The Handbook of Jewish Meditation Practices: A Guide for Enriching the Sabbath and Other Jewish Days

Rabbi David Cooper comes from a diverse background, and often brings to his Jewish meditative practices many elements of other traditions with little or no attempt to even window dress them as Jewish.

With his “The Handbook of Jewish Meditation Practices: A Guide for Enriching the Sabbath and Other Jewish Days” Cooper more or less sticks to a Jewish agenda, while conceding that most meditation practices are common to many religious communities, including Judaism.  

As such, the book uses a quote for the Gemara, or the Bible, as a staring off point for a practice (sometimes the connection is tenuous) and then gives a step-by-step account of how to perform the practice. 

Rabbi Cooper provides a very good basic introduction to meditation with a Jewish twist.  If you are just starting, this is a fine book to break ground in this demanding area of spiritual discipline.