I want to review this book because it kind of had a rather big impact on my life, now that I look back on it. I don't review books often, but I figured I ought to do something and perhaps the author will at some point know that I appreciated his work. I picked up this book on how to meditate sort of randomly one day because I was trying to find items to take home for some item I was exchanging at a bookstore. I didn't expect it to be much but it was. It was a simple step by step guide to help beginners focus and learn to concentrate, learn to control our bodies and minds, and to be aware of and to control the energy that exists in the universe. Now it's more than a decade later and I still remember this book because without it I wouldn't have had the first clue about how to raise energy in my current magickal studies, unless I'd somehow stumbled across it some other way. The book shows how natural and easy and wonderful meditation and its related arts can be, and I'm eternally grateful.
How to Meditate by John Novak was the one of the first meditation books that I ever bought. Nearly 10 years later, thanks to this great introductory volume, I am still meditating and feeling the lasting benefits! Although the title is somewhat basic sounding (there are lots of books called "How to Meditate" out there) this is THE ONE that is the most focused, practical and profound and one of the few of its kind that I could really recomend. I've also bought a couple of the other "How to Meditate" books and was disappointed that they were really just surveys or smorgasbords of a bunch of different techniques. In this one, Novak is careful to present one coherent, well-thought out system that you can really feel his enthusiasm for. I really couldn't recomend a better introductory guide to meditation (and its even one of the least expensive!).
