" Meditation is a process of trusting ourselves and coming home. We often come to meditation for relief from stress, turmoil, or from inspiration for meaning and truth. It's that very part of ourselves seeking such things that already has them. It's like longing for like. It's our innate wisdom, compassion, and freedom shining through. We're learning to trust that intuitive part of ourselves, to come home, and let it expand." from Peace and Freedom Everyone can meditate, whether or not we want to be a Buddhist. This book begins with shamatha, or "peaceful abiding" meditation, which is how we make peace with ourselves, rejuvenate, and come to rest with groundedness, clarity, and strength. It gently guides us from the very beginning through the stages of how our practice deepens, how to adjust as it does, and how to work with our hearts and minds in an uplifting way. It continues with vipashyana, or "insight" meditation, which is how our minds are set free into innate wisdom, compassion, and openness. It's very short, meant to be easily readable, and offer heartfelt guidance for practice.

Peace and Freedom: A Guide for Meditation, Gelong Loden Nyima, Paperback, 92 pages, $16.99

Gelong Loden Nyima has been a Buddhist monk for over fourteen years. His training was at Gampo Abbey (2009 - 2017), the monastery of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Pema Chodron, where he completed an advanced cycle of traditional studies called shedra, practiced intensively for many years, and was empowered as a senior teacher. He designed and taught residential trainings for four years. He then lived at Drala Mountain Center in Colorado (2017 - 2023), where he served as Resident Teacher, designing and teaching many programs ranging from open audience meditation, to youth work, to Mahayana Buddhism. He's been blessed to receive teachings from many masters of the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, to have spent over three years in retreat, and to have supported thousands of people in their practice. He is a founding teacher of an ongoing Mahayana sangha called Bodhisattva Circle, and the author of Peace and Freedom, a pithy book on meditation. He now lives in his hometown of San Antonio, TX, where he will be offering events regionally and traveling to teach. His website is lodennyima.com