"Reincarnation doesn't help you if in your next incarnation you still don't know who you are."
Eckhart Tolle
www.eckharttolle.com
The amazing books and teachings of Eckhart Tolle help you get to know the way your mind works and to become clearer about your purpose in life. He teaches that awakening to a higher consciousness is not something out of our reach or something to gain after many lifetimes, but finds place in being in this present moment.
The teachings of Eckhart Tolle connect very well with the Buddhist ones. His clear instructions of how to be present can be of tremendous help with your meditation. The following beautiful quote on meditation and silence I heard from a teacher in Nepal:
"Silence is not the absence of sound; silence is a peaceful mind."