Looking for books about the subtler details of meditation

Let's try a different approach of explaining what I look for:

I want to collect information about the mind in meditation. Its observed phenomena, its workings, what happens along the way and why. I want books that approach meditation scientifically, not only from the outside, but try to nail down the experiences and methods in a scientific way.

I know that the meditators of India and China have made progress there. I know that at the root of Chan and Daoist meditation there is a precise knowledge of this. I already found some sources about this. But I want to find more.

I have found some answers, but I want a wider spectrum. There is more to know about energy than to move it around. There is more to know about the subtleties of different energies, not just how to play with them, but what they are, where they lead. There is more to know about thought, mental energy, consciousness, emotional, emotional energy.

It cannot be that there aren't more books about this. I want to read books that include the why, give an outlook of what happens, share information instead of prescribe only things you do.

Oliver

This may interest you:

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...r&search_type=

It's a writer called Ken Wilber who is more of a philosopher than a Guru type or 'how to' writer. I am currently reading one of his books called "The Eye of Spirit" which gives a general overview of his writings, a philosophical model he has called Integral. I am also waiting for another of his books to arrive called "The Spectrum of Consciousness" so I can't comment on it yet but it certainly looks interesting and he has grabbed my attention.

Hope it's of interest,
Lou

I like robert bruce's Astral Dynamics. :D

Has anyone heard of this book?

In it, he talks about trance, which is the ultimate in meditation.

Surely you jest... in many many ways.

BTW, trance is not the goal of meditation, it's just a set of states of consciousness.

Oliver

I meant to convey that trance is the best form of meditation. In other words, if you want to really meditate, learn how to trance from full waking consiousness and abide in the stillness of no mind as robert bruce describes.

If you "want to learn the workings of the mind", trance is the only way to go, as all the energetic systems of the body, and all the futile aspects of the mind are laid bare.

Im not sure many people even understand what the goal of meditation is.
If you want a good description of the "goal", I would suggest "Silence of the Heart," by Robert Adams.

Do you have actual experience of this or do you refer to something you read?

Oliver

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Korpo

Do you have actual experience of this or do you refer to something you read?

Oliver

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You asked for this ... you see, in Theravada Buddhism there is a painfully detailed description of mental factors and mental events including a detailed description of the transition into jhana called Abhidhamma.

http://www.abhidhamma.org/

The main page has a link both to "contents" and to a forum you might find interesting. You will find links to translations of the actual Abhidhamma. This is the painfully detailed version of everything, and it is intended for people who are a lot smarter than I am. :)

Thanks, Tom. I will definitely take a look.

The comment about "Experience or sth you read" was addressed to alwayson4, though. :)

How about you, Tom, what do you, exactly, practice?

Oliver

My big thing has been breath awareness meditation with the idea of learning to experience "the watcher". There are the experiences you have, the awareness of the experiences, and the awareness in the moment of being aware of having experiences. It is like lucid dreaming but the lucidity is while awake - just know what you are experiencing while you are experiencing it, because it creates a gap between the awareness and the experience. As the gap increases, you begin to see that your body, your emotions, your thoughts, and even your mind itself are not you. The process goes on until nothing is left that you can call you. At that point everything will be reversed - you are not separate from anything or anyone. That's the funny thing about zero and infinity. The breath is useful because you have it with you no matter where you go. It is a convenient point to be aware of, much more reliable than your thoughts and emotions can be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Korpo

Do you have actual experience of this or do you refer to something you read?

Oliver

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actual experience