Contemplative Literature

Louis Komjathy is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. He has published several books, including Daoism: A Guide for the Perplexed and The Way of Complete Perfection: A Quanzhen Daoist Anthology, also published by SUNY Press.

• IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPart I. Approaching Contemplative Practice1. Approaching Contemplative PracticeLouis Komjathy2. Contemplative TraditionsLouis KomjathyPart II. Contemplative Traditions3. Daoist Apophatic Meditation: Selections from the Classical Daoist Textual CorpusHarold D. Roth4. Quaker Silent Prayer: A Guide to True PeaceMichael Birkel5. Jewish Kabbalah: Hayyim Vital’s Shaarei KedushaShaul Magid6. Southern Buddhist Meditation: The Ānāpānasati SuttaSarah Shaw7. Sufi Contemplation: ‘Abdullah Shah’s Suluk-i MujaddidiyyaArthur F. Buehler 8. Eastern Orthodox Prayer: The Rasskaz strannikaJohn Anthony McGuckin9. Mahāyāna Buddhist Visualization: The Guan wuliang shoufo jingKenneth K. Tanaka10. Hindu Classical Yoga: Patañjali’s Yoga SūtrasEdwin F. Bryant11. Roman Catholic Prayer: The Novem modi orandi sancti DominiciPaul Philibert12. Daoist Internal Alchemy: Liu Huayang’s Huiming jingLouis Komjathy13. Therapeutic Meditation: Herbert Benson’s The Relaxation ResponseLouis Komjathy14. Techniqueless Meditation: J. Krishnamurti’s This Light in OneselfConstance A. JonesPart III. Reapproaching Contemplative Practice15. Comparative ReflectionsLouis KomjathyAppendix: Toward a Technical Glossary of Contemplative StudiesAbout the ContributorsIndex

"This collection … offers a rich, detailed trove of information from around the world on the contemplative practices and literatures of meditation and prayer … The volume will be an excellent resource for libraries supporting seminary and religious studies programs … Highly recommended." — CHOICE"We have not seen anything this bold and this global since Friedrich Heiler wrote his classic study on the typology of prayer over eighty years ago. Komjathy and his essayists have vastly expanded the scope, depth, and sophistication of this project here. In the process, they have struggled with all of the critical questions around religious pluralism, tradition, and religious authority, and have emboldened the comparative project itself. Contemplation and comparison, it turns out, go very well together." — Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Comparing Religions: Coming to Terms"Teachers and scholars, undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers interested in contemplative practice will cherish a book like this. I'm happy that Louis Komjathy has done this great work. It will undoubtedly be hailed as a milestone." — Ruben L. F. Habito, author of Healing Breath: Zen for Christians and Buddhists in a Wounded World