A Course in Meditation
self-paced learning
in the art of
natural meditation
by Theodore K. Phelps
founder of Natural Meditation Initiatives
2007 Windless Place
328 pages, paperback
$20 USD
$23 with CD
Book Store, to purchase
“A Classic Manual for Basic Practice“…extremely friendly and accessible…will help so many people enter meditation…”
-Sally Kempton, author of The Heart of Meditation and contributing writer at Yoga Journal
We have lot’s of book excerpts — maybe a good hour of reading. See the menu of them at the bottom of this page.
Get a shareable PDF of the first 34 pages.
Read the opening pages of A Course in Meditation in a “flip” style book (best viewed in a computer or tablet in full-screen mode, with the icon that looks like X)
A Course in Meditation is a carefully designed set of instructions that enables self-motivated readers to learn an enjoyable, relaxing, health-supporting style of meditation in a few days and to learn it in a low-cost, culturally neutral format based in natural functions of the human body and mind. The seven-day course builds the following skills:
Sitting:
The ability to let yourself enter a natural meditative state of mind and body for 15 or 20 minutes, sitting almost anywhere, at any time, on anything reasonably comfortable.
Practice:
The ability to do one or two sittings of meditation nearly every day and to understand how meditative growth fits into one’s aspirations for life.
We published an earlier version of A Course in Meditation in 2000. The 2007 book version takes the learner through those same learning steps. We now offer the online course as the one-hour audio-and-text course “A Guided Launch” available right here. It is based on the audio and script of our CD, also available for purchase here for a small additional fee when purchased with the book.
In addition to the Course, the second half contains unique, fresh theory about what makes meditation methods natural.
Review by Sally Kempton
author of The Heart of Meditation and contributing editor of Yoga Journal
Ms. Kempton’s website: www.sallykempton.com
Ted Phelps has created an introduction to meditation that is extremely friendly and accessible. I especially like the way he has presented meditation in a non-mystical fashion: as a basic practice that can be the underpinning of all other forms of inner work. He has made it as accessible as possible without watering it down, and that’s an achievement!
The book also feels true to the tradition, which is important, and I am pleased by the similarities with this and my own work. Referring to the process of meditation as a “meditative function” resonates strongly for me. It’s also interesting to note how many of us—many Siddha Yogis as well as many of Maharshi’s students—use the phrase I am in our meditations, and how effective it is!
So many meditators get derailed when they find that they can’t keep their minds steady right from the beginning. The explanation and diagram of the flow of attention should make it possible for students to understand how to work with their own flow of attention rather than becoming frustrated by it.
The book is a classic manual for basic practice, which will help so many people enter meditation, understand their own practice, and deal successfully with some of the key obstacles that arise.
Sally Kempton
Carmel, CA
author of The Heart of Meditation
contributing editor of Yoga Journal
