As Ilana Rabinowitz says in the introduction, "Meditation is a process that disciplines the mind to pay better attention through regular practice." Although many volumes on this subject are available, this one stands apart because of its prestigious contributors-it reads like a who's who list of the best Buddhist teachers in America today including Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Bernard Glassman, Sylvia Boorstein, Pema Chodron, Charlotte Joko Beck, Robert Aitken, Lama Surya Das, and Daniel Goleman. The forward is by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
This book is divided into chapters on the four qualities that may be developed by practicing mindfulness: openness, awareness, acceptance, and letting go. There are also essays on two of the benefits of mindfulness practice-tranquility and harmony. A final chapter revolves around specific instructions on how to begin a regimen of meditation on your own.