The first half of this book was easy to follow and very practical for me as a non-Buddhist. As the book goes along the reader is taken through more levels through to attaining enlightenment over a period of many lifetimes. In short, it gets deep and was past what I was looking for. That part was nonetheless good to read. The editor did a very good job of taking talks by the Dalai Lama and putting them into a readable format. The chapters built one upon another with very good examples.   I was surprised to find out about the thinking aspect of meditation. I can see how this would be good in my Christian spiritual practice pondering certain key aspects of that way of spirituality.