A Beginner's Guide to Meditation: Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers

In the best tradition, the two most important bits of advice seem to conflict each other: 1) Meditation is a hobby; don't turn it into a job. 2) If you only meditate when you want, you will only become familiar with the aspect of the mind that wants to meditate. I've read maybe 10% of the book, and probably 50% will not be applicable to me (because those parts are about different traditions, or are too advanced for me), but I still consider it Good Value because there are excellent wise words that apply to me, right now, and they are in short, meaningful articles, so they're not hidden or bogged down. Best of all, it has a very very brief, very good "How to Meditate" guide that you can show your friends when they ask.

It's a great book on meditation and beginning practices in mindfulness meditation and Buddhist principles. The style of writing is easy, the book is authoritative but interestingly very pithy and sharp and very very readable. In a sense it is probably one of the finest example of how the most complex of ideas (and we are talking here serious philosophical issues like Shunyata or Emptiness) can be brought down to their "bare bones" and taught to people using practical, "to do" guidelines. This is hands-down the best book on meditation I have read. Trust me.

An excellent Buddhist mindset/meditation primer. Some people have complained about getting lost in the jargon, but I found it all use and interesting--probably just a difference of perspective or desire. The book covers a lot of different ground, many different approaches and schools of Buddhism, so there are a few essays that I found baffling or unuseful, but I'm sure everyone will take something different from such a multifarious book.

I haven't read the whole book yet, but I love what I have read. Really good pieces by people I really like and respect. I kept renewing it as a library book and finally had to buy the book. I read a lot of dharma books and this is one of the best I've read. Especially clear for telling what meditation is and what it isn't. It has been my experience with people I've met that they have misconceptions about what meditation is. This really clears it up.

Good to work With

This is a wonderful beginner's book to the various types of Buddhist meditation. It is not religious if you're concerned about that. I have given several copies to friends who rave about it, and I also donated a number of them to the Prison Mindfulness Institute.

Lots of testimonials and advice from experienced people.

Great Book of short essays regarding meditation. I have found it very helpful.

ダライラマ14世を含む著名な３４名の仏教指導者が、初心者むけに それぞれ実際的な瞑想法（禅）とアドバイスを、数ページずつ書いています。 これだけ広い範囲の著者が寄稿したことに、まず驚きました。 北米でいかに宗派の垣根なく瞑想が一般的に行われているかが、このことから推察できます。 編者の前書きによれば、どういう内容が役立つかは人によって違うので、 全部理解する必要はなく、参考になることがあればそれでよい、 とのことで、安心しました。 冒頭から順に最後まで読まないと理解できないという本ではありません。 私のような初心者にはぴったりの本で、順不同に読んでいますがとても参考になります。

Love this book so much. I read it at the library and had to purchase my own.

Easy to understand and an enjoyable inspiring read

Anybody interested in meditation or who do meditation hold get this book, it dispels a lot of the nonsense you sometimes get about meditation, The book is set out in chapters covering all aspects of meditation, teachings by the leading teachers in meditation east and west, very accessible to all.

As a novice who has been doing some looking around and found many sources of info, I found this to be the best in terms of clarity and an excellent resource for followup based upon the contributors.......