The Dalai Lama, of course, is an extremely popular Buddhist and his books are for the layperson, not scholar and are therefore very easy to read.

"Stages of Meditation is a landmark work on the subject ofmeditation: a practice that has become popular not only with Buddhist practitioners hut with thoughtful people everywhere.

It is based on a key - though little known work written by the great scholar-saint o f the ninth century, Kamalashila, and is extraordinary in just how relevant it is for us today. So much so that the Dalai Lama tells us: 'We are all fortunate to be able to study this wonderful text. It would be wise on our part to learn its guiding principles and try to transform our lives."

This book is a very good book on the background of meditation and well as giving practical advice on this topic