Only a Great Rain: A Guide to Chinese Buddhist Meditation

I really liked this book, but I don't know if it is for beginners just learning about Buddhism. It is done in a very scholarly way and gives points and details from scripture. So I would recommend that you get more familiar with Buddhism before this book so then you can appreciate to the fullest. Overall though this book is a great way to get your teeth into the sutras look on meditation and begin perhaps studing the older texts.

It is an excellent book for anyone who wishes to deepen one's spiritual cultivation. It emphasizes on the importance the three trainings i.e. morality, meditation and wisdom to be practiced concurrently. After reading and reflecting on the knowledge that I have benefitted from this book, it has helped me in my daily meditation practice. It is my opinion that anyone who wishes to practice meditation seriously should read this book and reflect on it, as no happiness surpasses inner peace.

As a novice, I found this book very helpful. It provides very concrete guidance in meditation. And it also provides useful information on other aspects of Buddhism presented in a very easy to read and understandable manner. I highly recommend this book for meditation novices.

This book is a very good and comprehensive book about the techniques and reasons behind buddhist meditation. Technical details about advanced meditation and the relation that meditation has to other aspects of Buddhism may be advanced for early practicioners, but there is plenty of good advice for beginners as well. I would imagine that this book is ideal for Buddhists of any type that are looking for specific instructions on how to meditate.