Customer Reviews

Insight Meditation

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!).

Although I was hesitant to spend this much money for a "correspondence course" in insight meditation. I decided to risk it and found that it exceeded my expectations. I had tried unsuccessfully to develop a regular sitting practice for several years. Joseph's and Sharon's precise, lucid pedagogical style, the practical "hands on" exercises at the end of each chapter, and access via email to a skilled Vipassana teacher enabled me to finally achieve that goal. Although I completed the course almost a year ago, I continue to work with my teacher online. The course also inspired me to attend a 10 day retreat at IMS which had a profound effect on my practice and my life. Bravo!!!

Each of the 12 lessons includes two dics of 40-50 minutes. The introduction discs seem thorough and set for the lesson objectives very well. The disc containing the guided meditation is easy to follow and is consistent with the introduction. I have allowed three weeks time for each lesson which will allow for course completion and some lesson reviews within the one year course period. I have enrolled with the Dharma Foundation and have been assigned an advisor. The advisor has been extremely helpful. One disc was defective and I called Sound True who immediately made arrangements to replace it. In summary, the course is exceeding my expectations.

I've been searching for materials on the fundamentals of Buddhism, and discovered that most resources are too esoteric for a neophyte Westerner such as myself. This "kit" is simple, yet comprehensive. Structured in a very easy to understand manner, it is unpretentious and free of cheesy gimmicks like similar items I have seen in stores. I like that it combines text, CDs and cards for a more complete multi-media experience. The CDs don't have any distracting new-age music, and the speakers' voices are calm and down to earth. They also do not talk excessively, but give just enough guidance along the way. The book provides a thorough overview without being too complicated, and the quotes sprinkled throughout offer ways to reflect on concepts in bite size bits of wisdom. This is a perfect primer for anyone beginning a journey into learning about Buddhism.

I have to admit that the way the meditation techniques and guidelines are presented in that course is unique, rarely found in other publications, including premium Buddhist authors. I found it very "enlightening", even having previous experience in Buddhist meditation practice. The presentation is done in a thorough, non sectarian way, eminently suitable to "western mind". The presentation of every technique or aspect is followed by several exercises and guided meditations which help to integrate it properly. The course, because it consists of several interesting topics, also helps to establish regular practice which is probably as important as the proper meditation technique. "It's not difficult to be mindful. It's difficult to remember to be mindful"- Joseph Goldstein

This takes a great deal of dedication, and is only for those of us who really want to change the way in which we experience our lives. It cannot be used as a quick fix, half heartedly. It's a fantastic journey to go along though, and will create a beneficial shift in even the most hardened of us all! Heartily recommended.

12 lectures and 12 guided meditations with artful study guide. Very impressively packaged. Probably originally formated for 12 cassette tapes. All the sessions are 30-45 minutes long (enough for one side of a cassette tape). Goldstein's lectures are the most interesting. Salzberg's are to me, rather simplistic. If I had it to do over, I would have paid no more that $75.