn't been proven wrong in experiments. For example, in some traditions, certain mantras are considered dangerous for beginners. There have been no experiments to find out if this is true or not, so she removed those from her list of recommended mantras in her How To Meditate Kit. Her approach is balanced and reasonable.

Carrington is not only a researcher but also a psychotherapist and many of her illustrations are patients she has treated, giving a real-live feel to the points she's making. Her examples are interesting and illustrate her points well.

Half a chapter was devoted to one excellent example: The New York Telephone Company. Gilbeart Collings, the NYTC medical director, asked Carrington to find out if meditation would reduce employee stress. The first test was on 160 employees and lasted five and a half months. Stress-related physical symptoms dropped dramatically. That's why the company offered the program to the whole company.

They eventually taught almost 5000 employees of the NYTC to meditate. Thousands of these meditators were interviewed about the changes taking place in their lives. They felt less tension. Their irritability and hostility dropped dramatically, and so did feelings of anxiety. People reported feeling more tolerant and patient and less distressed by everyday frustrations. The meditators said they were listening better, feeling more open, acting and feeling kinder toward others, and in general being more like the person they've always wanted to be, at work and at home. This matches what I have found to be true in my own life, but it's great to hear it verified by others.

I really liked her chapter, Why Does Meditation Work? That is the exact wording of a question I typed into Google, which is how I found her book. The chapter looks at several explanations of how the various effects of meditation converge to produce such powerful benefits.

I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, which is not about meditation, but I can tell you that meditation (taught the way Carrington teaches it) may be the most important self-help stuff you can practice. It works. And this is the best book on meditation I've ever read.

This was actually the first meditation book that I bought. At that time I was searching for a spiritual path to help me with difficult life changes. I knew meditation was the path for me, but didn't know where to begin. The scope of Carrington's book tended to be too broad and clinical. The book's scientific mode may be useful to those who are interested in medical and psychological applications. Perfect for those who shy away from spirit. So, it's too cold for my purposes. For those with a similar purpose in mind I highly recommend Sogyal Rinpoche's Meditation booklet. My practice is grounded in the spiritual path, but I'm willing to give the book a chance for its scientific point of view. Not for me.

The Book of Meditation, The Complete Guide to Modern Meditation is full of scientific research and results. The book held my attention pretty strongly in the beginning, but it seemed to weaken quite drastically toward the end (In fact, I skipped a few chapters to the end.)

I really honestly don't mean to criticize the book. I just think that it depends on what a reader is looking for. If you are a little skeptical and some scientific research would be important, by all means, I strongly recommend this book. But if you are like me and are just looking for some helpful instruction on meditation, you might find yourself skipping around a lot. (I, personally prefer to read an entire book before I claim that I have read the book, but this is one exception)

As for the rest of the book, it is a good introduction to many different techniques and styles of "reaching the meditative state." I think that some of the most important advice someone could give on the subject is that "Not all techniques work for everyone and everyone's experiences are generally different."

I first encountered the earlier edition of Freedom on Meditation, when it was released in 1979. That was a great book. This one, updated and improved is even better. It is a comprehensive approach, with plenty of research back-up, to meditation. It is excellent for both the consumer who wants to learn to meditate and the health care provider who wants to introduce meditation into his or her practice. It is a great book to prescribe for clients.

Dr. Carrington, who I've known for about six years now, is one of the most thorough professionals I know. This book does a great job covering the bases, not just how to but also what to do when you encounter the twists and turns on the path of meditation, and it is a path.

I've also always liked that this book avoids inclusion of religious considerations. It is characterized as Clinically Standardized Meditation to make clear that it is not yoga or Zen meditation, or any other religion's form, though it is informed of the core elements which make these work.

I guess you can look on this non-religious aspect of this book as either a strength or a weakness. If you want to learn to meditate, without the excess baggage of a spiritual component, this is the book for you. If you want to learn to meditate and then integrate meditation into your faith, this can work nicely too. But if you want to learn to meditate using an approach that includes a spiritual path as well, then there are other books which will better suit you-- on TM, by Lama Surya Das and others.

the best book I heve ever read on this subject. It explains how meditation works,how you can learn by yourself and ancient rots of meditation.

A comprehensive and worthy follow up to her earlier "Freedom in Meditation". This book is concise but not quite the 'Complete Guide' - as the title would suggest. It lacks the overall perspective of a book such as "THE Autobiography..." by Richard G. Patton (another great study in meditation), where the quest for Spiritual Liberation is explored in gripping depth. Personally I would rather read 'This is how it WAS', than 'This is how you CAN' books! It takes different strokes for different folks. I prefered her earlier work.