A True Meditation Manual - Rated 
This book is fantastic! From the reviews, I was expecting a manual on Vipassana (insight) meditation only. But Bhante G covers both Shamatha (concentration) and Vipassana (insight) meditation in thorough detail, in a step-by-step, very user-friendly and practical way. By far the best book I have read on the two core Buddhist meditation practices. He deals in great detail with the things us beginners struggle with, like the many distractions that can assail us during our practice, & the five hindrances, along with very useful techniques for over-coming these obstacles. If you are at all interested in Buddhist meditation, then I am sure you will find this book invaluable.
One of many responses - Rated 
After I had read this book I was very enthusiastic about it, because it is certainly a very good manual in comparison to any other I have read. I started 'practicing Vipassana' after reading the 3-page summary of the technique in Fontana's Meditation Manual. For a technique that is said to take you to enlightenment, that is a decidedly concise account; concise enough for me to utterly misunderstand the practice.
Things to know about Vipassana!
There are Buddhists who sideline Vipassana because it is powerful enough to 'unbalance' an unwary practitioner. Too strong an opinion perhaps - but neither is it necessarily as "gentle" as the author of this book describes it!
There are as many variants of the technique as there are traditions. Some are very different to others.
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I learnt Vipassana on an intensive ten-day course as taught by S.N. Goenka. Only by the tenth day - and not before - did I feel like I had grasped the technique. Simple in theory but not in practice. The technique I was taught was different to that in the book - and to me, just better.
I have a particular reservation with the way in which this book advocates 'mindfulness' of mental objects. Merely watching the sensations is all we need consciously do, the mindfulness is a process that happens by itself. I do not think mindfulness can be achieved deliberately.
Now take what I say with a pinch of salt, because I am an inexperienced layperson, and from the way this guy writes, he is fully liberated. But please note the following:
There is more to Vipassana!
Mindfulness in real life - Rated
The theme of the book is Mindfulness: actually seeing what is there in front of us.
Bhante's premise (which is difficult to ague with ) is that we see life through a screen of thoughts and concepts. As he puts it, we get so caught up in this endless thought-stream that reality flows by unnoticed.
Meditation can sometimes seem daunting and mystical but its goal is to simply free us from not being aware of our lives as they unfold.
Bhante's gift, which shines through every page of this book, is to break down some of the myths and make them real and practical.
What is left is a remarkably lucid, accessible and sensible account of how mindfulness meditation (in the Vipassana tradition - though that detail isn't important) can literally chance your life: your reactions, your perception, your ability to life for the moment.
There is no hint of high-mindedness in his tone, which is grounded, realistic, and thoroughly human.
Consider this, from page one: "There you are, and you suddenly realise that you are spending your whole life just barely getting by. You keep up a good front. You manage to make ends meet somehow and look okay from the outside.
"But those periods of desperation, those times when you feel everything caving in on you - you keep those to yourself. You are a mess, and you know it.
"Meanwhile, way down under all of that, you just know that there has to be some other way to live, a better way to look at the world, a way to touch life more fully.... life is an emotional roller coaster, and you spend a lot of your time down at the bottom of the ramp, yearning for heights."
So what's wrong with you, Bhante asks? You are simply human, battling with all the usual human hallmarks of jealousy, suffering, discontent and stress.
Meditation isn't a quick-fix solution to the human condition, he says. In this age of instant gratification, this can be a hard pill to swallow.
"But what it does do is teach you to watch the functioning of your own mind in a calm and detached manner so you can gain insight into your own behaviour. The goal is awareness."
With a good deal of patience and commitment, meditation can simply teach you to stand aside from your own thought processes and not get involved.
Step by step, it will become clear that agitation is actually a superficial mental stage. It comes and goes, he says, and has no real grip on you at all.
There are so many pearls of hope and wisdom in this bok, but I particularly like this one, for its searing truth and humanity. Bhante writes:
"Somewhere in this process, you will come face to face with the sudden and shocking realisation that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse, utterly out of control and helpless.
"No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday. It has always been this way, and you just never noticed. You are no crazier than everybody else around you.
The only real difference is that you have confronted the situation and they have not."
This review is taken from a blog from www.yoga-abode.com
A fantastic guide to mindfulness and meditation - Rated
Don't be put off if you don't follow Buddhist practice: if the thought of meditation is appealing and you want to know more, this is just about the best book I have read. It explains what mindfulness is, why it's important and of course, most importantly, what you need to do.
Bhante G's informal and relaxed style makes reading this book easy and exciting. He takes you from the roots of mindfulness right through to how to practise in the modern world. There is so much good information, this is more of a manual to be dipped in to again and again than just a book to be read from beginning to end.
For Buddhists, this goes a long way to helping you achieve a very important part of your Dharma practice. For non-Buddhists, this will help you to understand your life and how to live it in a calmer and more productive manner. Highly recommended.
A Great Way To Start Meditating - Rated
Well written, comprehensible, logical and practical. A lovely book that got me into meditating on a regular basis and has considerably improved my life.. You do not have to be a buddhist to accept the wisdom on offer here - although I guess once you buy into mindfulness meditation, loving kindness etc maybe you are becoming a buddhist of a sort!
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