Leshan has written a book that presents some meditation exercises gathered from the tibetan, christian and other religions. The meditation techniques are valid and they do work. He gives good advice on using meditation as a method of self discovery. However, the author is a psychologist and know very little about mysticism. What suprised me is his flippant attitude toward mysticism. He writes that he does not understand why the mystics talked about the ways meditation must be performed. The author attempts to divorce meditation from its mystical aspects and this is very unwise. Meditation is steeped in the tradition of yoga and eastren religions. The purpose of meditation is to attain nirvana or union with God, which is very lofty indeed. Meditation invokes a cosmic energy called prana. When enough is accumalated it clears the mind and body of obstructions. This can lead to symptoms of dizziness, difficulty breathing for a short while, symptoms of what appear to be heart attacks, rapid heartbeat, headaches and so forth. These are nothing to be alarmed about. However, Leshan does a disservice to his readers by treating the mystics and their teachings in such a off hand manner. Meditation is serious buisness and it cannot be divorced from its religious aspect, no matter what Leshan says. The mystics studied meditation and its effects for thousands of years, they know what they are talking about. Leshans book is good as an introduction to meditation. But the serious seeker should look to other sources. A good place to start is to get a book called Energies of Transformation by Bonnie Greenwell. She is a Psychologist who does not disparage the mystics, but provides a book, which shows the effects of meditation in a non biased view.