Start Here Now
An Open-Hearted Guide to the Path and Practice of Meditation
Newbies to meditation couldn’t ask for a better guide to the practice than Susan Piver. The best-selling author of many books, including How Not to be Afraid of Your Own Life, The Quiet Mind, and The Hard Questions, has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1993, took formal Buddhist vows in 1995, and is a trained instructor in the Tibetan Shambhala tradition. She has taught meditation worldwide as well as online through her nondenominational mindfulness community, the Open Heart Project. In Start Here Now, Piver takes a no-nonsense, jargon-free, and totally down-to-earth approach to meditation that offers an understanding of what it really is (a combination of mindfulness and awareness), an overview of its benefits (“if it were a medication, it would be heralded as the miracle drug of the century,” she quotes fellow meditator Jonathan Foust), and all that’s needed to establish a lasting, fulfilling, even life-changing practice.
Those with basic questions on the how-tos of meditation will find answers given with love and understanding. Those who already know the answers but can’t seem to make it to their meditation cushion regularly will find both challenge and encouragement given with a good dose of humor. Piver has also provided resources for those who want to deepen their study, including access to her own online community.
Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and even if it did, it’s unlikely that it would work for everyone. But meditation shines a light on the path and gives us a way to access our truest compass: the heart. “It has helped me build a life of joy and meaning,” Piver writes, “and given me ways to cope when joy and meaning seem to disappear.”
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
