Book SummaryThe Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice, by Shortform

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice

Do you struggle with anxiety, stress, or other strong emotions? Are you struggling to find time to relax in the busy modern world? If so, you could benefit from meditation: a practice that many people find helpful for reducing stress, sharpening focus, and getting their thoughts in order. In fact, a Zen proverb says you should meditate for 20 minutes every day—and if you think you’re too busy for that, then you...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Buddhist Meditation

First, let’s explore the meditation practices of Buddhism: a religion often associated with meditation and mindfulness. Buddhism focuses on finding happiness through self-improvement, rather than through understanding God or seeking divine guidance.

Buddhism is helpful for learning acceptance—the ability to recognize and acknowledge problems without becoming overwhelmed by them. Buddhist meditations are particularly helpful for managing strong emotions such as anxiety, anger, and grief.

Background: Buddhist Beliefs

The core tenet of Buddhism is following a balanced lifestyle of neither rejecting pleasures nor chasing them: “the middle way,” as Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, phrased it. In this way, he and his followers were able to fully enjoy the good things in their lives, yet remain calm and patient when those pleasures were absent.

The Buddha taught that people are unhappy because they chase after pleasure, but those pleasures are temporary. That leaves people dissatisfied and always wanting more. However, the Buddha also offered hope in the form of the Noble Eightfold Path, which he promised would eliminate those frustrating...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Hindu Meditation and Yoga

The next practice we’ll explore is Hindu meditation, which is sometimes referred to as yoga. Yoga translates as “union”: Its purpose is to unite your consciousness with God. This sense of connection can help alleviate feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. But, even if you’re not Hindu (or not religious at all), practicing yoga can build physical strength, reduce stress, and improve your ability to focus.

Background: Hindu Beliefs

In Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda—a famous yoga practitioner and teacher—briefly explains yoga’s core practices. These include physical, mental, and behavioral disciplines collectively called the Eightfold Path of Yoga (sometimes called the Eight Limbs of Yoga). Note that while one of the steps of the Eightfold Path is itself meditation, the other practices can help you meditate more effectively.

1. Yama: behaviors to avoid. The five Yamas are violence (in action, speech, and thought), lying, stealing, sex, and greed. These are...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Christian Meditation

In the previous section, we saw how meditation can be a form of prayer—a means of getting closer to God. Now, we’ll discuss how Christian prayer specifically can be a form of meditation, with all of the associated benefits.

Background: Christian Beliefs

Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and God’s will given human form. In the Christian religion, the only way to be saved (to reach heaven) is to pray and follow God and Jesus’s teachings. Prayer is the act of communicating with God, either directly or through an intermediary such as Jesus or a saint.

Christian minister Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking) says that faith in God and prayer result in a greater sense of well-being, robust health and energy, and a stronger sense of purpose in the world. He also notes that the power of prayer can slow the...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Western Meditation

While often drawing from traditional meditation philosophies and techniques, some meditation practices don’t fit neatly under any specific religion or spiritual tradition. Since these practices largely come from the United States, we’ll call this category Western meditation.

Meditation for Creating the Life You Want

Many forms of Western meditation are based on the idea that there’s a universal source of infinite power and knowledge, and you can tap into it by harnessing your thoughts and willpower. This isn’t necessarily a religious belief; some people believe that this universal source is God, but others might call it “the universe,” “Source Power,” or simply “a higher power.”

Rhonda Byrne’s book The Secret popularized this belief. In it, Byrne teaches you to take advantage of the Law of Attraction: the idea that your thoughts will “attract” whatever you think about. In other words, you can create the life you want by simply believing that it will happen.

Think of yourself as a transmission tower, like the ones...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Tips for Starting to Meditate

Here are some general tips to help you start meditating, regardless of which style (or styles) of meditation you practice.

Tip #1: Start Small

If you’re struggling to figure out how meditation can fit into your schedule, or if getting started seems daunting, begin with very short meditation sessions. For example, in You Are a Badass, self-help author Jen Sincero says that just five minutes a day is enough to get you started. You can then start making your meditations longer at whatever rate feels natural to you.

Tip #2: Build a Support Network

In Emotional Intelligence 2.0, the authors suggest seeking outside support when tackling difficult or daunting goals (like building a new meditation practice). They offer these two strategies:

1) Talk with a third party. When you’re in...

The Master Guides: Choosing a Meditation Practice Summary Shortform Resources

To learn more about Buddhism, see the following Shortform guides:

• Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
• Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach
• The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama
• 10% Happier, Dan Harris

To learn more about Hinduism and yoga:

• _[Autobiography of a...

Shortform Exercise: Fit Meditation Into Your Life

Now that you’ve had a brief overview of some different beliefs and practices, think about how you could apply what you’ve learned to your own life.

Of the types of meditation we discussed in this Master Guide, note down the one that appeals to you most and explain why it resonates with you. (For instance, maybe metta appeals to you because you value compassion.)