I like this book. It has a sort of fairy-tale beginning when the author is chosen by his master on some random beach, and his parents actually let him go off and study with the guy.
What I hate about it: the meditations are often extremely confusing, and so sometimes I have to keep re-reading them, which makes it not at all like meditating. Also, the stories at the end of each meditation that prove how amazing that meditation is are really really hokey. Really, he's a fairly bad writer, but you can tell that he's a good teacher (unfortunately I'm very picky about my prose).
Anyone have a good suggestion for a beginner's alternative?
What I love about this book: it opened my eyes to a lot of the issues I never knew I had, and it's helped me to be more mindful. I hadn't heard my heart beat since the fifth grade, I think, and that's in a lot of the exercises. It helped me survive a break-up.