Author: Jose Lorenzo-Fuentes
Trade Paperback, 168 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: January 2003
ISBN: 0738702560
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While meditation is either a part of or a practice favored by many Neo-Pagan religions, it is a practice independent of any one religion. Jose Lorenzo-Fuentes, a Miami journalist, demonstrates this in his introductory guide to meditation by exploring many different types of meditation from different cultures and religions, although it does seem to focus on Buddhist practices. Meditation: Practice & Application was originally written in Spanish and was translated by Antonio Palomo.
The book opens with a discussion of some of the benefits of meditation and then begins practical instruction intermixed with more discussion of history and benefits. While that may seem frustrating to those who prefer to bypass the background and get right to practical stuff, it does prevent the boredom many readers feel when they have to go through chapter after chapter of background before reaching the practical applications.
There is a lot of practical material in this book: breathing exercises, basic meditation techniques, using meditation to help achieve goals or overcome fear or other inhibiting emotions, meditation to help relax and relieve stress, meditating for health and healing, and more. A number of guided meditations are included in this thin volume, including seven for healing.
Meditation: Practice & Application isn't a bad introduction to meditation, but it is a bit of a whirlwind tour. The author covers a great deal of territory in a relatively few pages. While this provides the reader with a large number of different meditation techniques, many of these are barely touched on before the author moves on to the next. Unfortunately, this often means a lack of depth and a lack of help if the reader has problems with any of the techniques presented. I noticed some questionable background material on psychic powers and the like: material that is scientifically questionable was presented without any caveats. However, the book is a readable survey of meditation with a lot of practical techniques and exercises.
Reviewed by Randall
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