Looking for the best meditation books ever written? You’re in the right place.
Whether you’re looking for the best meditation books for beginners, books on the benefits of meditation or books to help you refine and perfect your daily meditation practice – you’ll find something life-changing on the list of best meditation books below.
Note 1: This list focusses specifically on books about how to meditate. If you’re interested in mastering your thoughts and emotions more generally, you might also want to check out this list of best mindfulness books, these best books on happiness or explore the rest of TAoL‘s many book recommendations.
Note 2: This list focusses almost exclusively on the best mindfulness meditation books ever written. You won’t find many titles on e.g., movement, mantra or transcendental meditation simply because they’re too specialised to be widely read enough to rank high enough to appear on this shortlist (for more, see the section on “Why these books on meditation and not others?” below).
Not sure what I’m talking about? Not to worry!
If you’re new to meditation, The Miracle of Mindfulness (#2) by Thich Nhat Hanh, How To Meditate (#7) by Pema Chödrön or even The Headspace Guide To Meditation (#17) or Search Inside Yourself (#18) are all great meditation books for beginners. Pick whichever one jumps out at you and dive in.
If you’re no stranger to mindfulness meditation and you’re looking to take your mediation practice to the next level then skim the list, trust your intuition and grab a daily meditation book that jumps out at you.
And whatever you do, thank you for being here, thank you for letting me be a part of your journey and whoever you are, wherever you’re sitting, I’ll look forward to meditating with you soon.
The 20 Best Meditation Books Ever Written
Why these books on meditation and not others? The best meditation books below are the top picks from my master database, ranked by a combination of Goodreads rating, the number of Goodreads reviews and first publication date. The goal is to give a good balance of what’s most loved, what’s most popular and what’s delivered timelessly relevant advice.
Think something’s missing? Leave a comment or email me and I’ll add it to the next round of updates. I honestly love hearing from you so please, do get in touch!
- Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1970), Shunryu Suzuki (Summary)
Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
138 pages. Rated 4.2 over 34,800 reviews on Goodreads. - The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975), Thich Nhat Hanh (Summary)
An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
140 pages. Rated 4.2 over 22,500 reviews on Goodreads. - Practicing the Power of Now (1999), Eckhart Tolle
Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from the Power of Now
128 pages. Rated 4.3 over 37,100 reviews on Goodreads. - The Art of Living (1987), William Hart
Vipassana Meditation: As Taught by S. N. Goenka
176 pages. Rated 4.4 over 2,400 reviews on Goodreads. - Insight Meditation (1993), Joseph Goldstein
The Practice of Freedom
208 pages. Rated 4.3 over 1,000 reviews on Goodreads. - Meditation in Action (1969), Chögyam Trungpa
96 pages. Rated 4.2 over 1,000 reviews on Goodreads. - How to Meditate (2008), Pema Chödrön
A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind
184 pages. Rated 4.2 over 2,900 reviews on Goodreads. - Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (2007), Daniel M. Ingram
An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book
406 pages. Rated 4.3 over 800 reviews on Goodreads. - The Mind Illuminated (2015), Culadasa (John Yates)
A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science
504 pages. Rated 4.5 over 2,000 reviews on Goodreads. - The Heart of Buddhist Meditation (1969), Nyanaponika Thera
The Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness
288 pages. Rated 4.2 over 300 reviews on Goodreads. - Meditation for Beginners (1998), Jack Kornfield
93 pages. Rated 4.1 over 1,900 reviews on Goodreads. - How to Sit (2014), Thich Nhat Hanh
117 pages. Rated 4.3 over 1,800 reviews on Goodreads. - Om Chanting and Meditation (2010), Amit Ray
113 pages. Rated 4.3 over 600 reviews on Goodreads. - How to Meditate (1984), Kathleen McDonald
A Practical Guide
269 pages. Rated 4.1 over 500 reviews on Goodreads. - Mindfulness (2007), J. Mark G. Williams
An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World
288 pages. Rated 4.0 over 9,400 reviews on Goodreads. - Meditation (2010), Amit Ray
Insights and Inspirations
146 pages. Rated 4.8 over 100 reviews on Goodreads. - The Headspace Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness (2011), Andy Puddicombe
How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day
224 pages. Rated 4.1 over 7,400 reviews on Goodreads. - Search Inside Yourself (2012), Chade-Meng Tan
The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness
288 pages. Rated 4.1 over 6,400 reviews on Goodreads. - Real Happiness (2013), Sharon Salzberg
A 28-Day Program to Realize the Power of Meditation
240 pages. Rated 4.1 over 3,800 reviews on Goodreads. - 8 Minute Meditation Expanded (2004), Victor Davich
Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life.
208 pages. Rated 4.1 over 200 reviews on Goodreads.
Frequently Asked Questions
The top 3 books on this list of the best meditation books ever written are Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (#1) by Shunryu Suzuki, The Miracle of Mindfulness (#2) by Thich Nhat Hanh and Practicing the Power of Now (#3) by Eckhart Tolle. For more suggestions, check out the full list.
The first meditation book I ever read as a sceptical beginner was Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan. And I loved it! Other great meditation books for beginners include The Miracle of Mindfulness (#2) by Thich Nhat Hanh, How To Meditate (#7) by Pema Chödrön. For more suggestions, check out the full list.
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