Plans for a standalone publication on meditation.
Purpose
A printed publication that introduces meditation properly – including the spiritual dimensions often missing from Western material – through the direct voices of one or two of my teachers.
Why it exists
Meditation in the West is often presented as a productivity tool, stripped of context and separated from the traditions it came from. The result is that the practices most worth knowing are either oversimplified into wellness language or wrapped in religious framing that turns away the people who would benefit most. The blocker, often, is cultural.
The zine offers an alternative, emphasising universal spirituality over religious terminology and making contemplative investigation accessible to people who would otherwise dismiss it. The goal is simple: more people meditating.
Personally, this project is a way to honour and amplify the lessons shared by my teacher Saeed, potentially alongside one or two other teachers who have helped shape my practise – a way of passing on what I’ve been given.
Audience
Anyone curious about meditation but uncertain where to start. Anyone who has practised before but has stopped. And anyone who has a sustained practise and may find one of the teacher’s answers gives language to something they already know.
Format:
- A5, 12 pages
- One question per page. Saeed appears on every page, the other teachers contribute selectively
- Each Q&A paired with an abstract photograph from visits to spiritual sites in India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Greece, UK.
- Opens with a framing page in my own voice
Context
Twelve questions covering: what meditation actually is, common misconceptions, life force energy, the chakras, what to do when practice gets difficult, how meditation changes a person over a lifetime, the role of a teacher – among others. Full question list in the appendix at the bottom of this post
Tone
Direct, considered, culturally accessible. No jargon, no wellness language. The zine should feel intimate, something crafted by someone who cares deeply about the subject.
Visual approach
Modern contemporary design and abstract photographs paired with text. Hand-drawn illustrations to help give clarity to concepts like chakras, life force energy in my own visual language.
Distribution
The zine stands alone as a publication. It’s the sort of small, carefully made object that can be left in yoga studios and similar spaces around London – places where someone might pick it up, sit with it for ten minutes, and walk away differently.
It can also be given to participants of ThoughtCounter, my parallel project – a 60-second investigation into noticing thought – alongside a small printed insert that draws the connection. The insert is removable, so the zine retains its independence as an object that can be passed on or kept on its own terms.
Success
The zine reaches readers who would not have picked up a book on meditation. Success is whether the reader feels some curiosity, and whether they want to know more.
Future
The zine is a first form. With time it may develop into a longer publication, gathering more questions and material on the wider investigations meditation makes possible – other aggregates (body sensation, emotion, perception) as per objective 5 of my study statement.
Appendix – 12 questions (TBD)
1. What is meditation? Beneath the popular framing, what is meditation really doing – and what is it not?
2. Common misconceptions. What are the most persistent misconceptions about meditation in the West, and what’s the truth behind them?
3. Honest expectations. What can someone realistically expect to notice in their first weeks and months of practice?
4. Starting out. What would you tell someone on day one of their practice that you wish you’d been told?
5. Life force energy. What is life force energy, and why does a serious meditation practice depend on understanding it?
6. The chakras. What are the chakras, and why should someone new to meditation care about them?
7. Opening the energy centres. What does it actually mean to ‘open’ the chakras, and why is this work central to the path?
8. The layers of experience. Different traditions break human experience into different layers – sensation, feeling, thought, imagination, intuition, will. What do you make of these distinctions? Are they useful starting points, or does the practice eventually dissolve them?
9. When practice gets hard. What would you say to a student when their practice becomes difficult, boring, or even destabilising?
10. The role of a teacher. Why has meditation traditionally been taught by a teacher, and what can’t be learned from books or apps alone?
11. The lifetime arc. How does meditation change a person over a lifetime – not just in their practice, but in how they live?
12. How did you come to this work?