Customer Reviews

Guided Meditations: For Calmness, Awareness, and Love

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is hands-down the best meditation CD I've come across. I'd give it 6 stars if I could. It's not tarted up with hokey sound effects and New Age music but is simply the teacher's (very pleasant) voice, guiding you to calm and relaxation. His approach is highly accessible for Westerners and really taught me how to meditate. I'm such a big fan of this CD, in fact, that I've bought at least four to give as gifts to stressed-out friends and family members. (One of the recipients was a voice teacher who said she could listen to him all night.) If you like what you hear, you should also check out the outstanding online meditation courses he offers on www.wildmind.org. I can't recommend the CD or the courses highly enough.

If you would like an introduction to Buddhist Meditation, this is the cd for you! The cd contains three lead meditations, 1) The Mindfulness of breathing practice. 2) The Metta Bhavana Practice (Loving Kindness) 3) Walking Mediation.

I found Bodhipaksas cd to be a breath of fresh air. His soft clear voice is perfect to lead meditations. He carefully sets up each meditation in easy to follow steps. This kind of clarity is only found with someone who has been doing something for a long time. It is easy to tell that Bodhipaksa is passionate about what he does. (Bodhipaksa is a member of the Western Buddhist Order, and has been a practicing Buddhist for eighteen years, and teaching meditation for more than a decade)

Relevant to todays society, where the pace of life is way too fast, and stress is at an all time high. Relax and Rejuvenate with Bodhipaksa and this is guided meditation CD, it is like having your own private meditation teacher.
I can't wait for the book!!!

Wendy Aitken BSc BEd
Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor
Reiki Master
Meditator

For folks who want to learn to truly meditate, there are better "tools", such as Sharon Salzberg's (Co-Founder of Insight Meditation Society) Insight Meditation: A Step by Step Course, which has two very good CD's and an excellent instruction manual. It's worth the price just for the CD's though. However, this is not to take anything away from a very sincere, and kind effort on the part of Bodhipaksa on this CD. For experienced meditators, you will find far too much voice and not enough silence. The CD is more of a hypnotic, relaxation inducing session (akin to hypnotherapy) with a lot of "suggestion" in terms of what you should experience or feel, and little or no "coaching" in awareness. This is certainly not a knock on the sincerity of the narrator and there is much benefit to be gained from this CD. It's more a question of skill level and what you wish from a meditation CD. If you simply want someone to guide you in relaxation while you suspend your attentive faculties, this works great. And, that is what I want at times! However, once you experience the awareness and insight aspects of meditation, you will actually see deep relaxation/drowsiness as a hindrance. (I know that is hard to believe, but true!) So, if you wish to become more skilled in Metta and/or Insight (Vipassana) meditation, then your safest and best bet is to seek out folks associated with the Insight Meditation Society or S.I. Goenka's network. Both of these organizations are highly successful, have long histories, have excellent reputations, and are strongly rooted in a long tradition. May you be happy and at ease.

I have been meditating for over 20 years and I teach meditation. In general, I follow the Buddhist Vipassana methods although I'm always open to learning new things. I bought this CD to check it out because I am always looking for new resources for people learning meditation.

This specific CD contains three basic meditations: mindfulness of breathing, loving-kindness and walking meditation. The first two are rather common to find, but instruction on walking meditation is a bit more unusual to find on audio.

I found all of the meditations to be simple, straightforward, uncomplicated by distracting music and well thought out. The first two do an excellent job of covering the basics and are quite good for a beginner. There are many fine points to both these meditations that one can learn later from a book such as MINDFULNESS WITH BREATHING by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu or Sharon Salzberg's book on Loving-Kindness Meditation.

I'm glad a walking meditation was included on this CD and I think this one is a good start. However, I felt this section of the CD could be better and include more instruction. There are many levels to walking meditation and perhaps the author felt it was most important to start somewhere and give people a simple practice to start.

I have found walking meditation to be particularly useful for busy Westerners and learning the various levels and fine points of this practice important. There are not a lot of audio resources for this information, but the Insight Meditation package by Salzberg and Goldstein does a pretty good job. However, their voices are not nearly as pleasant as Bodhipaksa. This additional instruction may help you to take your practice of walking meditation further, however.

Overall, I think is a very good CD and I would recommend to beginners particularly Westerners without reservation. At the same time, I would also recommend that beginners continue to grow and pick up additional resources as they progress particularly with respect to walking meditation.

I would like to mention that all of the meditations are a good length for beginners, easy to follow and stress basic points. For some beginners, thirty minute meditations may be a bit long, but you can always take the CD, learn the principles and practice any length you desire. A strong point of these CDs is there is not so much information that a beginning practitioner is not overwhelmed or trying to follow to many fine points where diminishing returns sets in.

I notice some people mentioned trouble falling asleep in other reviewers, this is a normal part of the struggle of learning to meditate. Focusing on upright posture, narrowing the attention in tighter to the object of concentration or openning the eyes briefly with a soft gaze can help at the beginning stages of practice. For people who still have trouble, 10-15 seconds of rapid breathing through the nose as described in pranayama yoga practices of Dr. Andrew Weil's tapes on breathing could also help.

I'm a semi-experienced meditator in the "classical" (for want of a better term) tradition of mindfulness or Vipassana meditation. I've found Bodhipaksa's disc to be a wonderful way for beginners to learn to meditate, and for those who are experienced to become refocussed and more skilled. It's not necessary to be a Buddhist practitioner to enjoy and benefit from working with this disc, though. Anyone who is interested in establishing or deepening a practice will find it useful. It's very no-frills, gentle but austere. I would recommend it not for one who wants something nice and "relaxing" (in a new-agey kind of way), but for one who is serious about establishing a solid practice... which is not, after all, about relaxing and feeling good (although those are sometimes pleasant by-products), but about sharpening mental discipline and awareness.

I cannot say enough about this meditation CD. Bodhipaksa has the most soothing voice. I have listened to the Development of Lovingkindness meditation many times and each time I get more out of it. I bought this CD to help me deal with anxiety and panic attacks and it really works. I settle into a comfortable chair and let his voice drop over me and the worries and fears seam to fade away. He guides me to remember that that I can also have a more gentle inner voice that is not filled with anxiety. Highly Recommended!

First, let me comment on some of the poor reviews. If you are looking for soothing new age/classical music to meditate to, this CD is not for you. A matter of fact, it has no music! Most Buddhist meditations may have some chanting, but generally do not have an orchestra in the shrine room!

Second, if you want something to sleep to, I do not know why you would be buying a CD with "awareness" in the title! It difficult being aware when we are "awake" much less asleep ! Try chamomile tea...it helps me sleep very well!

Finally, meditation is not always relaxing. At times it can bring up issues we may find unpleasant. However, it can be a helpful tool in learning about ourselves and our inner most workings. Meditation can be a lot of work ! However, I find that this CD and the speakers calm voice help guide me through my difficult meditations when I was significantly distracted.

If you are looking a a pragmatic meditation CD that is based in traditional Buddhist meditation practices, like mindfulness and Metta Bhavna (loving kindness), and will help you learn and guide you through them, then I recommend this one.

I was surprised that someone in the review said s/he fell asleep while listening to this CD, as I cannot fall asleep even if I try to sleep listening to any of the three sessions contained in this CD. The first two meditations (focusing on breathing and cultivating empathy) actually make me so aware of both my inner-self and outer-world in a fantastically soothing way that I alwasy feel more awake and often even more energetic after each session. I became kind of addicted and looking forward to listening to the first breathing meditation session each morning after waking up!! Really amazing, I used to hate to wake up. As others have already mentioned, Bodhipaksa has a wonderful calm voice and a beautiful (sophisticated) Scotsman's accent which is VERY CLEAR even to a person like me whose mother tongue is not English.

Every time I commute to my office walking for 20 minutes, I listen to the third session ("walking meditation") recorded to my MP3 player. The meditation is just 20 minutes long and it nicely fits my commuting distance. It really makes me easy to work in my office, because I definitely think I can focus on my works more easily and also I can cope much better with some not-so-nice colleagues of mine. I feel sharper and I am not feeling stressed so much any more in my office, thanks to the 'not clinging to anything but just notice' attitude which I can now enjoy because of these session.

This CD is genuinely incredible. It's the best thing since sliced bread!! NO hypnotic audio records or how-to-meditate books (yes, I got loads of this kind of things) gave me such a brilliant result. Its clear recording quality and there not being any Muzak also help. I have been using this CD for just 5 weeks, which is also amazing as I am a person who tends to get very easily bored!!

This is a great cd for both experienced and beginning meditators. I have been trying to restart my meditation practice with guided meditations, and recently purchased this cd. I can tell you it is excellent for anyone who is interested in meditation. Although it does not contain music, (which at times is distracting anyway, particularly to beginning meditators) this gentleman has such a beautiful and calming voice, which really adds to the meditations. The directions are clear and precise, but given in such a gentle way that you feel as though you are floating into this practice.

The really good thing about this is the way he gets you into a deep state so gradually. For example in the first meditation, which is a guided meditation on the breath, Bodhipaksa starts you off with your eyes open, and from there guides you into a meditation on the breath, first through different counting practices, and then eventually, and very gradually into a deep meditation where you focus on the breath itself and the sensations you feel with it.

My only caution is that it may be a little long for real beginners, as it is almost 30 minutes for each meditation. But remember, that if sitting for that amount of time may be difficult for you, you can do this laying down, which is how I did it the first time.

I highly recommend this item!!!

This CD has three separate relaxation/meditation sessions on it, guided by a very pleasant and direct male voice. Unlike so many other products of its type, this CD does not have bad synthesizer music, does not feature a phony or affected style of narration, and does not make any bogus claims to be "subliminal" or to "re-train the brain" or any of that balderdash.

What you get is 1. a guided meditation for getting into a pleasantly relaxed state of body awareness while taking a stroll (superb for those easing back into a fitness routine slowly after an illness or injury) 2. A nice long breath-awareness relaxation session that if followed diligently can put you into very deep states of full-body relaxation and mental calmness, and 3. a buddhist-inspired meditation session designed to help you develop and maintain feelings of loving kindness toward not just yourself and your friends, but toward people you don't even like. The CD makes no claims to be designed for advanced meditators or for buddhists or hindus/yoga practitioners looking for very deep and esoteric stuff. It is geared more toward the average person who just wants to develop the habit of relaxation and stress relief through natural, healthy means. Bodhipaksa, if you happen to be reading this, keep up the good work fella, and I love your accent.

I would also like to note that I have never fallen asleep while listening to this product. I would like to kindly suggest to the reviewer who said this CD makes him fall asleep, that he might want to get checked to see if he has a sleep disorder, or if he is simply not setting aside ample time for restful sleep at night. A healthy person getting adequate rest at night should be able to go into deep states of mental relaxation without dozing off, if not all the time, then most of the time.