Yoga Aktuell 65 - 06/2010

Special Dossier Topic: What is Meditation?

In the dossier of the new issue, we explore this question and look at the subject of meditation from all sides: Steven Harrison takes a refreshingly unconventional look at the subject, Swami Durgananda reports from many years of experience with the yogic meditation tradition, and Doris Iding writes about setbacks in meditation practice, because not everything always goes smoothly. Scientific findings on the different levels of meditation are summarised by Heinz Hilbrecht, and many well-known yoga teachers describe their views on meditation. Of course, there is also a lot of background information and practical tips

What is meditation, actually?
Quieting the mind - experts from different traditions on meditation. By Doris Iding.

Unveiling the Self
Swami Durgananda, founder of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Retreat House in Kitzbu?hel, on purification and service as a prerequisite for meditation, on a consolidated meditation practice even outside the protected setting of an ashram, and on meditation and positive thinking. Interview: Julia Johannsen.

Meditation
And now for the practice! Exemplary meditations briefly presented

The stages of meditation
The development of the meditator taking into account the gradual changes in the brain. By Heinz Hilbrecht.

Are we really conscious or do we merely believe we are conscious? On the great trap of mindfulness meditation. By Steven Harrison.

Steven Harrison, author of, among others, the provocatively refreshing books "Doing Nothing. At the End of the Spiritual Quest" and "Be Where You Are. Life as Meditation", on the dismantling of apparent certainties, the problem with communicating with words and the myth of enlightenment. Interview: Martin Frischknecht.

Progressing meditation practice is not a steep upward straight line. Setbacks are part of it and - as unpleasant as they may feel at first - often turn out to be particularly fruitful in the end. By Doris Iding.

Book tips for further reading
Recommended reading on the subject of meditation. By Doris Iding.

Two meditation texts from the legacy of the world-famous Kriya yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the "Autobiography of a Yogi" and founder of the interdenominational religious community "Self-Realization Fellowship"