TL;DR: This is a recommendation for the book "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa (Amazon link). In this post I'm giving you an overview of the book, and why you should buy it if you're interested in meditation.

Body: I'm writing this since in a recent thread the topic of meditation came up, and it happens that I recently started reading this book, so I thought it'll be a good opportunity to recommend it to the community.

For a long time I wanted to meditate, and since about a year I've managed to have a more or less regular meditation practice. But one of the big problems is that there's hardly any good information out there on what exactly meditation is and how to do it. I've read a lot of the usually recommended books and articles, and while things got a little bit clearer I didn't really get the feeling that I understand much better what I do on the cushion. And I think this is a problem a lot of people encounter.

It's like wanting to get a nice physique and doing 40 pushups a day. It's better than nothing, but as we all know a proper full-body barbell training program is infinitely better than 40 pushups a day.

Enter this book. I recently got it and (full disclosure) I haven't read it through to the end yet, but I can already say that it's an absolute game changer. To start with, it has 476 pages, so there's a lot of info to take in. The author is an accomplished meditator, as well as a brain scientist, so he knows exactly what he's talking about, and the book reads like this. His clear, precise language leaves no questions unanswered. This is an actual text book. This is the manual for your brain you always wanted to read. And it's not a book you read once and be done with it. You'll be working with this book for the next couple of years.

Just look at this example:

Keep your attention on the area where the breath sensations are clearest. Don't try to follow the air as it moves into the body or out of your nose. Just observe the sensations from the air passing over the spot where you're focusing your attention. Remember, the meditation object is the sensations of the breath, not the breath itself. (pg. 52)

Every single aspect of meditation is described in exactly this precise, practical manner. That was a small example of a small aspect of meditation, but I hope you can see from this how detailed his level of writing is.

Culadasa describes 10 stages of meditation and gives you exact and precise information on how to find out which stage you are at, what to do at each stage, how to do it and why to do it. For example, he doesn't only describe precisely how to focus your attention on the breath, he also tells you why to do it, and this is invaluable information, because you get an understanding of the bigger picture. The book is full of a-ha moments, where you suddenly understand exactly why meditation teachers say what they are saying.

There are a couple of interludes between the chapters about the stages, giving you information about how the mind is organized. For example, the first interlude talks about the difference between attention and awareness, and how they work together to form what is called mindfulness. This information gives you much needed context for your meditation practice. Later interludes introduce more insights into the structure of your mind and deepen information from earlier chapters. The book also never overloads you, as the information given in the interludes is relevant to the stages you are at.

He also talks about problems that will arise at each stage, why they arise and how to deal with them.

Also, he gives clear and precise definitions and explanations of terms. As I said earlier, after a long long time of researching mediation I found an actual definition of mindfulness.

The span of the book is the whole journey from the first time you sit down on the cushion to actual enlightenment itself. Now, if that isn't something that gets you excited, I don't know what will.

Yeah, I'm absolutely convinced this is the one book you need to have when you're interested in meditation. It's as close to your own, personal 24/7 meditation teacher as anything can probably get.

Lessons learned: BUY THE BOOK!