I have been gathering and evaluating resources for a spiritual singles Meetup group that I’ll be starting in the next month; part one of this post is here. The following are other prayer and meditation related books that I've read lately.
Guided Imagery for Groups: Fifty Visualizations That Promote Relaxation, Problem-Solving, Creativity, and Well-Being by Andrew E. Schwartz is exactly the type of meditation book I've been seeking. It's designed for one person to lead a group of others in a silent meditation, and then the book includes some discussion questions and suggested activities to follow up the meditations. They cover a wide range of topics, and while they follow a similar structure, the meditations don't feel like they repeat each other too much. I feel like it will be easy to adapt many of the meditations to fit my group's needs. Some of the meditations are designed to include physical movement and will need a room where individuals can stretch out. Overall, this is one of the best books I've read in my quest to find great guided meditations.
Earth Prayers: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations from Around the World by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon is similar to Life Prayers in its format and content. This book relies more heavily on well-known authors and poets such as Walt Whitman, Hildegard of Bingen, Rumi, Wendell Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Henry David Thoreau, and many more. Because the theme of the earth is rather narrow (while at the same time being so very large), the first half of the book seems to run together in its similarity despite the editors’ attempts to categorize poems by themes. The chapter on animals was disturbing for me, an empath who is an unwilling omnivore and former vegetarian, yet others might find it reflective and appropriate. Overall, though, I found the book to contain many beautiful and thought provoking works.
Prayers for a Thousand Years has a very different tone to it from Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon’s other collections of poetry. The focus is on the new millennium, so much of the work feels dated 15 years later. There also is a pessimism to a great number of the prayers that left me feeling depressed by the end of the book. The problems of the world are viewed as the worst humanity has ever faced, and thus, the writings are often ones of hopelessness. While I agree that the issues of poverty, injustice, global warming, and many others are dire, I believe it is possible to write and pray about them in a way that creates positive energy for change rather than despair about the mess our world is in.
After reading the three collections of prayers by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, Prayers for Healing: 365 Blessings, Poems & Meditations from Around the World by Maggie Oman was a disappointment. I found the included selections to be a very mixed bag. Some were wonderful and others were just odd. Some were only a sentence long. There was far more political content than I like in my prayers and meditations. The editor also included strange commemorations on various dates such as March 2nd (“English poet and author D.H. Lawrence dies in 1930) or March 22nd (“German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe dies in 1832. His last words were reported to be ‘More light!’”). Certain authors and books were used far too often including A Course in Miracles, the Bible, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Rumi. The book also includes far more explicitly Christian prayers than I would prefer in a supposedly multi-cultural prayer book: If I were editing the same type of book, I would select Christian works that were accessible to all belief systems, not just those who believe in the divinity of Jesus.
The Meditation Bible by Madonna Gauding is a compact book aimed at beginners to meditation. I agree with some of the tips at the beginning of the book, but others seemed grounded in materialism such as buying special pillows or beads to assist with meditation. One only needs a quiet space and some time in order to meditate. A great deal of the book could be described as filler: Text boxes with summaries of what each meditation will benefit, generic introductions to meditations that don’t serve much purpose, repeated instructions on each meditation to get into position, and stock photos for each meditation. The book could easily have been edited down to half its size. Despite those issues, there are some great meditation ideas in here: I plan to edit and redesign quite a few of them for using with groups I lead.
The basic introductory information in An Easy Guide to Meditation: For Personal Benefits and Spiritual Growth by Roy Eugene Davis is useful and well-written with a linguistic sophistication that is missing in many meditation guides. While the short work has some good concepts, it is also loaded with judgment and opinions that aren't conducive to the ideas it promotes. The first quote that made me cringe was when the author stated, "Review your practice to be sure you are doing it correctly." There is no "correct" way to meditate. What works for you at any given time is the correct thing to do. The author also argues that, "Individuals with disabling mental or emotional problems should not attempt to meditate until they have been restored to a functional degree of wellness." I strongly disagree with his perspective: Those under mental and emotional duress are those who often most need meditation, and it can help them regain their health. I was remaining open to the wisdom in the book until Davis demeaned my life experiences and those of millions of others by writing,
Thus, even occasionally intuitive insights and superconscious perceptions will be misunderstood, resulting in fantasy and, perhaps, hallucination. Meditators who are subject to illusional thinking may tend to desire phenomenal perceptions: to communicate with 'angels' or 'spirit guides,' to have 'revelations' which will provide meaning to their lives or allow them to feel themselves to be special or unique. Even sincere devotees on the spiritual path with minimal ego needs may tend to remain fixated in their illusions because of erroneously believing them to be genuine realizations.
This was very shortly after Davis had related how those who have a spiritual component to their meditation practice are more likely to continue it than those who do not! Even if Davis chooses not to believe that contact with God is possible, his disparaging remarks about the spiritual experiences of others undermine his authority as a spiritual guide.
Meditation Basics for Beginners: Quiet the Mind, Increase Communication, Decrease Anxiety, and Take Your Happiness to the Next Level by C.B. Johnson is a very short book on meditation which offers quite a few practical strategies for the beginner. While I disagree with the author's (and many others') suggestion that meditation is best done in the morning, other suggestions Johnson lists are useful. In particular, Johnson suggests stretching before meditation. While I would suggest yoga for those who have knowledge of it, stretching is a good and easy substitute for the general population. I find that movement of some sort before meditation can help settle my mind and quiet my body while I meditate. Like most other guides, this one thinks that meditation must be done while sitting erect with a straight spine (Hint: Meditation can be done in any position and any place). The book is realistic about meditation needing to be shorter for beginners. Overall, this brief guide doesn't really offer any truly unique or special insight compared to many others.
Meditation Mastery: Creating Instant Positive Changes in Life by Dr. A.R. Jony is presents the idea that there are many valid paths to successful meditation. Jony understands that there are many spiritual benefits of mediation along the road to enlightenment, and each of those benefits are worthy experiences in their own right as they are part of enlightenment. However, Jony feels that one must have a perfect place to meditate (not true: the truly skilled at meditation can do it anywhere at any time). Unlike most authors on meditation, though, Jony offers a multitude of positions for the reader to try rather than insisting on sitting upright with an erect spine. While this work has some good ideas, the text is riddled with grammatical and usage errors, especially comma splices. It contains too many lists of benefits of meditation. Like many other short books on meditation, this one doesn’t have much new to offer aside from the list of suggested positions.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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