Meditation practice
Meditation practice is the highest ROI endeavor you could take as a conscious human being, speaking in terms of understanding experientially what is going on, understanding the nature of consciousness and the human condition at the intimate level of direct experience. Understanding and mastering your operating system thoroughly from the inside out has all kinds of life-changing implications. It's the best thing you could do for yourself in terms of dealing with the cards that nature/life dealt to you. It's the most important skill/trait to cultivate for dealing/relating to the specific human condition- the body/mind that you are. It is key to figuring out how to liberate from the many bonds/infilictions/traps that cause human suffering and alienation. It's one of the rare (grounded in nature of mind) ways to human flourishing and wellbeing. It's crucial not just for yourself but also for your loved ones as your interdependent/interrelated conscious beings, and other sentient beings more broadly. If you are curious about the fundamental existential questions such as: What is this? Who are you? What is possible? What's going on? What is of value? What matters? Are we on the right track as a civilization/species? Please try to establish a serious meditation practice. Your sanity depends on it.
Meditation practice is the highest ROI endeavor you could take as a conscious human being, speaking in terms of understanding experientially what is going on, understanding the nature of consciousness and the human condition at the intimate level of direct experience. Understanding and mastering your operating system thoroughly from the inside out has all kinds of life-changing implications. It's the best thing you could do for yourself in terms of dealing with the cards that nature/life dealt to you. It's the most important skill/trait to cultivate for dealing/relating to the specific human condition- the body/mind that you are. It is key to figuring out how to liberate from the many bonds/infilictions/traps that cause human suffering and alienation. It's one of the rare (grounded in nature of mind) ways to human flourishing and wellbeing. It's crucial not just for yourself but also for your loved ones as your interdependent/interrelated conscious beings, and other sentient beings more broadly. If you are curious about the fundamental existential questions such as: What is this? Who are you? What is possible? What's going on? What is of value? What matters? Are we on the right track as a civilization/species? Please try to establish a serious meditation practice. Your sanity depends on it.
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TLDR, "ENOUGH EVANGELISM, LET ME START RIGHT NOW AND SEE FOR MYSELF":
Ok, here it is for those who wanna see for themselves, learn the hard way, no influence by others, no helping wheels:
Go to the corner of your room and sit in silence for an hour. That's it. Just do it. No expectations, no instructions, no doing, no figuring out, just sit and curiously see what happens.
Otherwise, guided meditations are the best way a beginner could start meditating. Go to:
Michael Taft's YouTube account and try out one of his guided meditations, he is the GOAT meditation teacher.
Or download the WakingUp App by Sam Harris, which is a hub for the best non-dual meditation teacher—highly recommended.
Or if you want to immerse yourself into a daylong/weekend-long retreat/intensive course, go to:
Shinzen Young Day-Long Retreat at the Monastic Academy (starts at 19m 20s)
Shinzen is widely considered a rare, highly realized zen master in the West.
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Resources:
For those that want to dive deeply into this endevour: Start with this beginner’s guide by r/streamentry- “a practical workbook for starting out on the meditation path. The guide explains what practice is about, addresses common questions and difficulties, and provides a complete 12-week starter course.”
If you are an obsessive like me, before you enter this rabbit hole, be informed of the possible risks of serious high-dose meditation practice at Cheetah House.
Recommended Books
Here are the books recommended by r/streamentry:
The Mind Illuminated by Upasaka Culadasa. An abridged meditation guide (pdf) is freely available. Also see the dedicated subreddit /r/TheMindIlluminated.
For an alternative, freely-available guide to the same style of meditation, see Thanissaro Bhikkhu's With Each and Every Breath (preview the main practice instructions).
Seeing That Frees by Rob Burbea, a deep exploration of insight for the experienced practitioner. Rob's many outstanding audio talks are also freely available.
Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram (free online, also available in print). Also see the Dharma Overground forums.
Our Pristine Mind by Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche is a pragmatic and secular guide to Dzogchen specifically written for Westerners. Enlightenment is clearly defined and the stages of awakening as understood in Dzogchen are thoroughly explained in plain language. This is a recommended resource for anyone interested in an "awareness-based" approach to Awakening.
Right Concentration by Leigh Brasington, an accessable and comprehensive guide to jhāna practice. Jhāna (meditative absorption) is sometimes described as one of the two wings of awakening, the other being insight practice. See also the book's website, which contains supplementary material.
To understand theoretically what is meditation and to gain practical instruction that will equip you well to seriously engage with this practice, read first - MCTB 2 - I have read this book more than 5 times, it is in my case the most valuable resource on this really important existential topic. This book is also a great reference - it provides a nice overview of all the possibilities, different practices and valuable books. If you want to go straight to these references visit the library of Daniel Ingram.
Here is a great list of recommended books by Michael Taft.
For useful advice that will properly set your attitude:
Read this guide from Buddhist Geeks.
Tasshin’s meditation tips for a lifetime practice
See also his links:
Tasshin’s useful meditation resources
Meditation Communities
r/streamentry - A place for discussion related to the practice of meditation and other techniques aimed at developing concentration, increasing the power of conscious awareness, and producing insight leading to awakening. Those here understand Awakening to be a practical and attainable goal that can be approached via many paths. Although this goal is explained most thoroughly in the Buddhist traditions, it can be understood in entirely secular, non-religious terms.
Also, to find valuable members in the meditation community, follow these useful links by Daniel Ingram
Shinzen’s Facebook group
Meditation Apps - guidance by great teachers in your pocket
For a non-dual meditation approach - Waking Up App by Sam Harris is an amazing resource. To become fammiliar with this approach I recommend his introductory course in this app. See also the courses by other great non-dual teachers such as Loch Kelly, Stephen Bodian, Adyashanti, Henry Shukman and others. Sam also has longer meditations which are great resources if you want to go deeper.
To reach another community of great teachers try Bright Mind App, it is much worse as an app (bad software implementation), but it has some great teachers such as Shinzen Young, Vince, and Emily Horn, Stephanie Nash, and many others. Really good stuff.
Great meditation courses
For beginners that want to learn how to stabilize attention and for some useful background theory try Culadasa’s Sit Breath Wake Up on Youtube
Michael Taft's Youtube channel is a great resource for a long guided video meditation journey.
The best course on the Jhanas out there is this jhana retreat by the one and only Rob Burbea.
Fascinating long course is Mahamudra for the modern world by Reginald A. Ray who is one of my favorite meditation teachers. Check all of his books and other courses such as his Somatic Meditation course. This dude is far out there, he alongside Burbea teaches the most advanced stuff I had encountered.
Meditation Podcasts
Deconstructing Yourself Podcast - has the best meditation conversations out there with adept meditators/teachers
Buddhis Geeks
Imperfect Buddha Podcast
Making Sense with Sam Harris has some good meditation related conversations
Adventures in Awareness Podcast
Edge of Mind
Expanding Mind
Emerge
Heart Wisdom Podcast