Official Review: Inspirience: Meditation Unbound

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Yoli García
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Official Review: Inspirience: Meditation Unbound

Post by Yoli García »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Inspirience: Meditation Unbound" by Richard L Haight.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Bestselling author Richard L. Haight wrote Inspirience: Meditation Unbound: The Unconditioned Path to Spiritual Awakening because he wants the readers to know they are ready for enlightenment. According to Haight, "there is a presence, intelligence, and power so perfect, so loving that no human words can adequately describe it, and it's within you." He calls this presence Isness. It just is and encompasses the whole universe. Inspirience is when people experience a "direct conscious awareness of Isness." The purpose of the book is to help the readers tune to Isness and change their lives for the better. Meditation is the way to tune to Isness. For that reason, Haight shares with the readers several meditations that he learned through his lifelong study of meditation and martial arts.

This is a non-fiction book about meditation consisting of 112 pages. It is pretty organized and divided into four parts. Part I is about Haight's path of exploration of meditation and its meaning. Part 2 is about how he found unconditioned ways to practice meditation. For example, he learned how to meditate with his eyes open and all the senses. He also talks about neuroplasticity and the importance of appreciation. Part 3 discusses the different types of conscience, such as cultural conscience, moral conscience, and innate conscience. He explains how various areas of deceit have a negative impact on ourselves. Examples are flattery, gossip, complaint, and spite. Part 4 is about what happens when we finally tune to Isness. At the end, the book includes a handy glossary with definitions of concepts the author mentioned in the book and an appendix with instructions on how to do several meditations.

I liked a number of factors about this book. Haight makes it clear that the meditations he shares with the readers do not come from Eastern religious practices, such as Buddhism and Zen. He came up with the meditations himself after many years of studying martial arts and meditation. I found it interesting that he does not like meditating with his eyes closed and seated. He says that a martial artist needs to be calm and alert in battle. I thought it was quite original of him to find new ways to practice meditation. He even has a meditation for tidying up the house.

Haight also offers a lot of beneficial information in this book, which is not long. However, he managed to be succinct. I thought he gave some great pieces of advice. An example is that he applies the idea of "forward motion" to his meditations, which means to give up expectations and simply move forward. The mind gets distracted again and again, so we must accept that the mind will rebel. Another example is that he explains what neuroplasticity is and how we can retrain the brain.

The only issue I had with the book is that Haight's tone sounds too philosophical and existential at times. I had to read some sentences and paragraphs more than once to grasp their full meaning. The following is an example: "But the reality is that even immediacy is beyond words. Even to say that this moment is, is false. To say that it is not is equally false."

I rate Inspirience: Meditation Unbound: The Unconditioned Path to Spiritual Awakening by Richard L. Haight 4 out of 4 stars. The author teaches the readers about meditation and provides beneficial information about retraining the brain, different types of conscience, and appreciation. Even though some of his arguments were too philosophical and existential for my taste, I was not detracted from the importance of the book. What is more, I only found two grammatical errors. I recommend this book to readers who practice meditation and martial arts and those who have an interest in learning about meditation.

******
Inspirience: Meditation Unbound
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Post by Sahani Nimandra »

The practice od meditation with eyes open and focus on basic things is a basic meditation which is much applicable and suitable to the lay community. It grossly has a lot advantages than one can expect. The meditation achieved by martial arts is based on deep focus of every movement which is greatly advantageous. The founder of Shaolin Temple is Bodhidharma, a buddhist monk from India. Martial arts was first introduced as boxing to the monastery as a form of exercise. The movement helps to develop awareness and directly sharpens concentration. Thank you for your detailed review! Definitely adding it to my self
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Post by SF21 »

I guess I can guess the story entirely based on this review. No for me.
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Post by Yoli García »

Sahani Nimandra wrote: 10 Jun 2018, 23:09 The practice od meditation with eyes open and focus on basic things is a basic meditation which is much applicable and suitable to the lay community. It grossly has a lot advantages than one can expect. The meditation achieved by martial arts is based on deep focus of every movement which is greatly advantageous. The founder of Shaolin Temple is Bodhidharma, a buddhist monk from India. Martial arts was first introduced as boxing to the monastery as a form of exercise. The movement helps to develop awareness and directly sharpens concentration. Thank you for your detailed review! Definitely adding it to my self

Wow! You know a lot about meditation. My knowledge is basic. That is why I read the book. Thanks so much for your amazing insight!
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Post by Sahani Nimandra »

Yolimari wrote: 11 Jun 2018, 01:08
Sahani Nimandra wrote: 10 Jun 2018, 23:09 The practice od meditation with eyes open and focus on basic things is a basic meditation which is much applicable and suitable to the lay community. It grossly has a lot advantages than one can expect. The meditation achieved by martial arts is based on deep focus of every movement which is greatly advantageous. The founder of Shaolin Temple is Bodhidharma, a buddhist monk from India. Martial arts was first introduced as boxing to the monastery as a form of exercise. The movement helps to develop awareness and directly sharpens concentration. Thank you for your detailed review! Definitely adding it to my self

Wow! You know a lot about meditation. My knowledge is basic. That is why I read the book. Thanks so much for your amazing insight!
Dear, I have been studying this subject for a very long time. Your welcome! :tiphat:
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Post by Samantha Simoneau »

Great review and an interesting take on "traditional" meditation. Thanks!
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Post by kandscreeley »

I'm not really into "meditation" or enlightenment necessarily. Too much spirituality. However, it does sound like it covers some good ground for those that enjoy that type of thing. Thanks for the review. I'm glad that you were able to find some positives in it.
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Post by liftedbooks »

This is most definitely not my kind of book, but I commend you for writing a fantastic review. I will recommend this book to others that I think might enjoy it.
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Post by dgentle-babe »

the review is nice and I will recommend it to those that will also appreciate it.
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Post by Marissa Michael »

Wow, meditation with eyes open sounds new to me. However, I have to pass this book because I'm not into meditation. The least I can do is to recommend this to my friends who are learning about this meditation. Thank you for your review.
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Post by Nimat87 »

Thanks for the enlightening review. I know next to nothing about meditation. Perhaps I might check this out to gain some insight.
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

Your review is very detailed and interesting. It sounds like the book takes a different angle than the majority of self-help "easy meditation" guides.
Although I try to practice mindfulness every day, I´m not really appealed by the existential and philosophical aspect of it, but I'm very much interested in the advice, like the "forward motion" you mention. I´ll keep it in mind.
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Post by adeleke_adey »

Meditation fascinates me, although I don't know a whole lot about it. I'll definitely check out the book.
This is a well written review by the way.
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Post by Yoli García »

SamSim wrote: 11 Jun 2018, 06:53 Great review and an interesting take on "traditional" meditation. Thanks!
Yes, his meditations are outside the box. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Yoli García
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Post by Yoli García »

SamSim wrote: 11 Jun 2018, 06:53 Great review and an interesting take on "traditional" meditation. Thanks!
It was definitely a different take on meditation. Thanks for reading and your kind words!
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