| Preface | vii |
| Part 1 | Mind and Meditation | |
| 1 | Why Meditate? | 3 |
| 2 | What Is Meditation? | 6 |
| Part 2 | Establishing a Meditation Practice | |
| 1 | Advice for Beginners | 15 |
| 2 | The Meditation Session | 20 |
| 3 | Posture | 24 |
| 4 | Common Problems | 27 |
| Part 3 | Meditations on the Mind | |
| 1 | Meditation on the Breath | 37 |
| 2 | Meditation on the Clarity of the Mind | 42 |
| 3 | Meditation on the Continuity of the Mind | 45 |
| Part 4 | Analytical Meditations | |
| About Analytical Meditation | 51 |
| 1 | Meditation on Emptiness | 53 |
| 2 | Appreciating our Human Life | 59 |
| 3 | Meditation on Impermanence | 65 |
| 4 | Death Awareness Meditation | 69 |
| 5 | Meditation on Karma | 80 |
| 6 | Purifying Negative Karma | 90 |
| 7 | Meditation on Suffering | 97 |
| 8 | Equanimity Meditation | 106 |
| 9 | Meditation on Love | 111 |
| 10 | Meditation on Compassion and Tonglen (Giving and Taking) | 116 |
| 11 | Dealing with Negative Energy | 122 |
| Part 5 | Visualization Meditations | |
| About Visualization | 143 |
| 1 | Body of Light Meditation | 147 |
| 2 | Simple Purification Meditation | 148 |
| 3 | Meditation on Tara, the Buddha of Enlightened Activity | 151 |
| 4 | Meditation on Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion | 155 |
| 5 | Inner Heat Meditation | 161 |
| Part 6 | Prayers and Other Devotional Practices | |
| About Devotion | 167 |
| 1 | Prayers | 171 |
| 2 | Explanation of the Prayers | 175 |
| 3 | A Short Meditation on the Graduated Path to Enlightenment | 183 |
| 4 | Meditation on the Buddha | 186 |
| 5 | Meditation on the Healing Buddha | 194 |
| 6 | Meditation on the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation | 200 |
| 7 | Prayer to Tara | 211 |
| 8 | Vajrasattva Purification | 219 |
| 9 | The Eight Mahayana Precepts | 228 |
| 10 | Prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas | 238 |
| Glossary | 247 |
| Suggested Further Reading | 253 |
| Index | 257 |