Meditation from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist Perspectives (American University Studies)

Meditation from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist Perspectives engages readers with its original philosophical and pragmatic analysis of traditional Asian religions, philosophy, meditation practice, and the supreme spiritual ideals associated with the Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist traditions. The text boldly bridges the theory/practice distinction. A central underpinning of Meditation from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist Perspectives rests on the assumption that meditation practice without theory is groundless and that theory without practice is useless. Robert Altobello identifies and analyzes common elements found across traditions in which the practice of meditation plays a central role in human development, and readers will find a wealth of detailed reflection on the relationship between spiritual growth and meditation practice from the Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist perspectives. In the spirit of these traditions, the exploration of meditation practice requires examination of the principal elements that sustain the core worldviews as well as the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical presumptions that animate these traditions. Throughout the text, the author demonstrates why these philosophies are all best understood as psychologies of happiness and/or contentment and that by viewing them as such, practitioners can reap the great promises of all these traditions without the need to accept any compromising metaphysical assumptions.