Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide by Aryeh Kaplan
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Book Reviews of Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide
Book Review: Excellent Book
Summary: 5 Stars
What a great book. Short, concise and written by one of the leaders of the real modern day scholars on Kabbalah. He is not a Hollywood sell out like some others out there. If you want a true taste of Kabbalah in its simple form this is the book to read.Book Review: useful and practical
Summary: 5 Stars
This has had a practical and immediate effect on my davening, especially the section on the Amidah.Book Review: Charming but flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
Aryeh Kaplan's book Jewish Meditation is much beloved, and for some very good reasons. It is accessible and well written, sensitive and attuned to a modern religious sensibility. When a reader puts it down, there is the feeling that he or she has read something profound and moving.
But there are some problems with his approach. Kaplan seems to stretch the importance of meditation in many portions of this book, attributing it to figures in Jewish history who probably did not meditate, at least in our modern sense in the word. In this way, Kaplan tends to take his definition of meditation and impose it on a wide swatch of Jewish history: and this defies historical logic.
There is also the sense that Kaplan is trying to graft a concept onto Judaism that perhaps is an imperfect fit. Meditation as he conceives it is overwhelmingly Eastern/Asian. For instance, he stresses that when one mediates on an object, like a tree or stone, one should not venerate it, since that would be idolatry. Kaplan can feel the disjuncture between the two concepts: normative Judaism and his ideas of mediation, and in passages such as these, he shows their lack of compatibility.
Still, the book is a novel and interesting way to incorporate mediation into Jewish life. Even though it has some deep conceptual and historical problems, it is a book with its own charms and merits.
Book Review: De-mystifying Meditation
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is simply a treasure trove of information. In today's age of rampant esoterism, this book takes the mystical world, makes it human, and allows it to be experiential. For those of you that have a fear of the unknown, or think all meditative techniques are some form of "Black art" or "New Age Movement" to lure you away from the Creator, you need to read this book. I promise you'll come away saying, "Why that isn't so bad!" I found that some of my intuitive habits are partial, albeit incomplete , meditative techniques. This book completes the circuit, making worship more personal and productive, with its practical applications. Don't let the title fool you, this book is also very appropriate for those Christians that are open to the roots of their faith and the subtle insights of the prophets, as well as those Hebrews searching to fill the void of their ancestral heritage. I recommend this book as the primer to meditation and a more meaningful relationship with God. However, don't think you're going to read this and become the next Elijah overnight. Like everything, this book is just part of the journey.Book Review: A Simple Guide
Summary: 4 Stars
This book gets right to the tachlis (purpose) and center of meditation in a Jewish way. If you want to try mediation, or have been davening regularly for years and are in search of an enlightening spiritual breakthrough, this is a great book to read.