I find this an excellent book by the late ex-neuroscientist and meditation adept, that illustrates how the mind works and distils the core of Buddhist meditation into easy to follow steps - the medtiation practice, as always, is the challenge to progress.
I have some The Mind Illuminated guided meditation audio files created by a meditation teacher if anyone is interested.
Has anyone used the book?
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I used it–it was the first book I worked with. I still like it quite a lot and I often think about his guidance as I learn from my own meditation, or in the context of other readings I’ve done. For me, as a nerd (previously) pretty averse to religion, I found his nuts and bolts instruction really useful and free of “woo woo” entanglement which might have turned me off at the beginning.
For newcomers, his teaching is perhaps not the norm in that it sets beginners up to practice concentration, or Samatha meditation. It seems like insight/Vipassana practice might be more common for newbies. I’m not sure how much it matters that much, tbh. For me, just learning to sit and explore my reactions to sitting took plenty of time before the distinction between concentration and insight even meant anything to me.
I have used the book for many years and would recommend it.
The instructions are very detailed and it provides you with a somewhat scientific framework - in my experience this approach is very effective with secular nerds (like myself). It is very transparent and even if you don’t follow through until the end it gives you a great foundation for other meditation traditions.
That said, it can get a bit too mechanical and I took some deliberate breaks from it to explore less rigid meditation techniques like Rob Burbea’s playful teachings.
Overall I would recommend it if you want to follow detailed step-by-step guide and if you are willing to set aside 40-60mins a day.
