Meditation keeps you calm, engaged, and confident. Meditation has many benefits and no downsides. No one alive or dead can postulate a reason to abstain from meditation. There is no excuse for refusing to meditate.
Some meditation benefits
- Increased Confidence
- Decreased Stress
- Decreased anxiety
- Better mental clarity
- Clearer purpose for life
- More empathy
- More Gratitude
- Lower levels of cortisol (more testosterone)
- More focus
- Decreased depression
- A sense of unity with the world
There are many excellent books on meditation. Many meditation books have a Buddhist or Hindu theme. Understand that you do not need books to learn how to meditate; meditation is always accessible and no one can take it away from you. However, studying meditation, as well as any other path, is beneficial as a supplement when you are not practicing that path actively.
Below are some of the best books on Meditation. “Best” cannot be quantified easily when it comes to books; we decided to list titles that are considered to be strong references on meditation, had high ratings, or were created by experienced practitioners.
If we left a book out, let us know in the comments and we will update this list.
Consider supporting us at no cost to you by picking up two meditation books below for free with audible.
Books About Meditation
Radical Acceptance Embracing Your Life With The Heart Of a Buddha | Tara Brach
Kindle | Audiobook | paperback | hardcover
Tara Brach is the Godmother of western meditation. She is one of the most known advocates of meditation and Buddhism in the west.
The main idea of Radical Acceptance is nothing is wrong with you. By practicing radical acceptance, you can find inner-peace, and reduce the control that negative emotions have over you. By accepting yourself you help to ground yourself and manage your emotions more effectively; this allows you to have better thought control, which is why this is an excellent book on meditation.
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics | Dan Harris
Kindle | Audiobook | Paperback | Hardback
Dan Harris, the author of meditation for fidgety skeptics, was a news anchor for ABC who experienced a destructive panic attack on air, in part due to his undisciplined and reckless lifestyle. Harris used to be involved in heavy partying, including the use of cocaine and other drugs.
Harris’ breathing is this video follows a pattern of rapid, shallow breathes that appear to constrict his body. Shallow breathing–which should be avoided at all times–creates anxiety and panic, contrary to deep, manual breathing in a grounded state.
After Harris’ panic attack, he began exploring if meditation could keep his panic attacks under control or, at the minimum, give him some relief from uncontrollable attacks that could kill his career.
His meditation journey was a successful.
Years later, Harris is a meditation expert, after around a decade of meditation experience.
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics is the second book Harris wrote on meditation. His first book is next on our list.
The idea of meditation is difficult for many westerners who have no concept of the practice. Doubters of meditation can benefit for this book, which was written for skeptics.
10% Happier | Dan Harris
Kindle | Audiobook | Paperback | Hardback
10% happier is the first meditation book penned by Harris. Many “gurus” will use buzz-words with no meaning to market meditation products that aren’t needed, like aligning chakra’s, or balancing energy. 10% happier is refreshing with reasonable claims, like meditation can make you 10% happier. We believe it can do much more than that–so does Dan–but a 10% increase in happiness is much more digestable for those who have yet to adopt a meditation philosophy.
The Miracle of Mindfulness | Thich Nhat Hanh
Kindle | Audiobook | Hardcover | Paperback
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk who spends most of his time in in the Plum Village monastery in France. Hanh created the Plum Village style of meditation that mindfulness represents.
Hanh recommends practicing meditation while you’re washing dishes or waiting in line. He recommends you practice meditating with everything you are doing. The menial tasks you’re required to do are perfect times to meditate.
Understand that you don’t need bracelets, long-hair, or a special pillow to meditate. The grounded state should be pursued from the moment you wake up, and maintained until you end the day.
One of the most beautiful aspects of meditation is that it can be done anywhere, at anytime, with zero tools, courses, or paid anything.
Meditation is a way of living at all times.
The Mind Illuminated | John Yates
Kindle | Audiobook | Paperback
John Yates is a former professor who taught neuroscience. He later transitioned into a meditation instructor, changing his name to Culadasa after a spiritual rebirth.
The Mind Illuminated is a fascinating read because it contains information about how meditation affects the brain, written by a former neurologist. It’s a long read, at close to 800 pages.
365 Tao: Daily Meditations | Ming-Dao Deng
Kindle | Hardcover | Paperback
365 Tao is a daily meditation book and its subject matter is about Taoism, a Chinese religion that has existed for thousands of years, and is now controlled by the Chinese Communist government, which fears religion because it is a threat to the Chinese Communist hegemony.
Each day provides a meditation. Ideally, you read a page each day and meditate on the content as a supplement, not a replacement, to your existing meditation practice.
Meditation: The First and Last Freedom | Osho
Kindle | Hardcover | Paperback
Osho is a controversial figure. He began as an meditation guru and practitioner, who then started a cult in the small Oregon town known as Antelope, where he used his position to brainwash followers into working on a commune living modest lives, while he farmed them for money to purchase ten Rolls Royce luxury cars.
Osho was a brilliant meditation instructor who wasn’t strong enough to stay on the path. His old teachings are still valuable, and his life serves as a lesson that all people are susceptible to being pulled off the path.
Meditation will help you stay grounded so you can avoid empty pursuits like the accumulation of useless wealth to impress other people, of which Osho was not strong enough to resist. We wouldn’t call him a fraud; Osho is a human like anyone else who became hypnotized by the worship he received from the masses. He stopped being himself, and became the Osho people expected him to be; a puppet of the masses without a meditational grounding.
Osho did not have the spiritual fortitude to manage fame. he neglected his own teachings, strayed from the way, mutating his spirit to be a servant of those around him. His life now serves as an example of what happens when you stray from the way.
The Book of Secrets | Osho
Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men
Kindle | Paperback | Hardcover
Touchstones is a daily meditations book written for men. The book aims to help damaged men become whole again, control their emotions, find sobriety, and have a better experience within their bodies.
Each daily meditation begins with a quote then expands on the wisdom of the quote, leaving something to ponder for the rest of the day.
January 2
When you can’t stand criticism you learn to be a perfectionist.
—Anonymous
It’s human to make mistakes and to feel incomplete. Perhaps if we were all smooth plastic printouts we could expect perfection of ourselves. Each man is actually a process. We are not things, but events–happenings, and the events are still unfolding. These are our creative spiritual adventures.
We have somehow learned that openness to criticism is dangerous. Perhaps we thought someone would not like us if we were wrong, or that we would get hurt or belittled. When we live with a relationship to our Higher Power, we can stand up for ourselves. A man has a right to make some mistakes! We grow more if we allow ourselves the leeway of simply being in process.
I will not ask to have the power of perfection. I will only ask that I not be alone in the process of living my life.
The Book of Joy | Dalai Lama
Kindle | Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover
Dalai Lama is a title given to the current spiritual leader of Tibetian Buddhism. Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama. Desmond Tutu is an archbishop who helped fight against apartheid in South Africa.
The book of Joy is about the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu and their week they spent together in India.
A fascinating look at two opposite religions and men at the highest position within their respective religions. How each man sees the world is remarkably similar.
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