Looking For Book on Buddhism - OT

Aug 20, 2004 11 Replies

Can anyone here recommend a good basic book on Buddhism?



Thanks!



Tink Check here for available work:

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All I can picture is "Buddhism for Dummies". Too bad this isn't a binary group - I could make that easily.

OH CRAP!!!

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Tink Check here for available work:

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Both of these are good, if you are interested in how Buddhists think about the world and interacting in it. I don't know about books that give a historical perspective. The second one is more directly "about" Buddhism.

Wherever You Go, There You Are : Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

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Awakening the Buddha Within : Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World by Surya Das,
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Georgia

There are all sorts of "Dummies" books (and "Complete Idiots' Guides) on just about any religion you can image, including "Wicca for Dummies" and "Christianity for Dummies." :-X

Arondelle

My bad: Amazon doesn't have "Wicca for Dummies," although it does have "The Bible for Dummies" and "Christianity for Dummies"....

Arondelle

"Ocean", by Ken Tanaka (A Shin Buddhist minister)

Very "readable". A collection of his lectures; intended for laity and non-Buddhists. Doesn't get into heavy philosophy and specialised vocabulary, nor does he "preach". And, it's in modern, colloquial American English.

The Interreligious Council of San Diego has a basic text on major religious groups, "Bridging Our Faiths", which has sections on Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judiaism. All the sections follow the same format, and answer the same "questions", so it's pretty easy to do a "compare and contrast" on your own. It's published by Paulist Press, so if it isn't on Amazon anymore, a Catholic bookstore should be able to order you a copy.

On line:

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is a pretty good site for basics, and has commentary on the "lessons" by ministers and others of various faiths.... Haven't checked it in awhile, but they used to have some pretty good links to "Buddhist humor", too. (Mostly dumb "Zen jokes"....). Kaytee "Simplexities" on
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This is a good place to start: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, & Liberation : The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Other Basic Buddhist Teachings

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Anything by Thich Nhat Hahn is excellent.
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His translations are accessible, comprehensive, and often beautiful. And I keep this around to read often: The Tao Te Ching translation by Stephen Mitchell
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>Can anyone here recommend a good basic book on Buddhism?

~~ Sooz

That's not Buddhism.... It's Taoism. Just in case that matters.... Kaytee "Simplexities" on

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OH YEAH. Woops! Doh! ~~ Sooz

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Might be interesting reading....Hardcore Zen, recently published, written by a friend of the family.

model stitch, beadwork, polyclay...and sell it.....graphic design too

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( WIP
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Hi there, Visit

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for best Buddhist books.

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