How to Meditate

From Pema Chodron, her first in-depth how-to meditation book for creating and enjoying a fulfilling practice

"When something is bothering you—a person is bugging you, a situation is irritating you, or physical pain is troubling you-you must work with your mind, and that is done through meditation. Working with our mind is the only means through which we’ll actually begin to feel happy and contented with the world that we live in."
Pema Chodron

Pema Chodron is treasured around the world for her unique ability to transmit teachings and practices that bring peace, understanding, and compassion into our lives. With How to Meditate, the American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun presents her first book exploring in depth what she considers the essentials for a lifelong practice.

More and more people are beginning to recognize a profound inner longing for authenticity, connection, and aliveness. Meditation, Pema explains, gives us a golden key to address this yearning. This step-by-step guide shows readers how to honestly meet and openly relate with the mind, embrace the fullness of our experience, and live in a wholehearted way as we discover:

• The basics of meditation, from getting settled and the six points of posture to working with your breath and cultivating an attitude of unconditional friendliness
• The Seven Delights-how moments of difficulty can become doorways to awakening and love
• Shamatha (or calm abiding), the art of stabilizing the mind to remain present with whatever arises
• Thoughts and emotions as "sheer delight"-instead of obstacles-in meditation

"I think ultimately why we practice is so that we can become completely loving people, and this is what the world needs," writes Pema Chodron. How to Meditate is an essential book from this wise teacher to assist each one of us in this virtuous goal.

About the Author

Pema Choedroen is an American-born Buddhist nun and the author of many modern-day spiritual classics, including Welcoming the Unwelcome, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change, The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, and When Things Fall Apart. She serves as resident teacher at Gampo Abbey Monastery in Nova Scotia.