This book is not about meditation; it is one on how to meditate. All too many books offer readers sparse instructions given in general terms. "Sit quietly, with your eyes closed. Regulate your breathing and still your mind; wait for the Voice of Silence to speak to you." Trouble is, without knowing what they’re doing, would-be meditators find it extremely difficult to sit still for five minutes, let alone twenty.

Experienced meditators, knowing the techniques to use, go about their business as directly and purposefully as a skilled carpenter. The fact is that there is nothing vague about the process of meditation. In this classic work, author and teacher Justin F. Stone presents easy-to-follow instructions for many common forms of meditation, including Zazen (Zen Meditation), Japa (one of the oldest spiritual practices in India), Satipatthana (Mindfulness), Nei Kung (Buddhist Meditation), and Tibetan meditations. In addition, while cultural and religious aspects of certain meditations are covered, readers are free to experience each technique according to their own personal preferences.

Meditation can be a powerful tool to improve health, sharpen concentration, reduce stress, and enhance spirituality. The Joy of Meditation was created as a simple book of instructions for using that tool. By concentrating on the practice itself, and not on the dogma, readers will be able to choose those methods of meditation best suited to meet their individual needs.

Justin F. Stone, is an accomplished writer, musician, poet, and artist. He is fluent in the Japanese language and is the creator of Tai Chi Chih, a physical and spiritual discipline. Over the past forty years, Stone has lived with yogis in the Tibetan foothills and with Zen monks in Japan. He resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he conducts meditation retreats, classes, and groups. He also oversees more than 2,000 teachers of Tai Chi Chih worldwide.

Contents

Foreword
Purpose of this Book

What Is Meditation?
Great Circle Meditation
Three Modes of Japa Zen Meditation
Satipattana (Foundations of Mindfulness)
Secret Nei Kung
Two Tibetan Meditations and the Buddha’s Simple Formula for Dhyana
How and Why Does Meditation Work?

Conclusion

Glossary
Index

Foreword (from a Chinese viewpoint)

There are many sects and methods of meditation known in India and China. However, Hu Shih, the most eminent authority on Chinese philosophy, attempted to point out that the Chinese type of meditation is diametrically opposed to Indian meditation, where the mind tries to avoid the external world, ignores outside influence, aims at intellectual understanding, and seeks to unite with the Infinite. On the other hand, Chinese meditation works with the aid of external influences, operates in the world, emphasizes quick wit and insight, and aims at self-realization. In this sense Chinese meditation is no longer a religious discipline, as it was in India. Rather, it is in tended to train the mind, to meet and solve critical problems. As a result, meditation in China is not understood in the Indian sense of concentration, but in the Taoist sense of conserving vital energy, breathing, reducing desire, and conserving nature. This was the meditation taught by early Buddhist masters like An Shih-Kao (c. 150), Kumarajiva (344-413), Tao-an (312-385) and Hui Yuan, and it became a major tradition in Chinese Buddhism. Throughout history, then, meditation in China has been intended for practical purposes, this-worldly, and humanistic.

In modern China, the objects of meditation, according to what I understand, consist of the following points:
• Purification of the heart and curtailment of desires
• Cultivation of Oneself and Deliverance of others
• Transmutation of Personal Characteristics
• Return to the Realm of Divine Spirit
• The attempt and completion of the “Primordial Treasures,” namely, Cosmic energy, Universal Spirit, and Essential Being.

At this point, it seems important to say that “the Secret of the Golden Flower” by Liu Hua Yang, written in the year 1794, and explained and translated in English by Richard Wilhelm with a European commentary by C.G. Jung, is not only a Taoist text of Chinese Yoga, but also a combination of Buddhist and Taoist directions for meditation. As to the method, it consists of four stages:

Stage I: Gathering the Light (Spirit-fire is the light)

Stage II: Origin of a new being in the place of power. (Fixating contemplation is indispensable; it insures fast enlightenment).

Stage III: Separation of the Spirit-body for independent existence. (In the process of Contemplation, the circulation of the Light and making the Breathing Rhythmical are indis pensable).

Stage IV: The Center in the midst of the conditions. (The Golden Flower of the great One appears).

As there is ample evidence in the text to show that Buddhist influence represented the Golden Flower as coming, ultimately, only from the Spiritual side, in undiluted Chinese teaching, as pointed out by Jung, the creation of the Golden Flower depends on the equal interplay of both the Yang and the Yin forces. Hence, it would be safe to conclude that both the Buddhist and Taoists emphasize the training of the mind, as the Sutra says: “Just by mind control, all things become possible to us.” But, from the objective point of view, the Buddhists’ aim is ‘‘Dhyana-Samadhi,” or “Complete Enlightenment,” which is supra space and time, the Absolute, the Nirvana, while that of the Taoists is the prolongation of life or the unifying with the Tao (the Law of the Universe).

In this book, the reader will be exposed to the meanings and methods of meditation. Mr. Justin F. Stone’s deep understanding of Oriental philosophy underlies his exposition. If its reading has served to arouse your interest and increase your desire to learn more about the practice of Chinese meditation, the time spent has been well worthwhile.

Reviews

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