Meditation for Healing: Particular Meditations for Particular Results

Justin Stone is an amazing teacher. He is willing to share his experiences so that others may benefit and get some understanding of a variety of meditation techniques. This particular book is very helpful as a foundation for general information about meditation. It also provides some context about who Justin is and why he is so enthusiastic about meditation. The simple techniques and non-nonsense approach make this an excellent resource and reference for the novice interested in the benefits of meditation. Meditation for Healing, in my opinion, does not emphasize Justin's gift of T'ai Chi Chih (TCC), a moving mediation, strongly enough. Of course there are other sources for instruction in the 19 movements and one pose of the TCC movements. Chronologically in Justin's writing I believe Mediation for Healing was written before Justin fully appreciated how powerful and grounding TCC really is. Justin has said, "People ask me if they should meditate. I tell them I don't know, but I do tell them they should practice T'ai Chi Chih!" Nevertheless, any student looking for background on meditation or Justin Stone should have this reference in their library.

The author shares this book as a support for his more person to person teaching. He has created Tai Chi Chih which is a simplified form of Chi Kung that is focused on energy movement. I think the improvements to Chi Kung in this focus are helpful. This book is interesting because it describes a lot of the author's experiments in meditation in his life. I was particularly interested in his generation of Tumo heat. He does not use the traditional method, but his own hybrid method of creating the heat and did a good job of it. From my own experience, though, I would recommend those interested in long term Tumo practice get an Empowerment to Vajra Yogini so that the energies can be regulated by the diety and make the practice a little safer. The author has another book that goes into the Chi Kung system he has created. It is only really mentioned here, because some of the experiments use it as a foundation for getting the chi circulated through the meridians first (a good idea). The warnings he has about the dangers of meditation I suspect relate to somethings he has met with his students. I personally feel meditation is safer than the impression I get from his writings, but the warnings may still be worth sharing. These precautions may be more important to follow if you do not gain the benefit of an empowerment. I gave the book four stars rather than five because it is a little loose and incomplete, it would not be enough of a meditation book by itself, but has some useful notes for those already familiar.