Meditative Mind P

This is an expanded, updated version of Goleman's The Varieties of the Meditative Experience, published in the mid-1970s, and it is a sign of changing times that the bulk of the book, a recounting of the meditative traditions in Eastern and Western religions, seems dated. Yet, Goleman's wide-ranging meditative experience imbues the volume with an authority and authenticity that transcend the details and continue to make his writings some of the liveliest available on meditation. There are new chapters on the multiple ways in which the benefits of meditation are being incorporated into American medicine and psychology. For example, Goleman provides evidence that meditation reduces blood pressure, speeds the body's ability to recover from stress, decreases the pain of angina and arrhythmia, and increases blood flow to the heart. In addition, the National Institutes of Health recommends meditation more highly than prescription drugs as a first-line treatment for mild hypertension. To a casual reader, Goleman's study is too full of arcane words and multilingual jargon about states of enlightenment. But to a serious student of meditation, this book, like its predecessor, is an excellent resource. (April)