In Meditation Without Myth: What I Wish They'd Taught Me in Church about Prayer, Meditation, and the Quest for Peace, Daniel Helminiak has written a wonderfully readable and wise book about meditation practice, but it's also a book about the deeper truth about what religion really is.

Helminiak observes that the mainstream churches fail to teach their members how to meditate or what to do to open their minds to the "greater reality" that the myths point to (but do not exhaust).

A new understanding of religion is being developed in our time -- one that is open to spirituality, but that is not limited to the old time personal God. While Helminiak himself doesn't deal with this "new myth," his book is a marvelous contribution towards its creation.

Nontheistic meditation is far more successful at inspiring people and giving a sense of meaning and vitality to their existence than childhood stories of pie-in-the-sky and disincarnate entities.

It's time people begin waking up. This book is a great help!!

It has certainly given a boost to my meditation practice. I think that's the best compliment for the book. After all, it is meditators who will be interested. They will certainly get their money's worth whether they agree with Helminiak's worldview or not. His discussion of meditation practice raises all sorts of issues that will come to enhance the reader's experience of sitting in meditation. At least, it did for me!

WARNING

I first stumbled across this book in the Christian section of a local bookstore. However, this book is anything but Christian, as the quotes listed below will show. Helminiak is a former priest and current college professor. This lends some air of credibility to his work. The book is written in a simplistic, easy to read, authoritative style. It brings up typical questions that most people have thought about. Questions such as, "If you pray and it works out you say, 'God answered the prayer.' but if it doesn't work out you say, 'God answered with a "No". How do you know this isn't just imagination?" This book could influence youth and novices to the Christian faith.

NOW ABOUT THE BOOK

The author was a Catholic priest who began to question his faith and turned to Buddhism to find the answers. Leaving Buddhism he settled for spirituality without the need for God. He believes that human spirituality can be developed through meditation and discovery of "self-transcendence". His disenchantment shines through every transparent word.

I think his ideas have a couple of problems. First, "self-transcendence" as he uses the term is another word for the alpha state with which every serious practitioner of meditation is familiar. This state of altered brain waves gives the practitioner a different perception of time and space, but this is merely a biological phenomena, not transcendence. Most medieval mystics added warnings about this to their writings. Second, one cannot have spirituality without God. If God exists, God exists as something larger than the self. If God does not exist, mankind may grow in self-improvement and character, but that growth is not strictly "spiritual". This may sound like a play on words, but it is an important play.

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS

If you are a Christian and want to learn more about meditation read "Come to the Quiet" by John Michael Talbot.

If you are not religious and want to learn more about meditation from a purely practical point of view read "Instant Meditation For Stress Relief" by John Hudson.

If you are a Buddhist and want to learn more about meditation you can read any one of several books on Zen and meditation that will give you more information.

If you are a humanist and into self-improvement you will enjoy this book.

If you are anti-Christian, go ahead and read this book. You will get a kick out of it.

SOME QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

In Buddhist meditative practice, theology or metaphysics do not complicate the spiritual quest (page 6).

The human spirit itself not some other - worldly force, is the key to spiritual growth (page 20).

On the level of psyche, although a passing sexual encounter can sometimes be a beneficial experience - the legendary weekend tryst that leaves both parties grateful for one another and restored to faith in life - sexual arousal has its most powerful effect when coupled with romance (page 110).

Whereas religion was what gave many of us inspiration and vision, at this point religion may be more the problem than the solution (page 123).