Meditation Without Myth: What I Wish They'd Taught Me in Church about Prayer, Meditation, and the Quest for Peace

I think Helminiak wrote a masterful book! It gave me new insights although I have read others books on meditation and am a regular meditator. What is so great, from my point of view, is that Helminiak keeps the focus on us, the non-religious folks. And he just might be the only one so explicitly targeting non-religious people. I think he is up to something really important when, for example, he talks about god as the Santa Claus for adults. Helminiak has a great gift of fresh thinking about the spiritual. I was really taken by the last part of the book (god, religion, and spirituality). For example, the thoughts about the two emerging visions of the global community. The first vision is that one society and its religion will dominate the globe and impose its ways on everyone. Which is what the US is trying to do and is encountering fierce resistance. Having it put this way, the goodness of the alternative spiritual vision becomes self-evident. Much of what the book says is something that I feel deeply yet am unable to articulate clearly as Helminiak does. Also, I really like the way Helminiak goes through the reasons for a non-theological approach. On a yellow sticky, I copied a quote from the book and put it on my computer. It says, "We are at a particular moment in history. Whereas religion was what gave many of us inspiration and vision, at this point religion might be more the problem than the solution." Could a deeply religious person be part of the solution? Helminiak says it's not likely. I agree with him. But this is not the way we usually think about it. Most religious people think they are the key to the solution! The part that goes to the core of my discomfort in discussing spirituality with religious people is very clearly stated on page 130, where it say, "I feel bad to be writing such [negative] things [about religious beliefs.] I wonder if I am not pulling the rug out from under people. I fear I am destroying the religious faith that gets most of us through life. Yet I do not think it is I who am doing this terrible deed. World events and personal growth have brought us to this point." Another idea that sticks in my mind is the way Helminiak delineates religion and spirituality. Spirituality is one facet of religion (love, compassion, concern for the common good), minus the dogmas and doctrines. Could this be the best definition of spirituality yet? There are some thoughts in the book that I feel ambivalent about. The body-psyche-spirit division is one of them. For me the problematic part is the "spirit," which I failed to grasp, even after I read the whole book. I still wonder if by spirit Helminiak means something like consciousness or awareness or discernment or all of that. I suppose there are many ways. One way, which I like more, is to think in terms of mind-brain-body. Also, Lonergan's transcendental precepts seem kind of true, yet there is something incomplete about them. I am not sure what bugs me about it. Perhaps it put

Here's another great book from Helminiak! This time the central topic is meditation, but the scope is large and includes the author's concern and ideal for a global community. It's always a jolt to discover that I, with all my wit and wisdom, deep faith and tradition, may be a part of the problem. But it's good for me to know that I may choose to become a part of the solution, by transcending the comfortable status quo and plunging more deeply into my own divine humanity. As with all Helminiak books, I feel as though somebody just slapped me, and curiously I have to say, "Thanks, Dad! I needed that!"

"Meditation Without Myth" is an exceptional book for anyone wishing to reunite the two so long divided--humanism and spirituality. This is the first book I've ever read that successfully suggests a spiritual direction without the usual dogma and hocus pocus normally associated with religion. At the same time, Helminiak avoids falling into dry secular humanism so antithetical to any "God" concepts. This is the perfect book for the "spiritual but not religious" types who are open to the spiritual but grounded in science and reality. Helminiak shreds meditation of its normally associated mystical aberrations by drawing everything back to how the practice helps a person in this world. He also leaves it wide open for the reader to decide whether to inject "God" in their experience or not. The only criticism I have is that the book only minimally describes the practice of meditation itself. Perhaps this is on purpose as he didn't want to dogmatically impose a set practice indicative of so many religions. It made sense to me because I've been practicing many forms of meditation myself for years. But the novice to meditation may not find it practically useful specifically for meditation. Overall though, it presents a very practical philosphical backdrop for meditation to help avoid falling prey to the religious vultures of our time.

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!

If you are on a spiritual quest and use meditation as a way to connect with the infinite life force of the universe you will enjoy the simplicity of the message contained in Helminiak's latest work. He incorporates body, psyche and spirit in the discussion on how to tame the mind, listen to your inner wisdom and intuition and live a life full of joy, awe and in the present moment. This is an excellent book that will bring great insights into your spiritual practice and help you find solace in your path to enlightment...realization of the ultimate nature of reality.