Close Your Eyes and Open Your Mind

A Practical Guide to Spiritual Meditation

By: Dada Nabhaniilananda

Narrated by: Dada Nabhaniilananda

"This is an easy to read, easy to understand, illuminating book on meditation. I strongly recommend it for the new practitioner or the seasoned meditator. It is full of insights. Transformative." (Professor Sohail Inayatullah, Tamkang University, Taiwan)

"Dada Nabhaniilananda has in a masterful stroke answered many common questions on meditation, given useful tips and guidelines on how to practice interspersed with his subtly humorous stories, and clarified for the reader the essence of meditating with profundity and practicality. Not only does he share with us the fine nuances of mantra meditation, he goes further than many current authors on meditation by offering us a glimpse into the social dimensions of genuine spirituality." (Kris Kang PhD. (Studies in Religion) co-author of The Meditative way: Theory and Practice of Buddhist Meditation)

This book includes Sunrise Meditation and Sunset Meditation, two beautiful guided meditation MP3s that you can download for free.

©2010 Dada Nabhaniilananda (P)2018 Dada Nabhaniilananda

Enjoyable and Informative

This was especially enjoyable for me because it was read by the author. Dada Nabhaniilananda’s deep knowledge and passion for meditation was transmitted through his voice, like he was in the room talking one on one to me. As a meditator for many years, I gained new insights on how to improve my own practice. Highly Recommended!

Jumpstart your meditation practice

Dada Nabhaniilananda's text is the perfect read (or in this case, 'listen', to jump start both your meditation practice and your life. As a student of Dada's, I came to him with some novice, app-based meditation practice that benefitted me both physically and mentally. Under Dada's guidance and using the principles in this book, I took my meditation practice to another level. Putting the principles in this book to work in my life has given me a profound, deep sense of peace and connection to humanity.

I wish I found this book much earlier in the journey that has become my meditation practice.

Thorough. Simple. Inspiring.

I began reading/listening to this book recently, & while I have not finished it yet, what I have studied so far has been quite informative & engaging. There are many things Dada speaks about that I was not aware of, & even for things I was aware of, he elaborates further & expands upon many of those concepts & ideas. This is a great introductory read, as well as a great resource for those who are already established in their practices.

A “No Nonsense” Meditation Book

This is a meditation book that will feed your questions, doubts, and assumptions with fulfilling answers from the get go - and then launch into an adventurous guide to meditation. Dada Nabhaniilananda will guide you through the path of spiritual meditation with a hard to come by ease and relatability. His humor and story telling are icing on top; and the flavor and richness of the content welcomes you to the world of meditation. It’s a must read, whether you’re a skeptic or an advocate! Don’t delay your enlightenment by another day!

A beginners practical guide to meditation

Close your Eyes and Open your Mind - a fantastic book to remove your doubts and get you started with mediation or your spiritual journey. I read the book then the audiobook. Listened to it before going to bed each day and it is fun to listen to the author narrating his book himself.

After listing to a TED talk by the author Dada N (your pronunciation of his name) I read this book, and oh boy I was not disappointed. Dada presents facts in such a funny way that it first makes you laugh then ponder. The ideas presented are scientific and appeals to my rational self.

Mediation is so confusing with so many schools of thoughts but the Monk Dude, as the author likes to call himself has done a terrific job of simplifying this labyrinth. He has explained about mediation in a simple and funny way. It dispels some of the myriad myths surrounding mediation. I would say it is a great starting practical guide for anyone who is trying to explore the mystic world of mediation. You can get a ton of apps and resources that teach you how to mediate, but after reading it I do want to try his way of mediation and be more sincere in it. I had the feeling that the mantra and music used at the end of the chapter gave me a sense of deep inner bliss and sense of love.

Even though I may have explored about ways for stress management the book helped me realize that meditation has a purpose higher than self and it gave a sense of belonging and purpose in the Universe.

The author makes it clear that mediation is mostly practice side so don’t hope that you will learn mediation form it. But what the book can help you in answering questions that every individual has at some point in their life about life, universe and meaning of life. I can jumpstart your journey for spiritual awakening. Highly recommend for beginners.
The authors 40 years of teaching mediation reflects in the book chapters. He quotes and uses examples from all mediation techniques so one gets some idea of different techniques and schools of thought. The book is divided into 8 chapters.
1. Questions- it helped remove some of my doubts about mediation and how and why
2. Donkey maintenance - reveled secrets of the importance of talking care about oneself
3. Close your eyes: 1st step of mediation ready to immerse oneself into the meditation blackhole
4. Developing Concentration- talked about the power of focus and living in the present moment
5. Mantra: Song of inner world. Leant something about auditory and acoustic science.
6. Ego and intuition- Opened my mind how any overinflated ego is the root cause of so many problems
7. Karma: Be yourself. How actions effect state of mind. There is consequence to our actions
8. Open your eyes: apply the insights I received to apply to the world and to myself.

After this, I am tempted to read about other books written by dada.
It may be too soon to pass judgement, but this may be the Dale Carnegie for mediation. Highly recommend if you are also exploring mediation.

Having read this book several times...

I consider is the best introduction to meditation I've ever read. The author gives many interesting and good examples of various points he makes in his book. He is a very creative person, but his best qualification are his meditation practice and he has devoted his life to teaching meditation.

Five Stars

It’s an extremely powerful book to introduce meditation to the new people. And absolutely I'm recommending this book to help us with our own spiritual meditation practice.

Best Guide on Practical Meditation with Answers

The author is clearly one of the few people in this world who understands the gift of Meditation for the human race, and it's even more fabulous as he is clearly able to explain many different facets of meditation with such clear answers.

** Who is this book for?
Anyone who is interested in learning the answer these questions - how to meditate? why should I meditate? what should I expect when I meditate? what is the purpose of life?

** What does the book offer that other books don't?
Firstly, the author is a monk with decades of experience in meditation, which is amazing! Most of the books that I have read either offer great content from Yogis, but lack the communication style to explain things in simpler, understandable terms. And some of other books that I have read, are unfortunately too shallow, and plain incorrect, and confusing. I found it very hard to practice and bring a change into my lifestyle.

This book offers ideas on
a) How to approach meditation
b) How to take care of your physical body
c) Science of mind, understanding intellect.
d) Scientific explanation on how the choice of food can improve your meditation.
e) Practical guide on how to improve your meditation.
f) Making real change within yourself, and the world outside of you.

Thank you Dada for writing such a wonderful book! I will use the guidelines for my meditation practice.

Highly recommend!!

Meditation, a journey . . .

Who was it who said, “The Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step?” Whether or not it is your first step on this journey, Dada makes it clearer, attractive and doable. The desire to understand ourselves and explore the consciousness of our own minds lies deep in each of us. In this book Dada lays out the path ahead and how to proceed.

From the book:

“First you have to find out who you are; then you will know what you need to do and have a clearer
idea of what you really want.”

Dada


Andrew Rawlings,

a traveller . . .