A Twenty-First Century Seeker: Soul & Spirit speaks to author Pradhan Balter about his new meditation book

Pick up this year’s best title for beginner meditators and find your inner peace

“In polling students in my classes, I find that some have never meditated before, while others are quite experienced. Most, however, fall somewhere in between. They have started and stopped and started and stopped again. In writing this book, it is my sincere hope to provide both the inspiration and the understanding for you to develop a regular and fruitful meditative practice—regardless of your starting point.”

“To support you in your process, I’ll share with you the proper attitudes one should bring to meditation. In giving classes, I’ve noticed too many people simply seeking experience—what I call the “meditative buzz”—as opposed to recognizing the value of meditation as a self-nurturing process that should be practised regularly. This improper approach is a common reason why those new to meditation quit after a few attempts—either they feel that nothing is happening or that they are not meditating correctly. The attitude you bring to your meditation has much to do with your progress in meditating well.”

“What is most important, as I mentioned earlier, is that you perform the exercise! To read about meditation and understand it intellectually is not to meditate. I could describe to you for hours on end the experience of the mango, but to really experience it, you simply have to take a bite! So, take a bite—perform the exercises.”

A sense of peace

“Most people have the anticipation that meditation will bring them some sort of inner peace, some “peace of mind”. (Peace from mind may be more accurate!) In fact, when I poll people in classes as to what they hope to gain from meditation, it runs the gamut from “lowering their blood pressure” to “communion with God”. But the most common reason people seek meditation is that they hope to gain some measure of peace. And it is true, properly performed meditation and properly motivated meditation will certainly create a sense of peace.

In every class I ask how many people feel that peace is important in their lives and in the world, and unanimously people agree it is important. Then I ask if love is important in their lives and in their world and again the response is a unanimous “yes”. But frankly, if anyone believes that they can meditate for 5 minutes or 10 minutes or 20 minutes in the morning and then “party down” the rest of the day with the sincere expectation that peace will enter into their lives—forget it, it just won’t happen.”

Your inner and outer beings entwined

“What you’ll discover is that with regular meditation, your life becomes re-prioritised from the inside out. The inner life and the outer life are connected. Ultimately, you cannot separate your state of being from your state of doing. Your inner life and your outer life are intimately entwined.

There are many things that you can do outwardly to help yourself inwardly and, likewise, there are many things that you can do inwardly to help yourself outwardly. I refer to the incorporation of these outer life habits as “living a meditative lifestyle”. We’ll explore how this relationship happens—how meditation will affect you from the inside-out and how you can improve your meditation from the outside-in.”

Multi-tiered meditation

“In order to understand how meditation is going to affect you, you have to know what makes you the person you are. We are wonderfully complicated individuals. Most people are comfortable with the fact that we, as humans, are multi-tiered. We readily talk about our minds, our bodies, our hearts. We’ll explore these tiers and show how meditation will affect each one and in so doing, encourage a kind of holistic meditation, meaning that you meditate on every level of your being.”

Start today!

“All of the exercises in the book are available in audio form at our website, a21stcenturyseeker.com. In addition, you can ask questions on your own practice and experience. There are also helpful links and references to assist you. You’ll find a handy contact form to reach the author.”

About the author

The author, Dr. Pradhan Balter, has practised meditation for 45 years as a student of the renowned spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. Pradhan has given practical meditation classes in more then 40 countries. He has introduced thousands of people from across a diverse range of cultural backgrounds to the principles of meditation and of a modern-day spiritual lifestyle. His down-to-earth style coupled with his sense of humour makes meditation easy and accessible. He is a chiropractor, owner of a vegetarian restaurant, computer graphics specialist, and long-time director of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Chicago.

Find A Twenty-First Century Seeker: Maintaining spiritual principles in a very hectic world by Pradhan Balter (Blue Beyond Books) is on sale now on amazon.co.uk