"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. One reader said: "Peace and Freedom is an essential guide to mindfulness awareness that transports us from our internal landscape, into the world, and back again. It returns us 'home, ' to our most authentic being, and lets us rest in the wisdom of our simple presence and compassion. Insightfully attuned to the unique challenges of the contemporary moment, it beckons us onto the path of meditation: from breath, to mindfulness, to awareness, to space, to freedom. It speaks to every reader with an earnest simplicity that registers meaning in the heart of experience, and it thereby becomes a friend to each reader, a compassionate companion offering sage wisdom." - Larisa C