My hope of this book is to guide you to finding a type of meditation that will “bring you home” whenever you choose - to a space of calm clarity in which you will find peace and restore your energy or from which you can effectively engage in the world. Yet above all, I hope this book can serve as a “bridge” to enlightenment, whether you are following a Buddhist path or any other authentic spiritual tradition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE - THE PRELIMINARIES

1. Why is it Important to Meditate?
2. What is Meditation?
3. Overview of the Meditation Path
4. Choosing a Meditation Object
5. Creating the Right Environment

PART TWO - THE BREATH AS AN OBJECT AND THE STAGES OF MEDITATION

1. Mindfulness of the Present Moment with the Breath
2. Getting the Mind on the Meditation Object (Like a Waterfall Cascading over Rocks)
3. Keeping the Mind on the Meditation Object (Becoming like a River Flowing through a Gorge)
4. Fine Tuning the Mind (Like a River Flowing Slowly through a Valley)
5. Unifying the Mind (Like an Ocean Unmoved by Waves)
6. A Summary of the Shamatha Path

PART THREE – THE HINDRANCES TO MEDITATION PRACTICE

1. The Five Hindrances
2. The Five Faults and the Eight Antidotes
3. Five Ways to Remove Distracting Thoughts

PART FOUR – ANALYTICAL MEDITATION

1. What is Analytical Meditation?
2. The Process of Analytical Meditation
3. Analytical Meditation and the Two Truths

PART FIVE - ADVANCED MEDITATION OBJECTS

1. Open Awareness as a Meditation Object
2. The Jhanas as a Meditation Object

REFERENCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RINPOCHE’S VISION

About the author Shar Khentrul Rinpoche Jamphel Lodrö:

Khentrul Rinpoche Jamphel Lodrö is the founder and spiritual director of Dzokden. Rinpoche spent the first 20 years of his life yak herding and chanting mantras in the highlands of Tibet. Encouraged by the bodhisattvas, he left his family to study in various monasteries under the guidance of more than twenty-five masters from all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. His non-sectarian approach earned him the title of Rime (Unbiased) Master, and he was identified as the reincarnation of the famous Chakra Master Ngawang Chozhin Gyaco. While at the core of his teachings is the realization that the diversity of all spiritual traditions in the world is of great importance; he himself focuses on the Jsonang-Shambhala tradition. His teachings of Chakra (the Wheel of Time) contain profound methods for harmonizing our external environment with the inner world of the body and mind, and ultimately for achieving a golden age of peace and harmony (Dzokden).