The Joy of True Meditation: Words of Encouragement for Tired Minds and Wild Hearts

A number of years ago, after writing my book Liberation from the Lie, I became Facebook friends with Jeff Foster and we had a number of pleasant communications. Once I, in my view, gently made a little fun at one of his posts and he quickly unfriended me. So I thought, 'he is rather defensive for a kind of spiritual authority, teacher, or awakened person' as he implied or, to be completely fair, as his admirers probably thought. But I found his approach, somehow, uncompelling and incomplete. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, he even contacted me by phone and I recall having a short, but pleasant conversation with him. I did think he was quite sincere at the time.So, I experimented by purchasing and reading this book. In my opinion it is an excellent and deeply insightful and appealing contribution to the growing body of literature that presents the POV of non-duality. Jeff does have a very clear and empathetic feel to his writings that ring very true to me. I can't say that he has "evolved" (kind of ridiculous) or that, perhaps, I have "evolved" (equally ridiculous), but I can say, that once the smoke of that vague past has cleared, I'm really happy that I returned to Jeff's voice. I strongly recommend this short, but incisive book.

Not just my favorite book by Jeff so far, but my favorite book. I’ve been slowly savoring this book since it first came out. A few pages at a time. It’s the book I open before sleep, to relax deeply and drop reassured into rest. It’s the book that always says just the right thing, magically knowing exactly what I need to hear to assimilate this days offerings. The concise, poetic words hold my hand as we face the uncomfortable together. Like the most compassionate, wisest friend...like whispers from my own future self.

Reading this book is like having someone take me by the hand and gently guide me through those difficult feelings that I've been hesitant to explore all by myself. Jeff knows exactly what to say and how to say it so that I see things more clearly and I am able to shift my perspective accordingly. Ironically, I found this book by accident while I was looking for a book about communicating more effectively. As it turns out, this book is helping me to communicate more effectively with my own feelings. I realize now that this is what I really needed all along.

I like this book, but it's not my favorite. It does have a great message, but the message gets lost with all the adjectives the author writes. It seems it's every other sentence there are ~5 adjectives describing a thought/concept and again, the overall message just gets lost. For example, one sentence says "painful and pleasurable, violent and gentle, positive and negative, sacred and profane" and another says, "our anger, our fear, our grief, our deepest and strangest and most creative desires." I obviously want adjectives in a book, just not EVERY other sentence. It becomes very redundant and annoying to read.

Jeff Foster writes about the experiences we go thru in a meditation practice that are both encouraging and insightful. I learned more about my own emotions reading his essays. I've been a fan of his for some time but having the chance to read these essays showed me how wonderful it feels to be able to pick up this book when I feel I need his words and experience to help me through a rough patch. Thank you Jeff Foster!

It doesn’t matter what I am going through, I can open this book and Jeff always speaks directly to me. Jeff is an open vessel that writes the words of Spirit. He has handed me every piece of my soul through his writing. Jeff is an authentic being doing the important work of bringing us Home to ourselves. I can’t say enough good things about Jeff and I truly recommend all of his books. His writing will heal you the instant you read it.

Beyond amazed, touched and deeply resonating book ever! How much I was waiting for the messages like this book. All running after something that could make me happy, and all of it being right here! I can't stop going back to this book every time I need little meditation, some words that feel like being whispered into my soul's ears. I am touched!

This book is mostly poetry. It is not a practice manual, but somehow I still found it helpful for my practice. It serves as a reminder that a radically non dualistic viewpoint can be clearly expressed without using sanskrit, without using the worn out language of thousand year old religions.

After a life of spiritual quest, the only book I met that reconciliates with life as it is and it’s mystery. No technique, no phylosophy, no dogma, only raw, absolute tenderness that has the capacity to awaken our forgotten Love for ourselves and the world.

I discovered Jeff Foster about 12 years ago with An Extraordinary Absence. Back then I had glimpses of what was mentioned in his books and in so many other teachers's books (Eckhart Tolle, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Arnaud Desjardins, Alan Watts).And then I fell asleep again. A Mum passing away, a shut down and a slow amnesia about all of these teachings. The world seems cruel again and only by controlling it will I be able to make it better. 10 years later and a realisation that I had been drifting or maybe not. The official release of this book, but a release too early for me. Another 2 years. Not ready to understand it until yesterday. A deep acceptance of ongoing disappointment one afternoon, an order on Amazon and this book in my hands.I read it pretty much the same day and realised that those 12 years that I had labelled "wasted" hadn't been wasted at all. They had to be this way.A book about yesterday and tomorrow and Now.A book whose cover even is soft to touch just like its contents.Thanks Jeff!

Brilliant Jeff Foster, thank you so much for sharing. It opened my heart and made me realise the same, that i with all the spiritual teachings i read i am still searching but its all right here, right now, i am perfect exactly as i am and to just feel. It has also helped me so much in my line of work where i see so much suffering (so my mind tells me) but it is perfect actually how it is and i don't need to try and heal anyone, i just need to be the space and to listen and love. Thank you, Namaste.

I so enjoyed this book by Jeff Foster - his best yet in my opinion. It is written in short essay form and I found this perfect for me as I like to read something inspiring every morning before the day begins. Thank you Jeff, for this gift of a book. I shall no doubt dip into it often to remind me of the wisdom therein.

I've read almost every flavour of spiritual book there is, and rarely find anything new. This also was not new for me, but jeff wrote in a way that resonated me so deeply it brought tears to my eyes, reminding me of truth I do an A* job of ignoring. Thank you Jeff.