Saturday, March 22, 2025

Meditations: 14 Week Plan

Recently a friend was complaining of fatigue and nightmares. After listening for a while I could see a reflection of my own control issues in her stories. I suggested that she learn to relax (I had a boss that asked me to be 'happy'. I was a bit taken aback by the abstract nature of her request. So I could see where asking my friend to 'relax' could be a bit frustrating.) We started talking about other, more tangible solutions. "Meditation" came up and she confessed that she had tried a number of times to 'get into' meditation. 

The resistance to meditation has decreased since 2014 when Dan Harris wrote 10% Happier (link to Dan's YouTube: Learn Meditation in 5 minutes)  but that doesn't mean it's 100% American.

I've had a hankering to "do meditation" for a number of years so I decided to make a plan.

(If you want to sidestep a convoluted exploration into meditation paths, go to Dan's YouTube or jump here. Another, more mindful alternative is The Dali Lama's Guide to Happiness,)

Depending on your religious beliefs, the word "meditation" brings to mind, either an implicit practice (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'I faith) or an explicit discipline (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism,  and Sikhism). If you practice secularism, over the last 10 years the "meditation" has been replaced with "mindfulness" and become a discipline stripped of religious connections. Being ecumenical, I've identified the following guides to get me started (I compiled lists from Goodreads, NYTimes, Amazon best sellers, an MSRB practitioner, and A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment; analyzed the compilation; and identified the top 7):


Meditation guides
ReadingAffiliationAuthorHrs
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and PracticeZenShunryu Suzuki3.52
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday LifesecularismJon Kabat-Zinn6.08
Mindfulness in Plain EnglishBuddhismBhante Henepola Gunaratana2.08
10% Happiersecularism/
Buddhism
Dan Harris5.12
The Miracle of MindfulnessBuddhismThich Nhat Hanh2.8
Real Happiness: The Power of MeditationBuddhismSharon Salzberg4.48
How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your MindBuddhismPema Chödrön3.68
Wikipedia articles
Meditaion Traditions (wiki)0.3
Yoga (wiki)Hindusim0.7
Yoga SutrasHinduismPatanjali2
Satipatthana Sutta (wiki)Buddhism0.15
Dhyāna sutras (wiki)Zen0.15
Neiye (wiki)Zen1
Lectio Divina (wiki)ChristianityOrigen0.15
Dhikr (wiki)Islam0.3
Wikipedia articles subtotal4.75
TOTAL HOURS32.51

14 weeks is 98 days, so reading 33 hours of material amounts to about 20 minutes a day over 14 weeks.

(Before we get into my plan, here's a heads up on some unwanted affects of meditation that may occur in 4.2% to 4.6% of people:
  • feelings of being alienated from society
  • trouble feeling comfortable in the world
  • feeling that something is missing
In most cases these feelings were mild. In case you encounter these feelings, try reducing the frequency of your meditations; join a meditation group; seek guidance from a meditation practitioner or teacher.)

Here's my plan: the first 2 weeks are aimed at getting an overview of mediation, its history, and the ways that various belief systems practice it (If you're allergic to religion, I suggest that you start at week 7, 10% Happier. Dan Harris provides a refreshing, no nonsense approach to meditation that may inoculate you.); for weeks 3 through 8, read/listen to five books on meditation; in weeks 9-12 implement Sharon Salzberg's 28 day program; finally in weeks 13 and 14, make friends with my mind.

14 Weeks of Meditations
WeekReading
1Meditation Traditions (wiki)
1Yoga (wiki)
1Yoga Sutras
2Satipatthana Sutta (wiki)
2Dhyāna sutras (wiki)
2Neiye (wiki)
2Lectio Divina (wiki)
2Dhikr (wiki)
3Zen Mind, Beginners Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
4Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
6Mindfulness in Plain English
710% Happier
8The Miracle of Mindfulness
9Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
10Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
11Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
12Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
13How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind
14How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind




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