Meditation in Raja Yoga, Buddhism and According to Neurophysiology: A Practical Guide

The ultimate step-by-step guide to meditation practice, with detailed explanations in plain language of the true original meaning of all the related important Sanskrit terms used in the times of Patanjali and Buddha, as well as in the context of advances in neuroscience in the study of the state of meditation.

The book contains a structured description of the psychopractices of Hindu yoga and Buddhism, cleared of superstitions, misconceptions and cargo cults. A thorough comparative analysis of the psychotechniques of yoga and Buddhism, including in the context of their study by neuroscience, shows the unified essence of the transcending teachings of Patanjali and Buddha. A detailed step-by-step description of the practices from the very beginning to achieving the goal of the teachings of Patanjali and Buddha – achieving superconsciousness/buddha consciousness – will be useful for both beginners and experienced meditators.

This book is written for meditation practitioners who want to benefit from authentic self-development methods taught by Patanjali and the Buddha, and is based on my experience of studying Oriental methods of self-development since 1989. I have been visiting India since 1997, living there for a total of more than 7 years, including being in India continuously from 2001 to 2006. Communication with several yogarealized saints, living in various ashrams, receiving several spiritual names and translating several dozen books on Oriental topics allowed me to understand the essence of teachings of self-development.

In addition, in 2004, I was perhaps the first CIS resident to receive individual sannyasa diksha – from Somnath Giriji, mahamandaleshwar (one of the chairmen) of the Hindu monastic lineage of the Shri Panch Dashnam Juna akhara, in his head Himalayan ashram.

In the book, I also explain the true practical meaning of various terms related to the practice of meditation, which are often perceived as stereotyped, and not always correctly. These are chitta (the “mirror” of the mind, and not the mind-manas itself), samyama (clairvoyant insight into the essence of things after achieving yogarealization), buddhi, vitarka, vichara, vipashyana, dhyana, samadhi, shamatha, nirvana, arhat (one who has trained real 3-hour shamatha and subsequently achieved the fourth jhana and, accordingly, siddhis) and others.

The book also contains a description of my many-year experience in using neuroheadsets in meditation practice (from early amateur projects of electroencephalographs to ready-made neuroheadsets), including the “EEG Meditation” applications I wrote for real assessment of the quality and duration of samadhi/shamatha meditation.

If this book allows someone to figure out the missing aspects of teachings of raja yoga & Buddhism and, as a result, even make significant progress on this path, not to mention achieving the goal of teachings of Patanjali & Buddha, it will be an incredible luck. If you read this book, the only thing standing between you and achieving Buddhahood is your daily personal proper meditation practice.

Review of the book by Buddhist scholar, Tibetologist, Indologist, candidate of historical sciences Andrey Terentyev, written in March 2024:
“The book by Vasyl Vernyhora 'Meditation in raja yoga, Buddhism and according to neurophysiology' is truly a practical guide to real meditation, and not just another advertisement for a fashionable 'esoteric practice'. This guide is based on the personal long-term practice of the author, who studied meditation in India from Indian and Tibetan teachers. I don’t know any books in European languages that could compare in breadth and depth of coverage of the topic with this book by Vasyl Vernyhora.