Here are 100 books that Reverse Meditation fans have personally recommended if you like
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Iām a world historian with a special interest in religion. In particular, Iām excited by the possibility that traditional religious ideas and practices can be useful in our modern, often secular, society and in our individual lives. So often, I read books about religion that make their subject accessible to readers today, but at the cost of turning religion into a modern thing and removing its transformative potential as an alternative way to think about life. I keep these five books close by on my shelves because their creators use sympathy, grace, and sharp analysis to make religion accessible even while also keeping it true to itself.
Did you know that todayās āmindfulnessā movementāwhich promises everything from greater corporate productivity to more passion in the bedroomāoriginated in nineteenth-century resistance to the British Empire?
After the conquest of Burma, meditationāpreviously something mostly the domain of wilderness hermitsābecame a technique everyone could use to strengthen Buddhist Burmese society against cultural imperialism. Burmese teachers brought this practice to America, and Americans came to Burma to learn it directly.
It was fascinating to follow meditationās journey in these pages from a tool of resistance against globalization to a technique brought around the world by globalization today. This book helped me appreciate the strange history of mindfulness meditation.
Insight meditation, which claims to offer practitioners a chance to escape all suffering by perceiving the true nature of reality, is one of the most popular forms of meditation today. The Theravada Buddhist cultures of South and Southeast Asia often see it as the Buddha's most important gift to humanity. In the first book to examine how this practice came to play such a dominant and relatively recent role in Buddhism, Erik Braun takes readers to Burma, revealing that Burmese Buddhists in the colonial period were pioneers in making insight meditation indispensable to modern Buddhism. Braun focuses on the Burmeseā¦
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesāall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueā¦
As a thirty-year meditator, certified meditation leader, and award-winning author, itās my job to keep up on the latest books about mindfulness and Zen practice. Despite seeing new volumes being published regularly, I return to these books as great sources of solid practice information. Each of these authors explains meditation in accessible terms, easy for readers to follow and understand. I canāt remember who said that a confused reader is an antagonistic reader, but they are right. The books Iāve suggested offer clarity. They help readers begin or continue their practice and understand how and why meditation is worth their time.
In this straightforward meditation manual, Bhante G. (as he is affectionately called) sets forth the hows and whys of mindfulness meditation. When I first learned to meditate, I found this simple but profound book the most accessible of the many books available. My husband and I were so impressed with Bhanteās wisdom that we brought him to Columbus, Ohio to teach a weekend retreat for our local mindfulness group. He was warm, caring, and funny. His personality comes across in this small, but mighty book.
Mindfulness in Plain English was first published in 1994, is one of the bestselling ā and most influential ā books in the field of mindfulness. Itās easy to see why.
Author Bhante Gunaratana, a renowned meditation master, takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. The book showcases Bhanteās trademark clarity and wit as he explores the tool of meditation, what it does, and how to make it work. Ā This book is:
A best-selling introduction to mindfulness Full of practical advice on developing aā¦
Maitreyabandhu started attending classes at the London Buddhist Centre (LBC) in 1986. He was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1990 and given the name Maitreyabandhu. Since then he has lived and worked at the LBC, teaching Buddhism and meditation, and leading retreats. He has written three books on Buddhism, Thicker than Blood: Friendship on the Buddhist Path, Life with Full Attention: A Practical Course in Mindfulness, and The Journey and the Guide: A Practical Guide in Enlightenment. Maitreyabandhu is also a prize-winning poet having written three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books. Maitreyabandhu founded PoetryEast in 2010 where he interviews well-known artists and writers, including Antony Gormley, Wendy Cope, and Colm TĆ³ibĆn. He is the co-founder, with Dr. Paramabandhu Groves, of Breathing Space, the LBCās health and wellbeing project.
More and more people are drawn to meditation but itās easy to be confounded by all those books and online teachings. This book is a great way to start. A simple guide to Buddhist meditation ā to what it means, and how to do it ā itās practical, clear, helpful, and short.
Provides traditional practices for the readers to learn how to exchange stress and anxiety for calm and clarity of mind, and transform anger and fear into kindness and self confidence. The author guides on meditation with anecdotes and tips, from his experience of teaching meditation of more than 15 years.
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicitā¦
I remember experiencing a true nervous breakdown once in high school. I had to leave campus in tears, filled with familiar sorrows and emotions I didnāt recognize as my own. Something was happening and I couldnāt put my finger on it, and it was utterly disorienting. Luckily, a spiritual mentor lived right down the street. She was quickly able to diagnose my experience. āYouāre a very strong empath,ā she said. I had to learn what that meant, so I devoted many years to learning as much as I could about the empathic experience from psychological, physiological, anthropological, and metaphysical lenses alike.
There is nothing about this masterful book I donāt absolutely adore. This title, as well as her husband Daniel Golemanās Emotional Intelligence, are rooted in Buddhist psychology. However, one neednāt be a Buddhist to approach their worksāI mean, Iām a Pagan Witch and American Hindu, for goodnessā sake!
We all have something to learn from this book. This book gets to the heart of the human emotional experience. I found that it presents āshadow workā in a manner thatās encouraging, not frightening, and teaches emotionally sensitive soulsāwhether or not they identify as empathsāhow to successfully manage emotions, confront traumas, and put an end to negative behavioral cycles with kindness and wisdom prevail. This is one of the rare books I will regularly return to and forever treasure.
āMay this very important and enticing book find its way into the hearts of readers near and far so that it can perform its mysterious and healing alchemy for the benefit of all.ā āJohn Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are and Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School
The Transformative Power of Mindfulness
Alchemists sought to transform lead into gold. In the same way, says Tara Bennett-Goleman, we all have the natural ability to turn our moments of confusion or emotional pain into insightful clarity.
Emotional Alchemy maps the mind and shows how, according to recentā¦
As a thirty-year meditator, certified meditation leader, and award-winning author, itās my job to keep up on the latest books about mindfulness and Zen practice. Despite seeing new volumes being published regularly, I return to these books as great sources of solid practice information. Each of these authors explains meditation in accessible terms, easy for readers to follow and understand. I canāt remember who said that a confused reader is an antagonistic reader, but they are right. The books Iāve suggested offer clarity. They help readers begin or continue their practice and understand how and why meditation is worth their time.
I recommend this book not because the author runs, as do I, but because she connects the physical body with freedom and insight. She has felt the stillness during movement. You are fully in the moment and everything is one. I met Vanessa Zeuisei Goddard, by chance when my husband and I visited Zen Mountain Monastery where she was practicing and where Ed had practiced years before. The retreats were between sessions, on a break from silence, so she and I were able to talk. To speak with someone who is both on the meditative path and who meditates while she moves gave me the courage to move forward with my work on my own movement meditation book. I step into the lineage, a tradition her lovely volume follows.
Learn how to bring the power of stillness into your running practice with meditations, guidance, and inspiration from a long-time runner and Zen practitioner.
Running is more than just exercise. Running is a practice, a moving meditation, that brings the power of stillness to all the activities in our lives. Vanessa Zuisei Goddard combines her experience leading running retreats with her two-decade practice of Zen to offer insight, humor, and practical guidance for grounding our running, or any physical practice, in meditation.
When we see running solely as exercise and focus on improving our times, covering a certain numberā¦
I believe that creativity and mindfulness are critical qualities for a well-lived life. This is something I learned through personal experience as a former lawyer who returned to my childhood dream of creating art and stories. Mindfulnessāa kind, nonjudgmental awareness of what is happening in the present moment in and around youāhelps people of all ages practice self-compassion, appreciate the world and others, and see life as an adventure. I write and illustrate picture books to share these concepts through storytelling, teach mindful creative classes, and am a certified meditation teacher through The Awareness Training Institute and the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley.
I love the simple and approachable pebble meditation practice shared in this kid-friendly mindfulness guide, which emphasizes our interconnectedness with nature.
I truly believe that mindful skills like self-awareness and emotional regulation are critical to living a happy, meaningful, and compassionate life, and the sooner children can begin practicing them, the better.
This book offers a fun, easy, and beautiful meditation practice for all ages.Ā
A playful, illustrated guide to one of the best known and most innovative meditation practices for young children experiencing stress, difficulty focusing, and difficult emotions Ā Developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as part of the Plum Village communityās practice with children, pebble meditation is a playful and fun activity that parents and educators can do with their children to introduce them to meditation. It is designed to involve children in a hands-on and creative way that touches on their interconnection with nature. Practicing pebble meditation can help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude, and can help children deal with difficultā¦
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad.Ā
There are so many good spiritual books out there that get little attention, especially books by women and women of color. I have been a meditation practitioner for three decades, running a mindfulness center at UCLA, and been teaching and sharing Buddhist and mindfulness teaching for 20+ years. I need my sources of inspiration too! Each of these books forced me to thinkāand brought new depth to my own meditation practice. I am interested in how the Buddhist and mindfulness teachings, which I love so deeply, can help us build resiliency and weather the challenges of the intersecting current ecological, political, and social crises. These books are a great start.
Follow Eden on a journey into all the fecundity of darknessāinto the body, nature, silence, world challenges. She is an amazing guide to a shadow side of the Buddhist practice that I have not seen elsewhere. She shows how these neglected aspects of ourselves are actually a path to awakening and healing. Itās a pretty remarkable and unusual book and it just came out!
A resonant call to explore the darkness in life, in nature, and in consciousnessāincluding difficult emotions like uncertainty, grief, fear, and xenophobiaāthrough teachings, embodied meditations, and mindful inquiry that provide us with a powerful path to healing.
Darkness is deeply misunderstood in todayās world; yet it offers powerful medicine, serenity, strength, healing, and regeneration. All insight, vision, creativity, and revelation arise from darkness. It is through learning to stay present and meet the dark with curiosity rather than judgment that we connect to an unwavering light within. Welcoming darkness with curiosity, rather than fear or judgment, enables us to accessā¦
Iām a psychologist, consultant, author, and father based in Massachusetts, and I am also a former special education teacher. After discovering mindfulness as a young man when I was struggling with my own stress, substance abuse, and mental health challenges, I became determined to share with others. I love reading and writing books, sharing child development and mental health tips in workshops worldwide, and helping kids, families, and schools be their best. Iām also the author of twenty books for adults and kids, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024).
This book is one of my favorites, and by my favorite mindfulness teacher Thich Nhat Hanh no less. Full of hands on activities, arts and crafts, and beautiful illustrations and simple instructions. I was initially skeptical of some of the instructions and practices, but was amazed at how well they āworkedā with kids.
Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children is the fruit of decades of development and innovation in the Plum Village community's collective practice with children. Based on Thich Nhat Hanh's thirty years of teaching mindfulness and compassion to parents, teachers, and children, the book and enclosed CD cover a wide range of contemplative and fun activities parents and educators can do with their children or students. The activities are designed to help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude and confidence, deal with difficult emotions, touch our interconnection with nature, and improve communication.Ā
Planting Seeds offers insight, concrete activities, and curricula thatā¦
I went through a particularly hard time several years ago and to get through it I was forced to dig deep into what Iād learned about compassion and self-compassion over three decades of meditating. Because Iām a meditation teacher, I wanted to share with my students everything I learned about being kind and supportive toward myself as I went through the toughest challenges Iād ever faced so that they could benefit as well. Thatās why I wrote This Difficult Thing of Being Human. Self-compassion has become the core of everything Iāve taught since then, and one of the wonderful things about it is that once youāve shown yourself compassion, you automatically find yourself treating others with compassion too.
Sharon Salzberg is undoubtedly the preeminent teacher of lovingkindness meditation in the west, and probably the world. When I read her book Iād already been practicing this form of meditation for a dozen years, and yet dipping into it now reminds me of how much of my own teaching draws on Sharonās pioneering work. If you want to learn to develop lovingkindness, which is the basis of compassion, Sharonās book is the ideal place to start.
Throughout our lives we long to love ourselves more deeply and find a greater sense of connection with others. Our fear of intimacyāboth with others and with ourselvesācreates feelings of pain and longing. But these feelings can also awaken in us the desire for freedom and the willingness to take up the spiritual path.
In this inspiring book, longtime meditation practitioner and teacher Sharon Salzberg shows how the Buddhist path can help us discover the radiant, joyful heart within each one of us, drawing on Buddhist teachings, wisdom from various traditions, her personal experiences, and guided meditation exercises. With theseā¦
At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, heās lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, aā¦
Solan McClean has developed the practice of present moment awareness through the experience of driving using the PRND method and is best know as the author of Learning to Drive into the Now: PRND. He is active in many areas of self-realization including Zen meditation, Vipassana meditation, Kripalu Yoga, Dharma Yoga, and of course mindful driving.
Tulku wrote a great resource to facilitate learning and practicing meditation and opening up the mind to its innate healing powers and abilities to center and calm the soul. Another book that deserves to be read more than once.
Hidden Mind of Freedom helps us to awaken our inner resources through meditation and self-observation. In simple, direct language Tarthang Tulku shows us how to activate the healing qualities latent within the mind. Breathing techniques, mantra, and visualization exercises foster deep relaxation, promoting clarity and concentration. Awareness of mind's hidden resources opens a gateway to lasting freedom and peace. An accessible text that has surprising depth on repeated reading.
