Meditation for Life

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 168 pages
• Published by: Wisdom Publications October 25, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0861713028
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0861713028
• Book Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
Meditation is more than staring at your navel. It is a way of transforming life from the inside out. Former Buddhist nun Martine Batchelor knows this from a decade spent in a Zen monastery. Combining theory and practice, Batchelor transforms her own meditation experience into a manual that echoes the simple elegance of Zen. Ten chapters focus on different aspects of meditation, and each is broken down into background, practice, and a final guided meditation. For example, the chapter on daily life first explains the difference between formal and informal meditation, then discusses the many opportunities for informal meditation and how we can learn from those experiences. In the "Practice" section of the chapter, Batchelor offers specific methods for informal meditation, and finally, ends with a page of instructions for how to cook mindfully. Two things that set Meditation for Life apart from other books of its kind are the well-chosen personal anecdotes that Batchelor uses to illustrate her points and the stunningly meditative photographs by her husband, Stephen Batchelor--photographs that could legitimately comprise a collection of their own. --Brian Bruya

Product Description
This book is the most well-written, informative and comprehensive--and certainly the most gorgeous--meditation book on the market.

Reader Reviews
I've been meditating in the Vipassana tradition for almost four years, and picked this up after reading the wonderful book "Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Martine's husband Stephen Batchelor. I was not disappointed. This book is a plain-spoken, humble, wise, good-natured, and non-tendential introduction to a variety of buddhist spiritual outlooks and practices, with particular attention to Vipassana (insight meditation) and Korean Zen methods. I strongly recommend it both to novice meditators and more experienced practitioners. Each will find an ample store of insight, example, and inspiration for continued practice within its pages. Stephen Batchelor's luminous formalist photography of the everyday nicely complements the unadorned truths of the writing, though the overstylized graphic design undermines the impact of the images.