The Meditator's Dilemma: An Innovative Approach to Overcoming Obstacles and Revitalizing Your Practice

Description

Through time-tested teachings and exercises, The Meditator's Dilemma shows you how to deepen your meditation practice while cultivating ease and delight--for both beginners and longtime practitioners. Through time-tested teachings and exercises, The Meditator's Dilemma shows you how to deepen your meditation practice while cultivating ease and delight-for both beginners and longtime practitioners. When practiced regularly, meditation naturally deepens self-awareness and leads to spiritual transformation. In our hyper, instant-gratification culture, however, most people miss out on those powerful outcomes because it's hard to commit to a longterm practice. Despite the increasing popularity of mindfulness and its documented mental health benefits, the silent majority of meditators struggle to maintain a regular practice. In fact, research indicates that more than fifty percent of meditators give up on the practice. This is the elephant in the meditation room. The Meditator's Dilemma, written by a psychologist with forty years' experience practicing and teaching meditation, confronts this problem and its causes and provides specific, accessible techniques and exercises that greatly enhance everyday meditation practice. Bill Morgan's teachings and guided meditation exercises are designed to generate the all-too-missing delight and enjoyment in meditation. The concept of the "holding environment," central to positive outcome in psychotherapy, is the raison d'etre for these techniques. In psychotherapy, the holding environment comprises the trusting, secure, empathic milieu created by the caring therapist. An indirect benefit of these techniques is the capacity to create a nurturing safe space in any relational context- with a mentor, in a conversation with a dear friend, or in a beautiful natural setting. When we are in a holding environment, we feel alive, connected, and relaxed. The Meditator's Dilemma teaches Western meditators to cultivate an internal holding environment that results in an attitude of relaxed curiosity and exploration toward their meditation practice, leading to greater success and staying power.

BILL MORGAN is a Boston-area clinical psychologist and founding board member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP). He graduated from Tufts University in 1975 with a degree in Eastern Studies and earned his PsyD from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in 1990. Over the past fifteen years, he has taught residential mindfulness retreats for mental health professionals and caregivers at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts, Vallecitos Mountain Ranch in New Mexico, Esalen in California, and Wonderwell, a Tibetan Buddhist center in New Hampshire. He is a contributor to the 2005 book Mindfulness and Psychotherapy (Guilford).

"A very helpful book for anyone who wants to meditate. Bill's decades of dedicated practice, training in psychotherapy, and deep care for others all come together beautifully in The Meditator's Dilemma. He has a knack for articulating particular ways to support the Western mind in approaching meditation practice."-Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness "This delightful, inspiring, and practical book can help transform anyone's meditation practice from a struggle to a joy. Based on years of experience as a gifted psychologist and meditation teacher, Dr. Morgan lucidly shows us how to avoid the pitfalls that make meditation unnecessarily difficult, while finding ways to harness our surprisingly natural capacity for clarity and ease. Full of wisdom and compassion, it's a must-read for all who wish to deepen and enliven their meditation practice and live a richer, happier, more connected life."-Ronald D. Siegel, Psy.D., author of The Mindfulness Solution "Have you ever wanted to know the secret of a happy meditator? With disarming candor and delightful humor, psychologist Bill Morgan shares hard-won insights gleaned from over 40 years on the cushion. He shows us how to bring the qualities of play, delight, gratitude, warmth, and tenderness to mindfulness meditation practice, while remaining rooted in the ancient teachings of the Buddha. This book has the power to liberate the hearts of both novice and seasoned meditators. Spare yourself unnecessary struggle and read it now!"-Christopher Germer, PhD, author, The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion "In The Meditator's Dilemma, Bill Morgan offers us some of the many fruits of his long meditation experience. His first-hand experience of grappling with the dilemmas that confront most meditators helps illuminate some of the common difficulties and struggles we encounter on the path. In this very helpful book, he offers a wide array of skillful suggestions that allow for a natural and more easeful unfolding of our insight and understanding."-Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening "A noteworthy reevaluation of one Westerner's initial enthusiasm over mindfulness meditation. William Morgan shares his frustrations and his solutions in this timely work."-Mark Epstein, MD, author of The Trauma of Everyday Life