Customer Reviews

The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

1. The distinction between concentration and mindfulness as forms of practice has never in my reading experience been so clearly stated. (My meditation library is extensive and my practice is 7 years old.) 2. The stages of insight work -- also, the clearest presentation in my reading experience. Particularly helpful were the discussions on "visions" (p. 12) and pseudonirvana (p. 26). 3. Part IV: The Psychology of Meditation -- This is a gem. Ties in beautifully with _Emotional Intelligence_ (another Goleman treasure). The "altered states or altered traits" of consciousness discussion (pg. 172-5) is the best explanation of the "3rd foundation of mindfulness" I have seen. Summary: If you are interested in how your practice fits into the grand scheme of practices or looking for a menu to chose from, this is the book. If you want a clarification of the path at the center of all practices, no where else have I seen a better presentation.

This! ! is a seven star book as is _Emotional Intelligence_.

Good overall book of meditation. Goleman makes the distinction between the two major types of meditation: Concentration and Mindfulness. He also gives a pretty thorough description of the Visuddhimagga mind maps. He goes on to describe Hindu Bhaki, Jewish Kabblah, Christian Hesychasm, Sufism, TM, Ashtanga, Tantra and Kundalini Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Gurdjeiff and Krishnamurti

In THE MEDITATIVE MIND: THE VARIETIES OF MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE Daniel Goleman does an even more comprehensive job of covering his subject matter than William James did in his classic study of relgion,THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. Goleman covers a wider range of experiences and -- given that psychology has come a long way since James'day -- provides a more detailed analysis. This book ranks with Aldous Huxley's THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY as a modern classic on spiritual paths. He makes a good case for meditation as an ancient "psychotechnology" (my words, not his) for the transformation of consciousness. He cuts through the superficial differences in meditative practices, and points out what all of them share at the core: the retraining of attention.

I found this book 5 years ago and have really not found another book which is better at describing complete path with such clarity, and richness. I think this book is extremely helpful for all meditators who are interested in seeing where they are on the path. For without a map, it is extremely easy for any meditator to become lost and not make any real progress. This book in my opinion can also be used to assess the presence of authentic teachers, someone who has traversed at least 4 levels of absorption, have seen validity attachment in cause of suffering, have begun purification of their bodies as well as their minds, and have experienced true emptiness and not fallen into attachment afterwards.

This book an overview of the major different meditation paths and would appeal to those who have a questioning mind - its analysis of the various paths is quite objective. If you are looking for general guidelines and a justification of the positive aspects of meditation this book is definitely worth reading.

Though I know it isn't beneficial, I spent years trying to fit all the pegs in their proper holes in my meditative practice. Questions like "If they feel that why do we feel this?" or "Is this experience the same as that, only named differently?" or "Who's really correct?". With one read this book resolved all my issues and doubts about the validity of my own path, Vipassana, and how my practice relates to all others. I've learned how everything does sort of fit together, at least generally so, and much to my teachers' delight I am able to plunge more deeply into practice without reservation. I have no more doubts!

I have read many books on meditation. This is the best. Dan Goleman gives an excellent review of the literature relavent to this subject without religious bias. Superb work. A must read.

This is an excellent introduction to meditation. It is especially good if you have heard or read something about meditation but are unsure about the benefits or the best approach. Much is available in reading material on this subject but usually only one type of meditation is covered in books on the subject. The Meditative Mind helps in sorting out the different approaches.

Things that I liked about the book include the following.
Goleman says that the true context of meditation is spiritual life but he doesn't show religious or political preference in presenting the material.
Some of the historical background of meditation is described.
Details are given for preparation for meditation, the path of concentration, and the path of insight. This information is from the Buddhist point of view but I believe some of it applies to other forms of meditation.
Eleven forms of meditation (paths) are described. They include some that I had heard about and some that I didn't know about. It was good to have a discussion of this variety of approaches in one book
I appreciated the chapter that described the essential unity among all of the paths of meditation.
In the chapter on the psychology of meditation, Goleman describes Eastern and Western psychological constructs and their meaning for meditation practices.
While the book is not inspirational literature, information presented on the benefits of meditation inspired me to look further into the subject.
Goleman cites his sources of information and this creates a valuable list for further reading.

The only regret that I have about the book is that it was published in 1988 and some of the material hasn't been updated for research since twenty years ago. Still, it is the best introduction to meditation that I know of.

Abosuletly fantastic book. Gives a map of the stages or levels you go through in meditation, and explains in simple and concise terms the real differences between the various meditation systems of the world. If you want to know what happens to your head when you meditate, this book is for you. Its also a great help for those interested in starting meditation but don't know which direction to go in or what style would suit them best.

First published in 1977 under the title The Varieties of Meditative Experience, Goleman's book is a clear and straightforward presentation of various meditative disciplines organized around the map of consciousness explicated in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga. Part I details this map, describing the paths of serenity (samadhi) and insight (vipassana). The various jhanas (meditative absorptions) are described, as are the insight knowledges. The tone throughout is professional, understanding and clear, though lacking the feel of a first-hand account. Two notable mistakes are made in this section, one being the consistent misspelling of pañña as puñña (I get a little worried when an author misspells key terms), the second being the placement of nirodha-samapatti ("cessation of feeling and perception") as above, or superior to, that of nibbana. There is no justification for this given the evidence of the Pali Suttas, where n-s is described rather as a kind of "super jhana" attainable only by anagamis and arhats. It is not, in itself, liberative.

Part II is a survey of meditation paths--Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and many things in between. Even Gurdjieff and Krishnamurti show up here. While at times illuminating--it's certainly a good, quick cross-section of the many traditions available--the underlying assumption of the discussion is in line with the old saying that "all paths lead to the mountain top," something this reader, at least, is not convinced of. (This position is explicitly affirmed in part III, entitled "Meditation Paths: Their Essential Unity.")

Why I am not convinced of this can perhaps be illustrated by a passage from the section on Jewish mysticism. "The end of the Kabbalist's path," Goleman writes, "is devekut, in which the seeker's soul cleaves to God" (p. 52). And in the paragraph below that, in a passage quoted from Gershom Scholem, devekut is defined as a state of mind wherein "You constantly remember God and his love, nor do you remove your thought from Him...to the point when such a person speaks with someone else, his heart is not with them at all but is still before God." Now this is fine as far as it goes, but it in no way approximates the view of things that result from the attainment of nibbana as described by the Buddha and his disciples in the Pali Suttas, and which the Visuddhimagga seeks to elaborate. Consider this from Samyutta Nikaya 22.58(6): "A bhikkhu liberated by wisdom, liberated by nonclinging through revulsion towards form [feeling, perception, volitional formations, consciousness], through its fading away and cessation, is called one liberated by wisdom" (from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, pp. 900-1). In other words, enlightenment consists not of being attached to something (to a god or gods real or imagined), but rather through the cessation of all attachments.

In other words, there is no reason to believe the Jewish holy man--the zaddik--or the Christian saint or the Muslim sufi attains what the Buddha attained. In fact, the experiences of the Kabbalistic meditators are examples not of nibbana (nirvana) but of the higher jhanas--equivalent, according to Golem, to the Sufi fana--and Goleman seems to admit this much when on page 62 he says that Sufi practice "culminates in baqa, abiding in some degree of fana [jhana] consciousness while in the middle of ordinary activity." This is precisely what the Hindus call sahaj samadhi, "open eyed samadhi," and though a high attainment, it is not the equivalent of the Buddhist nibbana. In fact, as the suttas make clear time and again, contemplatives before the Buddha were prone to believing in their own enlightenment specifically as a result of their attainment of those sorts of states. Goleman's book, however, does nothing to illuminate this problem; it merely perpetuates the popular and fatuous notion that all religions are, at their heart, one and the same.

If I seem overly critical in the above passages, I don't want to give the impression that the book is in any way a failure. Its positives far outweigh its negatives, and even considering my critique of Part III, Goleman is right in asserting correspondences between meditative traditions. They are certainly there, and they need to be understood and appreciated; there is much that contemplatives from different cultures can share with and learn from one another.

For many people, Part IV will prove the most interesting, where Goleman looks at the psychology of meditation. Here he is in his element (he is, after all, a psychologist), and he offers a good introductory survey of the Western attempt to come to grips with issues of mind and consciousness. A number of scientific studies of meditation are discussed, though one is left with the overwhelming feeling that so much more can--and should--be done. However, if one remembers that the book is almost a quarter century old, one can rest assured that since its publication much has indeed been done.