(Part 3) Top products from r/Meditation

10,000 hours are required for proficiency in any field of deliberate practice. They "only" reached ~3000-4000 hours of practice over 7 years. If they did a 3 year retreat with 10 hours a day like many Tibetan monks do, they would blow through that plateau - that's for sure. The Tibetan monks that have been investigated all show a much heightened gamma-wave amplitude in the brain and overall unionization of brain waves. This is accompanied by immense pliability of both body and mind and waves of bliss at all times along with compassionate wisdom arising from absorption.

B. Alan Wallace, who was leading the practice of the study participants, recommends shamatha or calm-abiding meditation which is what some call concentration meditation. It is the ability to hold your mind one-pointed on an object of your choosing for extended periods of time until stillness permeates and your mind doesn't move or flick from thought to thought, emotion to emotion or object to object.

Shamatha is described like this by him in his wonderful book which I recommend to everyone called The Attention Revolution:

>Following the realization of the ninth stage of attentional balance, after months or years of continuous, full-time practice, you are primed to achieve shamatha. The nine preceding stages entail many incremental changes, but the actual accomplishment of shamatha involves a radical tran- sition in your body and mind. You will be like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. This shift is characterized by specific experiences that take place within a discrete, relatively brief period of time.

>According to accounts from the Indo-Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, the first sign of the achievement of shamatha is the experience of a sense of heaviness and numbness on the top of the head. This allegedly happens to anyone who experiences this transition, regardless of the specific method followed. It is said to feel as if a palm were being placed on the top of your shaved head. It’s not unpleasant or harmful, just unusual.

>
Something remarkable must be taking place in the cortical region of your brain at this point, but so far, no one has monitored the brain correlates of this shift using magnetic resonance imaging or an electroencephalograph. This physical sensation on the top of the head is symptomatic of a shift in your nervous system (or network of vital energies) that is correlated with gaining freedom from mental dysfunction (daushtulya), a general state of mental imbalance characterized by stiffness, rigidity, and unwieldiness. Consequently, you achieve a state of mental pliancy (prashrabdhi), in which your mind is fit and supple like never before.

>From a contemplative perspective, when the mind is dysfunctional, or prone to laxity and excitation, it is hard to generate enthusiasm for healing the afflictions of your mind or for devoting yourself to virtuous mental activity. Once you are free of such mental dysfunction, you can focus your mind without resistance on any meaningful object or task, and such a mind is now said to be fit, or serviceable. This is the key to achieving optimal mental performance.

>Following this sense of pressure on the top of your head, you experience the movement of vital energies moving in your body, and when they have coursed everywhere throughout your body, you feel as if you were filled with the power of this dynamic energy. You are now freed of physical dys- function, so your body feels buoyant and light like never before. Both your body and mind are now imbued with an exceptional degree of pliancy, which makes them remarkably fit for engaging in all kinds of mental training and other meaningful activities.

>When physical pliancy initially arises, the vital energies catalyze an extraordinary sense of physical bliss, which then triggers an equally excep- tional experience of mental bliss. This rush of physical and mental rapture is transient, which is a good thing, for it so captivates the attention that you can do little else except enjoy it. Gradually it subsides and you are freed from the turbulence caused by this intense joy. Your attention settles down in perfect stability and vividness. You have now achieved shamatha.

>Padmasambhava described this state as follows:

>"Flawless shamatha is like an oil-lamp that is unmoved by the air. Wherever the awareness is placed, it is unwaveringly present; awareness is vividly clear, without being sullied by laxity, lethargy, or dimness; wherever the awareness is directed, it is steady and sharply pointed; and unmoved by adventitious thoughts, it is straight. Thus, a flawless meditative state arises in your mindstream; and until this happens, it is important that you settle the mind in its natural state. Without genuine shamatha arising in your mindstream, even if awareness is pointed out, it becomes nothing more than an object of intellectual under- standing. So you are left simply giving lip-service to the view, and there is the danger that you may succumb to dogmatism.

>Thus, the root of all meditative states depends upon this, so do not be introduced to pristine awareness too soon, but practice until you have a fine experience of stability."

>The initial achievement of shamatha is described as preliminary or as access to the full realization of the first meditative stabilization (dhyana). The Buddha declared that with the achievement of the first meditative stabilization, one is for the first time temporarily freed from five types of obstructions (avarana), or hindrances (nivarana), that disrupt the balance of the mind.96 These are (1) sensual craving, (2) malice, (3) lethargy and drowsiness, (4) excitation and anxiety, and (5) uncertainty. Buddhaghosa commented that as soon as the counterpart sign arises, the hindrances are quite suppressed, the defilements subside, and the mind becomes concentrated in access concentration.

>When you first gain the mental and physical pliancy associated with the freedom from these hindrances, you experience a rush of bliss that appears to be a symptom of achieving an unprecedented level of mental health. The Buddha was presumably referring to this bliss as a sufficing condition, or immediate catalyst, for the achievement of samadhi. Here is one of his more detailed accounts of this experience:

>Separated from pleasures of sense, separated from unwholesome states of mind, one attains to and abides in the first stabilization, which is accompanied by coarse examination and precise inves- tigation, born of seclusion, and is joyful and blissful. And one drenches, fills, completely fills and pervades one’s body with joy and bliss, born of seclusion so that there is nowhere in one’s body that is not pervaded by it.

>With the realization of access to the first stabilization, five mental fac- tors associated with that level of samadhi arise, which directly counteract the five hindrances.

>~~~

>A significant difference between access to the first stabilization and the actual state of that stabilization is that in the former, you gain only a tenuous freedom from the five hindrances, whereas in the latter, your immunity to them is stronger. There is a similar difference in the stability of the five fac- tors of stabilization. There is a corresponding difference in the length of time you can remain immersed in such sublime states of focused attention.

>With access to the first stabilization, you can effortlessly remain in samadhi for at least four hours at a stretch, without the slightest perturbation from either subtle laxity or excitation. But once you have achieved the actual state of the first stabilization, samadhi can be sustained, according to Buddhaghosa, “for a whole night and a whole day, just as a healthy man, after rising from his seat, could stand a whole day.”

From Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa:

"We experience glimpses of goodness all the time, but we often fail to acknowledge them. When we see a bright color, we are witnessing our own inherent goodness. When we hear a beautiful sound, we are hearing our own basic goodness. When we step out of the shower, we feel fresh and clean, and when we walk out of a stuffy room, we appreciate the sudden whiff of fresh air. These events may take a fraction of a second, but they are real experiences of goodness. They happen to us all the time, but usually we ignore them as mundane or purely coincidental. According to the Shambhala principles, however, it is worthwhile to recognize and take advantage of those moments, because they are revealing basic nonaggression and freshness in our lives—basic goodness.

Every human being has a basic nature of goodness, which is undiluted and unconfused. That goodness contains tremendous gentleness and appreciation. As human beings, we can make love. We can stroke someone with a gentle touch; we can kiss someone with gentle understanding. We can appreciate beauty. We can appreciate the best of this world. We can appreciate its vividness: the yellowness of yellow, the redness of red, the greenness of green, the purpleness of purple. Our experience is real. When yellow is yellow, can we say it is red, if we don’t like the yellowness of it? That would be contradicting reality. When we have sunshine, can we reject it and say that the sunshine is terrible? Can we really say that? When we have brilliant sunshine or wonderful snowfall, we appreciate it. And when we appreciate reality, it can actually work on us. We may have to get up in the morning after only a few hours’ sleep, but if we look out the window and see the sun shining, it can cheer us up. We can actually cure ourselves of depression if we recognize that the world we have is good.

It is not just an arbitrary idea that the world is good, but it is good because we can experience its goodness. We can experience our world as healthy and straightforward, direct and real, because our basic nature is to go along with the goodness of situations. The human potential for intelligence and dignity is attuned to experiencing the brilliance of the bright blue sky, the freshness of green fields, and the beauty of the trees and mountains. We have an actual connection to reality that can wake us up and make us feel basically, fundamentally good. Shambhala vision is tuning in to our ability to wake ourselves up and recognize that goodness can happen to us. In fact, it is happening already."

You have to be above the bar to begin with. If you can understand exactly what intelligence is then you can increase it.

Meditation can be used as a way to gain insight. This is not all types of meditation, but there are definitely types of meditation with the goal of enlightenment in mind. Using the Buddhist definition of enlightenment and overly simplified explanation is insight, specifically the type of lower level type of insight that not everyone can get to and for the most part needs to be unlocked. Once it is unlocked, how one utilizes it can be a large intelligence booster, but you have to be able to comprehend how your mind works. If you can't fully recognize a lot of advanced and abstract concepts then knowledge gain is possible but hardly any intelligence gain.

Using the example you mention, math is utilized on the other part of the brain in such a way that you can multitask while solving advanced math problems. A way this can be figured out is solving math problems in your sleep. It is like a piece of your brain is a math coprocessor and it can chug along while you are talking to someone, reading writing, sleeping, or generally not paying attention to it, much like cooking something in the oven.

It depends what you want to learn. The most direct path is raw insight. For advanced logic, paradoxes, and other mathy nerdy stuff you might want to checkout GEB. Meditation doesn't skip the learning step. You still have to learn things the same way everyone else does. Meditation just helps you realize you can utilize your brain to a more full potential.

If you are really interested and think you can can push forward, I highly recommend you try a 300µg+ dose of lsd. Tripping is the same thing as a deep meditation state, but it doesn't stay. It is like driving a car over the mountain instead of walking. In a deep state under the influence you can do all of the more insightful things one can do in a deep meditative headspace. However, figuring it out could take multiple trips as sometimes insight will take 6 hours to come full circle. When meditating in a deep headspace the answer can come much quicker.

The idea is if you can figure it out while tripping, then you can remember what you've learned and migrate it into meditative practices, as it can literally take a life time to get to the level of meditation skill as one night of dropping acid will bring you to.

It is definitely possible. If you don't ask very specific detailed questions about how your brain works, I will not be able to explain in detail, and without asking yourself you can't move towards figuring things out either.

An efficient way to get to a deep headspace from meditation is a map, so you have an idea of which direction to go in. This tends to be pretty good.

This is a tough question to answer. I was lucky and my practice evolved naturally from more basic meditation to advanced methods without planning it that way. Looking back I would say this was a huge advantage.

I started in college doing simple mantra meditation. One word, repeated calmly with the breath. This is like TM. TM tells you that their mantra is sacred and you need to lick their buttholes and pay their car payments and then they give you a super special exotic Sanskrit mantra or something. Bullshit. You can pick any word you want. In my opinion it's better to pick a word with broad spiritual meaning as opposed to something more specific - use "God" instead of "peace," for example. When I started out I was meditating with a Benedictine monk named Fr. Laurence Freeman and he gave us the Aramaic word (actually, I guess it's a "term") "Maranatha" which means "come, Lord." I did that 20 minutes each morning and evening for a full academic year (at the Georgetown University John Main Center for Meditation as one of the founding scholars-in-residence, mind you [clears throat, pats self on back]). The regularity of those sessions coupled with the support of the group gave me a nice foundation in my practice. I would suggest finding a group if possible but it's not necessary. A $10-$20 "suggested" donation in a little basket by the door is customary. Anything else (aside from the cost of room and board on a retreat) should raise your eyebrows. I would also like to add that although I wasn't a Christian at the time I had no problem using a mantra attributed to Christ. I never thought much about the meaning of the mantra, to be honest. It's all about focusing the mind. You could use a nonsense word like "feminism" and it would work just fine (just kidding, don't do that). Here are Fr. Laurence's books: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=laurence+freeman

I was and suppose still am a Buddhist and got pretty deep into it. If you're serious about meditation I would suggest sticking to Buddhist meditation because it is far superior to all other systems. Some might argue this point but they would be wrong. I eventually discovered "concentration" or "jhanas" meditation, although most people simple call it "following the breath." All you do is pay attention to your breathing. If you get distracted internally you simply return to the breath. Now, traditionally there are a couple of ways of doing this. Either focus on the rise and fall of the abdomen or the breath as it passes that little divot just under your nose called the "anapanasati" spot. This is what I did and although it sounds weird it works great.

I went on my first retreat at this point with the authors of the book that introduced me to the method. It was incredible. The experience was quite honestly like visiting Heaven. 2 weeks in silence in the forest meditating all day, every day, until my mind was just a glowing ball of joy and wisdom. 10/10 highly recommend. Here is the book I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.com/Practicing-Jhanas-Traditional-Concentration-Meditation/dp/159030733X

Eventually I discovered Dzogchen meditation and it had very dramatic effects. Two great books to check out are "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" and "Flight of the Garuda."

I do loving-kindness (metta) meditation daily, and it truly feels fantastic. It conditions the mind more towards unconditional kindness and love for everyone, including yourself! I know that traditionally there are four aspects of the altruistic nature described, called the brahmavihāras: loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity.

I'm by no means an expert, but I'll point you to resources I've found as a student to a student. :)

• The teaching retreat on Engaged Compassion by Culadasa that's up on YouTube is fantastic. Culadasa is full of wisdom. :) His book is my top recommendation for a (breath) meditation manual in general. This book doesn't focus on cultivating the altruistic nature per se (although it does have metta instructions in appendix), but it's about overcoming dissatisfaction / suffering and the selfish nature through meditation, which is arguably even more important.
  
  
• I've been recommended Sharon Salzberg as an expert on loving-kindness meditation, and particularly her book Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness.

Glad I could help. And yeah, it's good to experiment and see what kind of cool things you can get your mind and body to do, but at the same time I think it's better to do these practices within some framework. I mean, the techniques that the Hindus or the Tibetans use have been developed over centuries, so there are sure to have been people who have run into similar problems and discovered how to fix them and how to avoid them. If you're interested in energetic practices in particular (working with chakras, "chi", etc.), I think the best book I've found from a Buddhist standpoint is this one: The Bliss of Inner Fire. I believe it is one of the few books that actually gives teachings on Tummo meditation practice in English. (Note: Check your local library, or look around online, I was able to find a PDF of this book and it's available at my university's library.)

Thank you so much for the kind words. I am creating a meditation course for beginners on that blog that I own and manage but I do not feel that it is ready yet since I want it to be very good. I own and refer to this book and think it is great. I think it is the only book you will need: http://www.amazon.com/Real-Happiness-Meditation-28-Day-Program/dp/0761159258/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I have no affiliation with the author. Best of luck! You can do it.

I'd start off with Vipassana meditation (Great resource for this: http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html) For me, it's the easiest and simplest way to go about it. I know that some people prefer the tantric way where they open their chakras and try to feel their energy, but I can't really get into that. It depends on personal preference of course but if you want to learn a bit more about the tantric way, there's a great book on Tibetan Buddhism called "The Bliss of inner fire."

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bliss-Inner-Fire-Practice/dp/086171136X

Here's a bit more info about chakras if you do decide to go down that route:
http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/open.php

It's completely a personal choice, but as I mentioned earlier, I prefer Vipassana meditation.
Hope that helps.

In order of importance:

Book|Author|Forum|Notes
:--|:--|:--|:--
The Mind Illuminated|John Yates|/r/TheMindIlluminated|Sometimes too technical, otherwise, perfect.
Mastering The Core Teachings of the Buddha|Daniel Ingram|Dharma Overground, /r/streamentry|Most times, too arrogant. Still valuable.
Opening the Hand of Thought|Kosho Uchiyama|r/Zen, Local Zendo|Zen leaves too much to the reader to figure out
A Path With Heart|Jack Kornfield|--|Doesn't give the how, but the Why for many people.

To give you an idea from a technical meditation standpoint, The Mind Illuminated cuts this into ten stages, like a cooking recipe, or a college degree.

• This post, based, on Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, tells you exactly what stream entry looks like, it's unmistakable.
  
  
• Here are instructions for first Jhana. Once you get some access concentration, where you can rest your mind on something for a bit with some stability, you can reach concentration states. Jhanas are amazing! (That stoned feeling is a light Jhana)
  
  
• Daniel's Map. Not everyone see's it exactly this way, but I found it to be fairly accurate. I mean, there's a map, it isn't just "close your eyes and be."
  
  Thanks for the feedback!
  
  ***
  
  I am a Zen Buddhist, with heavy influences from Theravada and Vipassana.
  
  
  

You have some great comments already. I would also recommend the book Opening the Hand of Thought by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi (Author),‎ Tom Wright (Translator),‎ Jisho Warner (Translator),‎ Shohaku Okumura (Translator)

Opening the Hand of Thought

I'm on the Zen path also and recently asked a similar question to a senior Zen monk. His recommendation was to keep sitting Shikantaza with no goal or striving. As your practice grows it is likely you will go deeper into 'big mind' and gain additional insight. But the process should unfold in a natural way without forcing to reach anything specifically. (my question to the monk was what should I be doing while sitting in 'big mind'. His answer - nothing. Keep going.....)

If you want to really stretch your mind you can read some Dogen. ;-)

Her books recommended elsewhere in this thread, yes. But the other is the excellent Practicing the Jhanas by Snyder and Rasmussen. If you just read through the relevant bits, it's probably 80 pages. Who can sit still and read 80 pages these days though? Maybe if the book came with a 9v shocker? ;)

Well, Shaila Catherine did spend quite a bit of time with Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, and her book "Wisdom Wide and Deep" (which the venerable one wrote the foreword to) is a very good explication of that style of Visuddhimagga practice (it is a commentary on a commentary, as it were, so just know that :)

I don't discount other folks' experience with deeper states in that style of practice. I just hope people can agree that there is a range of experience to be had with Samadhi and Jhana (again, see Shankman's book). If not, then we just disagree, no biggie. May we all know "samma samadhi" and may it be of service in our liberation.

I highly recommend Adyashanti's True meditation book which can be found also in audio format in Vimeo:

Part 1, about meditation

Part 2, about meditative Self inquiry

Part 3, 3 guided meditations

First guided meditation is called: Allow everything to be as it is. Second: Let the Heart's will be done. Third: Meditative self-inquiry.

This was the first book I ever read about meditation and it was so good that it was also the last book I have ever read about meditation. It gave me everything I needed to know about meditation.

Adyashanti also has a collection of his teachings titled Death - The essential teachings that is worth checking out.

Also check out Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now He talks about finding peace in the midst of our turmoil.

Eckhart and Adya have lots of clips in Youtube. You might find something also from there!

May you find peace quickly!

• Mindfulness in Plain English (Henepola Gunaratana): Nuts and bolts intro to vipassana perfect for beginners. Free.
  
  
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (Daniel Ingram): For more experienced/advanced meditators. Focuses on vipassana and Mahasi-style noting practice. Free.
  
  
• The Science of Enlightenment (Shinzen Young): Great for all levels, best suited to those with a scientific mindset. Discusses many different techniques. Audiobook only.
  
  
  

You're welcome, glad it helped.

http://www.amazon.ca/Practicing-Jhanas-Traditional-Concentration-Meditation/dp/159030733X

I would grab a book like this. These are Pa Auk Sayadaw's students. He teaches in the tradition of the Visuddhimagga - http://www.abhidhamma.org/visuddhimagga-1.htm, which is a classic meditation manual, very comprehensive, this is a free copy.

Leigh Brasington has alot of stuff out there, but then again he couldn't hit Jhana on a Pa Auk retreat, so I tend to shy away from him, as he teaches also to nurture these jhana factors, which is opposite to what the Sayadaw as well as the Visuddhimagga teaches.

Concentration practice is very much about focusing on on one point, cultivating the factors. However, concentration is not the end of practice, there is the insight side, the Sayadaw teaches traditionally, so he starts with concentration, then the sublime abidings and then elemental and vipassana.

I too had a pre-disposition for concentration and after starting sitting (2 weeks in), I obtained full Jhana Absorption, which was profound, just using mindfulness in plain English-
http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php, this is mainly about mindfulness.

In the end the importance is the technique and keeping with it. Ajahn Chah said insight leads to concentration, concentration leads to insight, so whichever path you pick, stick with it. Part of the process of cultivating concentration is subduing the hinderances, which in itself can be quite insightful and freeing.

Here's some relevant advice from Chogyam Trungpa.

http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Spiritual-Materialism-Shambhala-Classics/dp/1570629579

From the Amazon summary:

In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights the commonest pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement—the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. "The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use," he said, "even spirituality." His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for nearly thirty years, and remains fresh as ever today.

• Focused and Fearless. A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity by Shaila Catherine. Beginning to Intermediate.
  
• Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond. A Meditator's Handbook. by Ajahn Brahm. All Levels.
  
• The Attention Revolution. Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind by B. Alan Wallace. All Levels.
  
• The Open-Focus Brain. Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body. by Les Fehmi. Beginner.
  
• Emptiness Dancing. by Adyashanti. Intermediate.
  
• The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment by Adyashanti. Intermediate/Advanced.

>In this beautiful and lucid guide, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness--being awake and fully aware. From washing the dishes to answering the phone to peeling an orange, he reminds us that each moment holds within it an opportunity to work toward greater self-understanding and peacefulness.

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

Shambhala in general is legit. Very grateful to have learned tonglen from them. The one near me also seems to be composed mostly of people who are very serious about just sitting and doing the practice (in a good way). They were pretty generous with loaning books out too. This was a good introductory read.

I'd check 'em out.

It's shifting your attention in a very subtle way to resting as awareness itself.

The goal for this type of practice is always catered toward less and less technique. There's nothing wrong with focusing on the breath to help bring you into the present, but try allowing a few minutes at the end of each session to merely rest as awareness - the space in which everything else happens.

Adyashanti does a much better job explaining than me :) Check out some of his videos on youtube, or his book "True Meditation"

Meditation is just one facet of the gem though. For a concise version of the rest, check out ["The Way of Liberation"] (http://www.amazon.com/Way-Liberation-Practical-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1937195171/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8) (Also downloadable for free on his website)

**If it's not obvious, I really like Adyashanti

At times, I have difficulty sitting too (pain). Anyways..

My Tibetan (dharma) teacher recommends newbies meditate for a maximum of 10 minutes at a time. In a 90-120 lesson he'll take us through 2 or 3 meditations, and only if people want that many.

You know, there's nothing wrong with just doing 5 minutes. Or two minutes, for example whilst waiting for public transport to arrive.

With time, the meditation practice having probably reduced the neurochemicals causing you to fidget, longer sessions of sitting might well be much easier.

Also, you don't have to sit. You can lie down for example. Also you can make all sorts of activities a meditation, for example be more mindful when eating your breakfast. This book is pretty good in this respect http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Every-Step-Mindfulness-Everyday/dp/0553351397

Do try seek out a teacher :-)

I've had a similar experience where I was meditating for nearly an hour, my body fell asleep after 20 minutes, everything was starting to go limp, jaw gaping and I felt less outside stimuli. My mind went wild and it was harder to concentrate, but I imagine the process to be similar to absorption if not the same if you can manage to keep concentrated.

In dream yoga which us similar to lucid dreaming, but with the intetion of being able to further your practice in your sleep by applying what's cultivated in meditation to your dreams, there is apparently a point that can be reached where a subtle kind of awareness can be held during deep/non dreaming sleep to the extent that one can meditate all throughout the night in their sleep in and out of dreams. I read about it in The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream and Sleep.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1559391014?pc_redir=1414614701&robot_redir=1

I have noticed a similar effect on myself.
Here's a book about the Tibetan practice of dream yoga. One of the first steps is to develop stability in waking life through meditation. It teaches how to gain lucidity in your dream life, but the purpose of lucidity according to the practice isn't just to have fun being awake inside your dreams.
You might also want to post or x-post into /r/LucidDreaming -

If he has any understanding of psychophysiology, neurochemistry and neuroanatomy he'd likely find Zen and the Brain highly useful. If he's interested in clinical publications, this piece from Davidson would be a good start. For pure instruction Jack Kornfield's guide for beginning meditation is excellent.

Sharon Salzberg has a good beginners book on meditation: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program https://www.amazon.com/dp/0761159258/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_i_qy-pDbCW9SJBB

She goes over all the basics and add more minutes as you progress through the weeks. I found it easy to follow.

Shinzen's series, The Science of Enlightenment, is excellent. I wasn't sure about Shinzen as a teacher until I listened to it. He's clear, sincere, and very honest.

If you have the opportunity and the money, I highly recommend you buy his audio CD The Science of Enlightenment.
It contains a series of amazing talks breaking down what meditation is, isn't, and amazing real-life stories of people who were enlightened.

You can go to a buddhist community that has meditation as a practice and learn there. Also, there are a bunch of books that teach different kinds of meditations, and some of them go into detail on how to meditate. For instance, these ones:

[zen training] (https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Training-Philosophy-Shambhala-Classics/dp/1590302834/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535777895&sr=8-1&keywords=zen+training) , [the path to bodhidharma] (https://www.amazon.com/Path-Bodhidharma-Teachings-Library-Enlightenment/dp/0804832161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535777933&sr=8-1&keywords=the+path+to+bodhidharma) , [everyday zen] (https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Zen-Love-Work-Plus/dp/0061285897/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535828798&sr=8-1&keywords=everyday+zen) , [nothing special] (https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Special-Charlotte-J-Beck/dp/0062511173/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535778035&sr=8-1&keywords=nothing+special) , [the three pillars of zen] (https://www.amazon.com/Three-Pillars-Zen-Teaching-Enlightenment/dp/0385260938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536631531&sr=8-1&keywords=the+three+pillars+of+zen) and these ones which are free : [the 7th world of chan buddhism] (http://zbohy.zatma.org/common/downloads/SeventhWorldOfChanBuddhism.pdf) and [Mindfulness in Plain English] (http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php) all have instructions on how to do one or more types of meditations.

You can also find information on the web, like here: https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/meditation-instructions/ and http://antaiji.org/archives/eng/okumura-zazen.shtml

Or on youtube, like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLwVt6Wlqeg , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk7JRHNX19A , and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGzE6BQb1xY .

There's also the topics of recommended links and books of this subreddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Meditation/comments/2ixjf6/meddits_online_recommendations/ ; https://www.reddit.com/r/Meditation/comments/2ixjq7/meddits_book_recommendations/

Zen is a scientific practice. A major idea in its philosophical principles is called "The Great Doubt," a concept that urges the practitioner to doubt everything. Belief is irrelevant and unnecessary. The practitioner is urged to only accept those things that come through personal experience.

The root of this is Buddhist teaching, but you'll notice that is identical to the process of science and the scientific method. The experiment is the application of the scientific method to the self. It's the simplest terms: "Here's a guy (the Buddha) who says we can attain enlightenment and meditation is one way to get there. Don't take his word for it. Try it for yourself."

If you're interested, I recommend getting a copy of Phillip Kapleau Roshi's The Three Pillars of Zen. I've been pimping this book on reddit lately -- but only because it's so good for atheists or non-spiritual people. He avoids dogma and he gives the reader everything necessary to begin a solid meditation practice without assistance.

Could you explain how his ideas are fallacious?

The question is not "Do I have free will?", but "What am I?"; It's not like the ideas are his own, see Sweeping Zen - Karma, Free-will, and Determinsm.

Also, look up the Taoist concept of wu-wei.

You might also be interested in Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. Essentially, the I appears to be the result a continuous process of self-reference within the brain. There really is no room for the typical Western idea of free will, because the I that is supposed to have the free will does not actually exist as we normally think of it.

Saying that humans exist separate from what we normally think of as the nature of cause and effect would be like saying that humans exist separate from karma, or that atman is separate from brahman. It's just that Western culture is so focused on ideas of separation and individualism that it forgets our fundamental unity with all of nature.

He's not really attacking free will; He's attacking the dualistic view of nature that gives rise to ideas of free will.

If you're interested in tantric buddhism, I would suggest reading anything and everything by Lama Yeshe.

Here's an intro to the subject he gave. It's pretty good if memory serves.

His book gives detailed instructions for the practices that form the core of tantric meditation within Vajrayana.

Zen and the Brain is a very thicc book but is full of a lot of interesting science on meditation. There's one caveat, the research/brain science is a little outdated (pre-MRI and such) but still makes for an interesting read.

A shorter and more modern book is Buddha's Brain by psychologist Rick Hanson.

I haven't done it a whole lot, but I wouldn't recommend just cycling through people close to you. Try concentrating on strangers, people you've been having issues with, genders (i.e. all males/all females), directions (I used to do 8 directions of the compass plus up and down), the entire planet, the entire universe etc. And of course yourself... but hopefully you're doing that already.

And Loving Kindness is a good book to read on the topic if you haven't already.

Just started reading Chogyam Trungpa’s book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, it speaks to this exact phenomenon. It’s great so far, I’d recommend it: https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Through-Spiritual-Materialism-Chogyam/dp/1570629579

I recommend The Miracle of Mindfulness

Take a class/course on Metta meditation to help you cultivate Loving-Kindness (sometimes called Loving-Friendliness)

or read Sharon Salzburg's book on Loving-Kindness: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157062903X

I highly recommend it.

A few of my favorites:

• Shambhala by Chogyam Trungpa
  
• Paths to God by Ram Dass
  
• The First and Last Freedom by Krishnamurti
  
• Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Suzuki Roshi
  
• A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield
  

It's amazing how meditation can open up new perspectives like that, especially one's that show how silly life can be sometimes. I've been reading the Mindful Path Through Shyness, since it's applicable to my social anxiety. For you, I think The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety (http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindfulness-Acceptance-Workbook-Anxiety/dp/1572244992), might be of help. I personally haven't read it, but it'd guess it teaches the same principles of what I'm reading, just less targeted.

Thanks.
Also recommended: Peace is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh

Was reading through the med faq and some archived med topics and saw this book mentioned, which has just gone on my "to read" list. Although it was published in 1998, so is dated somewhat, but still a good general overview.

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Brain-Understanding-Meditation-Consciousness/dp/0262011646

Thanks for following up. I just ordered the Thich Nhat Hanh book based on your suggestion. Peace is Every Step is the book that introduced me to mindfulness & meditation.

If you want to understand and experience jhana I would recommend reading Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana.

I am a strange loop is essentially a summary of GEB, I remember reading it a few years ago and dropping it halfway through for some reason... I'm reading GEB right now and it's fascinating, though. Amazon. Pdf.

if you want to go deeper the rabbit hole and really invest your time into this question, read the book titled The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep

Most of what is done by meditators today reinforces the ego. There are very few people that talk about this much less books about it as it isn't a popular topic. People self-invest in their idea of themselves as a meditator and all the amazing things it does for "them".

Awakening by Rodney Smith talks at great lengths about this.

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa is another.

"There is no such thing as spiritual practice except stepping out of self-deception and stopping our struggle to get ahold of spiritual states. Just give that up, other than that there is no spirituality." - Chogyam Trungpa

See also Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

This is something your brain can do as you fall asleep. You are sleep deprived, and after 5 minutes your brain is falling asleep. As you fall asleep very slowly, different parts of your brain slow down at different rates. Occasionally, you can get crossed signals like your body is the size of the world. It's similar to the way some kinds of TV when turning off will briefly have a distorted image.

You probably aren't reaching states of mind that monks who take years of practice reach. What you're describing is not anything to do with Jhana. There is a superficial similarity because both states include similar neurological phenomena. See Zen and the Brain for some light reading if you want to learn more.

This is why meditation teachers are encouraged. The advice you need is to get more rest and try meditating when you aren't as tired or overwhelmed. If you to dive more into what you're feeling now it will result in you only practicing when your mind is groggy. Get some rest.

https://www.amazon.com/True-Meditation-Discover-Freedom-Awareness/dp/1591794676/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=true+meditation&qid=1555949568&s=gateway&sr=8-1

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Dhamma.org

Since I posted this this morning, I've gotten 'Zen and the Brain' http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Brain-Understanding-Meditation-Consciousness/dp/0262011646 It covers a lot of research, but I haven't read enough to summarize yet. Publication date is 1998 so it might be stale relative to some of the recent stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Hand-Thought-Foundations-Buddhist/dp/0861713575

The first few chapters of this book helped me.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Attention-Revolution-Unlocking-Focused/dp/0861712765

https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Mindfulness-Introduction-Practice-Meditation/dp/0807012394

This is the first book I read to get me going.

http://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-through-Anxiety-Chronic/dp/1606234641
http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Acceptance-Workbook-Anxiety-Commitment/dp/1572244992/

Yes. I haven't had the experience of working through it with a therapist, but this workbook helped me a lot, in terms of introducing me to meditation in a way that was productive for dealing with anxiety: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindfulness-Acceptance-Workbook-Anxiety/dp/1572244992

Trying to get rid of anxiety is the core mistake. This book may help you https://www.amazon.com/Calming-Your-Anxious-Mind-Mindfulness/dp/1572244879/

This book was recommended by my therapist and really opened the door to my meditation practice. It's down to earth and does a good job of first explaining the medical implications of anxiety and fear, then describing a program of mindfulness and how it can help alleviate the overwhelming feelings of anxiety.

Calming Your Anxious Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, and Panic
by Jeffrey Brantley MD DFAPA

Jon Kabat-Zinn has written a lot of good books, Mindful Way Through Depression is good, but also Calming Your Anxious Mind from Fear and Panic:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=QvKdVLuOF4eXarC3gjA&url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Calming-Your-Anxious-Mind-Mindfulness/dp/1572244879&ved=0CCgQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNFNrXbl9812w0UFUhn3t8USx8GSFw

I'm on mobile so I hope this works.

Are you trying CBT on your own or with a therapist? I would really recommend having guidance from a therapist when starting this.