Free Meditation Downloads

Almost each one of us, who is inclined towards learning & practicing Meditation, passes through this debate of relying on the free meditation downloads versus paid guidance & material available only after paying a cost for it.
 
The first question which comes to mind is about the availability of free meditation downloads on net. Where can one get free information & material for studying & knowing more about meditation? In the world of internet, for sure one can simply get a long list by doing a Google search with respective key word search. However, if you look at search result, one can easily categorize it into two categories – (1) free available material (2) priced sellable mediation courses, products, information, book, self-help, booklets etc
 
The second question which pops up is whether to avail the benefit of information available without charge or should one take a paid course? The points which should be taken into consideration, before deciding & judging better of the two options as follows:-

•           Are free meditation downloads worth downloading?
•           Can Meditation be learned by reading material available for free?  Or does it require a practical real life teaching?
•           Is the material available free of charge authenticated, trust worthy & effective?
•           What is my learning style & pattern? Am I comfortable in reading the material found at no cost, understand the instruction & follow them thru by my self alone or would I need help from an instructor.
•           What are the budget constraints that I have & how much am I willing to pay for receiving such information?
•           Do I have the time & inclination to find the best available free material from the long list?
•           Does one have a substantial benefit over other?
•           Why do they make it available free of cost? Can it really be free?
•           What kind of meditation download is free & which requires paying a cost?

According to me, both the option (free meditation download & paid downloads) have a distinct advantage & should be used according to the need of the person.

One can use the free available online information as a base & material for research & broader understanding of the subject. In most cases, browsing & depending on free of cost information  provides a person a general idea of what meditation is, benefits of practicing meditation, a generic guidelines of practicing it. One can get used to glossary of terminologies like difference between contemplation, reflection, rumination by simply referring to a couple of free sites. However, if after collecting information & knowledge about the subject, as one wants to progress deeper in knowledge & higher in experiencing meditation, on must rely on the paid services for effective results. 

For example, if one is a novice in field of meditation, he should first use “free meditation material” to get a flavor, general awareness & understanding of the subject. For a more seasoned player, free meditation downloads wouldn’t really be of much help. In such a case, free download might just complicate the matter by providing a contradictory view to an already known & practiced method. To answer these questions & get a clearer & deeper understanding on subject, one would require proper directions from experts of the field. At such a times, free downloads would not really help but add to the confusion of mind. If one is unable to analyze, correlate the various downloads, materials & available information, then he/she should turn to a paid service to get the confusion cleared. Also as one moves up the ladder, he requires a need of expert teacher or guide to walk with him on higher paths.

As seen, the paid & free meditation downloads should not be seen as competing against each other, but be acknowledged as being complimentary to each other. Each has its “best-fit-situational use” & must be used appropriate to situation & need.

By George White