Thread: What's a good book on meditation?

Well, I don't really know what is THE book on the subject, but I was glad to find "Meditation for Dummies". I really like its straightforward approach to the topic.

Heh, fortunately/unfortunately there is not "one book" on the subject, but many approaches and traditions which speak to different people. One good book is Jack Kornfield's A Path with Heart. It was assigned to me by my first meditation instructor, in the Philosophy dept. at my university, and he recommended, as I'll recommend to you, starting with Chapter 3: Take the One Seat, working with it for a week or so, and then Chapter 2: Stopping the War, and when you're ready to move on, Chapter 7: Naming the Demons. From there, explore as you see fit.

The best advice I can offer is to find a Buddhist center or group in your area that offers beginning meditation classes. You may want to avoid Shambhala and Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), but anything Tibetan, Southeast Asian (Theravada) or Zen/Chan should be reputable. They should be able to tell you the present head and/or seat of their lineage and outline how they trace their teachings from the Buddha. One twenty-minute lesson from an actual practitioner (even one not particularly accomplished) can be worth more than any number of books.