Meditation, Mind and Body: A 12-Week Meditation Course for Mentored or Self Study (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781718622340)

Jivan Amara has been meditating for more than 25 years with instruction from a number of highly experienced teachers primarily from Asian traditions. Jivan was born with the name Mathew Douglas Wiggett. Strong willed, and interested in exploring, Mathew began meditating when he was 17 in the tiny town of 2500 where he grew up. His interest in spirituality led him to pursue a minor in comparative religious studies, where he met Professor Robert Gussner (Jina) whose approach focused on the experiential element of spiritual practices in contrast to the intellectual investigation of different religions. This element of experiencing first hand is fundamental to mystical traditions throughout the world and to the book offered here. After graduating from college, Mathew traveled to India for four months, his first of many journeys around the world to learn from various traditions. There he took part in a variation of the Indian tradition of Sanyas (renunciation) in which he was given the name Jivan Amara, meaning immortal spirit or immortal life. On returning to the US he legally took on the new name. Jivan has lived and studied spiritual traditions in a number of places around the world; most recently Beijing & Shanghai where he furthered his study of qigong and San Diego close to Advaita teacher Francis Lucille. Jivan supports himself financially through software development. In addition to meditation, Jivan enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and playing guitar.