Hi L. Although they're not directly related to meditation or transcendence as such, I have found the teachings of Abraham to be a pretty worthwhile read. In NSR we allow our awareness to settle down to subtler and subtler states of mental activity, with the dissolving of stresses occurrring naturally in the process. The Abraham-Hicks books, on the other hand, focus on how we use our attention in daily living. Essentially, they teach that whatever we give attention to - whether it is what we want or what we don't want - we atract that to ourselves. So it is better to give our attention to what we do want, rather than to what we don't want. That way our lives will become happier and richer accoring to our personal desires.
For my own comments about the teachings of Abraham, and in particular their book that covers the basics of their teachings (which has a rave Preface by Neale Donald Walsch), you can go to this Web page of mine:
http://www.gavinhoole.ws/the-teachings-of-abraham.htm
On a personal note, I have yet to find any method of meditation and stress relief as effective as TM or NSR (and my own derivation from TM). So, no matter what books I read, I still devote time each day to allowing my mind to settle towards the transcendent. That's the basis of my day, besides sleep, food and the one I neglect at present, exercise. If something better than these stress relief methods should come my way, I would have no problem changing over to it. But in over thirty years of this practice I have yet to find something as effective as what we already have.
So, to summarise, my own view on all of this is: I meditate daily, and then get on with life. Whatever other books or teachings come my way and resonate with me, I'll read and see if there's anything that can help me. But I don't replace the meditation method I have with something else; not until I am absolutely convinced that the something else will be more effective. Most of the other approaches, however, seem to miss the beautiful and fundamental principles that Maharishi has made us aware of.
Sorry, folks; another short post that got longer and longer, and ended up sounding like an evangelist!
LOL The thing is, we can waste so much time experimenting with second-best techniques. I guess I am just trying to save everyone some wasted time ... in the eternal timeless present.
Gavin, long-term TM meditator
Cape Town