Album DescriptionInner Splendor presents the second album in a series of Guided Buddhist Meditation with Dr. Miles Neale, a contemplative psychotherapist and expert on the psychology of meditation. In Contemplations on Love and Compassion, Dr. Neale introduces a diverse series of Buddhist meditations designed to develop the heart. Contemplative meditations differ from mindfulness meditations by harnessing the power of intuitive wisdom and positive affirmation to change to quality of one's mind and life. The cultivation of our social instinct towards altruism and care for ourselves and others is said to be the highest achievement of our human potential and essential in the pursuit for lasting happiness. For those unfamiliar with contemplative meditation, Track 1 offers clear and concise instructions on how to begin and develop a practice at home. Tracks 2 and 3 provide guided meditations on loving-kindness (metta) according to the Theravada tradition, in brief and longer versions respectively, so as to develop inner softness and warm-heartedness. Track 4 offers a guided meditation on compassion known as "giving and taking" (tong-len) according to the Indo-Tibetan mind-training (lojong) tradition, designed to reduce self-preoccupation at the root of suffering and develop the altruistic spirit. Finally, Track 5 offers a guided contemplation on the Eight Verses of Training the Mind, according to the eleventh century Tibetan master Langri Thangpa, designed to transform interpersonal challenges into opportunities for spiritual growth. This new album showcases Dr. Neale's unique exposure and synthesis of Buddhism and psychology, as he integrates the loving-kindness practices from the Theravada tradition of South Asia, the compassion practices of the Indo-Tibet Mahayana Lojong tradition, and the psychodynamics of altruism from his clinical work. Promises to be a welcome addition to the relatively sparse offerings of this genre.