Insight Meditation [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Sharon Salzberg (Author), Joseph Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

When you seek to live a spiritual life, what matters most is not what you know, but the actions you take. How can you best embody the spiritual principles that uplift you and those around you? On Insight Meditation, you will learn one of the world's great contemplative practices - as it was taught by the Buddha himself - and then passed "candle to candle" for 2,500 years. Based on the curriculum developed at the Insight Meditation Society's retreat center in Barre, Massachusetts, this audio correspondence course is presented by IMS cofounders Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein, who are among the West's most respected meditation teachers. Students will learn with a qualified instructor how to establish and sustain a daily meditation practice. As each lesson unfolds, students learn to see past the illusion of life's obstacles and move toward an awakened mind-state - the true freedom we seek to achieve.

Now you can experience this rich and sacred retreat environment in your own home, with these same masterful instructors. Insight Meditation presents: 18 hours of classical teachings, practices, and meditations. an 88-page workbook with interactive exercises, resources, articles, and much more. One-on-one guidance from your personal instructor.

From great mystics to those in chronic pain; from political leaders to spiritual seekers; from bus drivers to CEOs - those who have developed a personal meditation practice confirm its power to enrich every aspect of daily life. For most of us who have tried meditation, the question has always been: "How do I keep going?" Insight Meditation offers the answer to this question: 12 months of personal guidance and support as you illuminate for yourself the way to freedom, one moment at a time. With 88-page workbook.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This life-changing course on Buddhism's core practices and teachings features 12 months of personal guidance and correspondence with an Insight Meditation Society instructor.

About the Author

Sharon Salzberg has studied and practiced meditation with Burmese, Indian, and Tibetan teachers for the past 25 years. She is a co-founder of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and the Insight Meditation Society, where she lives and teaches. She is the author of Lovingkindness, A Heart as Wide as the World, and (on audio) Lovingkindness Meditation and A Heart as Wide as the World.

Joseph Goldstein studied meditation in India and Burma before cofounding the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts. His books include The Experience of Insight; Insight Meditation; and (with Jack Kornfield) Seeking the Heart of Wisdom. A resident guiding teacher at IMS, he also teaches throughout the United States and abroad. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated; Unabridged edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591790727
• ISBN-13: 978-1591790723
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Books on CD > Health, Mind & Body > Relaxation & Meditation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This couse is the greatest thing that has ever happed to me., May 12, 1999

By 

Bill Butler "Bill Butler" (Tarzana, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Insight Meditation: An in-Depth Correspondence Course (Audio Cassette)

I think we all want to be happy. This course is not really Buddhist or even a course of meditation. It's a road map to happiness and great peace. It's a road map home. You can do the meditations in a chair. Or you can sit in a variety of positions. It is asked that you meditate for 45 minutes daily. But, on certain days, you can only meditate for a few minutes if you so choose. I feel it's really best to start on the road to happiness with this couse rather than finding a teacher or a group. I've been that route many times, and I have always been left unfulfilled. This is simply a wonderful couse. It custom-tailors the practice of happiness tailored for you. It is for beginners as well as for advanced practioners. My instructor has completed a nine-month retreat in this meditative tradition. Several three-month retreats. Is the director of a meditation program in New Hampshire. Has a master's degree in Western and Eastern Psychology. On and on. I follow the guided meditations with the tapes being played. You can do this or pracice without the tapes after you've listened to them several times. I prefer the tapes on. Once again, this course allows you to custom-tailor your practice for you. You don't get this by joining a group. All these options. It is hard work. But it's also good to be alive and not asleep. Each meditation on side two of each tape, modifys or builds on the prededing one. You are really creating your own practice. Then if you want to join a group or find a personal teacher, fine. But you will be in the driver's seat. And with this course and the resorces that the workbook provides you, I'm beginning to wonder if this is absolutely necessary. I write to my instructor after each lesson. And she replies. I am also asked to contact her if there are any special problems with my practice. Using either letter or cassette tape. I use mail. I really love this course. It's just so concise. And each tape is user-fiendly. The talks are very inspiring, and the guided meditations gently glide you into the practices. If you really want happiness based on a 2,500 year study of the mind and the causes and the practices of happiness, here it is. Put the workbook under one arm, the cassette binder under the other, and follow the yellow brick road to happiness. There is one catch. It is hard work. And you do have to stick with it. Nothing is free. Good luck.

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It will change your life..., December 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Insight Meditation: An in-Depth Correspondence Course (Audio Cassette)

I purchased this meditation kit over a year ago. Previous to this course I could not get a good sense of direction in terms of meditation. I read some books, and got bits and peces here and there.
This course is complete. It has everything you need to meditate... except something to sit on. The tapes are great. They start of really basic and gradually build on one another. One side of a tape is a teaching and the second is a guided meditation. It really makes you feel like you are there sitting with the instructor. I did an average of one course a month. With this I completed all the exercises in the book and wrote to my correspondence instructor every month. Most of the correspondence is pre-written but some is actual text from a live instructor. I had some problems/concerns and I wrote to the instructor. He answered all my question and was very attentive.
This is NOT something you can do in one weekend. This is a lengthy but very rewarding experience. You need to spend an average of 45 minutes a day on this. To complete this course I meditated 3-5 times a week, 45 minutes at a time for over a year.
The course really changed my life. I continue to meditate today. The way you look at the world will never be the same. I am more relaxed, I can control my emotions a lot easier, I fall asleep within 2 minutes or less etc. etc.
I highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a little peace in this crazy world.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Money Ever Spent, April 30, 2001

By 

Clark Freshman (Miami beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Insight Meditation: An in-Depth Correspondence Course (Audio Cassette)

I've never, ever gotten more out of a purchase in my life. This is a wonderful treat: 12 casettes with wonderful easy to follow talks on meditation, 12 guided mediation tapes, an easy to read guide, and a meditation teacher who writes to you after every lesson. I've gotten a tremendous amount of peace of mind and even insight out of this experience, and I recommend it highly to all of my friends -- well, except the very most skeptical types (though no doubt they need it most!).