One of the most common emails the
Meditation Society of America gets
asks for advice on which books are
the best dealing with meditation.
We had several this week and also
received an email from the Divya
Jivan Newsletter that pointed to
one answer to this question. We'll
let these quotes speak for themselves:

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and
reflace about how God created this
universe everything else seems so superfluous."
Albert Einstein

"The Bhagavad-Gita calls on humanity to
dedicate body, mind and soul
to pure duty and not to become mental
voluptuaries at the mercy of
random desires and undisciplined impulses."
Mahatma Gandhiji

"The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement
of spiritualevolution of endowing value to mankind.
It is one of the most clear and comprehensive
summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed;
hence its enduring value is subject not only to
India but to all of humanity."
Aldous Huxley

"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the
human race a living creation rather than a book,
with a new message for every age and a
new meaning for every civilization."
Sri Aurobindo

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the
stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the
Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern
world and its literature seems puny and trivial."
Henry David Thoreau

"The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly
beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which
enables philosophy to blossom into religion."
Herman Hesse

"The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the
spiritual foundation of human existence. It is
a call of action to meet the obligations and
duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual
nature and grander purpose of the universe."
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita.
It was the first of books; it was as if an empire
spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy,
but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an
old intelligence which in another age and climate
had pondered and thus disposed of the same
questions which exercise us."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The Bhagavad-Gita is an empire of thought
and in its philosophical teachings Krishna
has all the attributes of the full-fledged
montheistic deity and at the same time the
attributes of the Upanisadic absolute."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In order to approach a creation as sublime
as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding
it is necessary to attune our soul to it." -
Rudolph Steiner

"The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the
Vaisnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam
fully reveals the true import of this doctrine
which is transmigation of the soul. On perusal
of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may
think that they are advised to engage in
warfare. When the second chapter has been read
it can be clearly understood that knowledge and
the soul is the ultimate goal to be
attained. On studying the third chapter it is
apparent that acts of righteousness are also of
high priority. If we continue and patiently
take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and
try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter
we can see that the ultimate conclusion
is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas
of religion which we possess and fully surrender
directly unto the Supreme Lord."
Sri Swami Prabhupada

"The secret of karma yoga which is to perform
actions without any fruitive desires is taught
by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita."
Swami Vivekananda

"The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to
reveal the science of devotion to God which is the
essence of all spiritual knowledge. The
Supreme Lord Krishnas primary purpose for descending
and incarnating is relieve the world of any demoniac
and negative, undesirable influences that are
opposed to spiritual development, yet
simultaneously it is His incomparable intention
to be perpetually within reach of all humanity."
Sri Ramanuja

"Nothing has ever arisen in my life, internal
or external, that the Gita has not made clear
and enabled me to deal with or understand."
Swami Nirmalananda Giri

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments
stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of
hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and
find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin
to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those
who meditate on the Gita will
derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."
Mahatma Gandhiji

"From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all
the goals of human existence become fulfilled.
Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence
of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures."
Adi Sankara

"The secret of karma yoga which is to perform
actions without any fruitive desires is taught
by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita." -
Swami Vivekananda

"The Bhagavad-Gita is where God Himself talks to
His devotee Arjuna."
Paramahansa Yogananda

"The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on
the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God
which is manifested by actions."
Dr. Albert Schweizer