This is an account of the Madhyamika (Middle Way) school of Buddhism, a method of mediation and enlightenment that was developed by the great Indian teacher Nagarjuna. In a collaboration between the Frenchwoman Alexandra David-Neel and her friend, the Tibetan lama Aphur Yongden, these teaching are presented clearly and elegantly, intended for the layman who seeks a way to practice and experience the realization of oneness with all existence.

Secret Oral Teaching in Tibetan Buddhist Sects, Alexandra David-Neel, Important Books, Paperback, 2013, 128 Pages, $19.95

In 1924, French-born Alexandra David-Neel became the first European woman to set foot in the Tibetan city of Lhasa. Now, 100 years on, her story is as relevant as ever. Since Roman times, travellers have flocked to Digne-les-Bains in lavender-fragranced northern Provence for its natural springs. Yet, even if her legs were understandably weary after 14 years of intrepid travels across Asia, for Alexandra David-N�el it was not the restorative powers of its spa waters that called her to the French town in 1928. Instead, the setting transported her back to her beloved Tibet, a country that, four years earlier in 1924, at the age of 55, she had crossed by foot disguised as a pilgrim to become the first European woman to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa.