Diana and Richard St. Ruth were born in 1943, Richard in London, Diana in Leicester, and both developed an interest in Buddhism during their teens. They were married in 1969. In 1983 they founded the Buddhist Publishing Group, and in 1989 started the magazine Buddhism Now, of which they are joint editors. They also organize annual Buddhist summer schools. Other titles by the authors include: An Introduction to Buddhism, BPG, 1988; Zen Graffiti, BPG 1991; Experience Beyond Thinking: A Guide to Buddhist Meditation, BPG, 1993; The Little Book of Buddhist Wisdom, Element, 1997; Sitting: A Guide to Buddhist Meditation, Penguin, 1998; and in the Simple Guide series, Zen Buddhism. We would like to express our grateful thanks to Don E. Whitbread for his helpful comments on the manuscript.