Is the one (preferably short) book you would recommend to introduce people to Buddhist practice, especially for skeptics or people who come from a belief based (Christian) background and are likely to be put off by an eastern "religion"?

Thanks in advance for your reply(s)...

Have you read Daniels Book? That is the best introduction to insight practices I have ever read. Also the writings over at Kenneth Folk Dharma are very good. Neither one of these is orthodox Buddhism per se. For an into to traditional thereavada buddhism check out What the Buddha Taught. If you are from a christian background (like me) you may be fascinated with the teaching of traditional buddhism but ultimatly will realize that it is the practice not the belief that matters...

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qSCaxaUyf8 This is an interesting lecture by Allan Watts I listened too last night. He gives a pretty interesting interpretation of the Gospel... dunno if you would be interested but here it is...

the book that i read as an introduction that i loved was 'the heart of the buddhas teaching' by thich nhat hanh. not quite theravada but its got all the important stuff and i still keep it within sight for a quick read and reference now and then.

"Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" is great. I think Thich Nhat Hanh makes for a great introduction, especially for people coming from other faiths. As a chrisitian you might want to check out his book "Living Buddha, Living Christ" where he tries to show the parallels between the two faiths.

Thanks for your responses. I'm reading MCTB and it's great (shattering all my illusions), but I think I'll go with something a bit less hardcore for the audience in question.

In thinking on this more, a non-eastern path may be a more appropriate direction. I would appreciate whatever opinions you all care to offer on western paths to awakening (centering prayer, etc...).

Greg

Hello Greg,

With regard to "paths to awakening" (notwithstanding whether they be Western or Eastern) it might first be appropriate to define just what one means by using the term "awakening," don't you think? Rather than become encumbered by some sectarian definition which might only seek to divide universal human opinion on such matters, wouldn't it be more appropriate to find a definition that all people could agree upon was of universal benefit, which more clearly crystallized a universal advantage of benefit to all?

In that vein, a quotation comes to mind which seems to characterize this ideal of good intentions and good faith, with regard to its universal appeal. It was spoken to a community of Indian inhabitants known as the Kalamas, who questioned the various sectarian diatribes they had been exposed to, while endeavoring to discover the truth:

"It is fitting for you to be perplexed, O Kalamas, it is fitting for you to be in doubt. Doubt has arisen in you about a perplexing matter. Come, Kalamas. Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of scriptures, by logical reasoning, by inferential reasoning, by reflection on reasons, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, by the seeming competence of a speaker, or because you think, 'The ascetic is our teacher.' But when you know for yourselves, 'These things are wholesome, these things are blameless; these things are praised by the wise; these things, if undertaken and practiced, lead to welfare and happiness', then you should engage in them."

If by awakening one means "seeing things as they truly are" in reality, then one may learn a great deal about how to go about accomplishing this using what the Buddha taught as a guidepost. I'm referring here not only to the book linked to, but also to the concepts and ideas expressed by this vast intellectual giant who lived some 2,500 year ago.

What he had in mind to teach was neither sectarian nor religious, per se. Which is to say that it was not characterized as either Eastern or Western, but rather an explanation for what was arguably a basic human issue. The issue of suffering (or the more encompassing term "dissatisfaction") and the alleviation of that suffering.

If finding the source of suffering (or dissatisfaction) and the answer to the alleviation of that suffering is part of what you mean by awakening, then you might benefit from a closer look into what this man taught and what he might be able also to teach you to be able to see through the lens of your own experience. What this entailed for him was a thorough understanding and comprehension of the contents and the source of the contents of his own mind. And what he had to teach was being able to identify for oneself those same constituent parts which make up the human mind, being able to see and to understand them from direct first-hand knowledge, and the effect that they had on his experience of living.

For him, awakening entailed an intimate and detailed knowledge of his own mind and how it worked. It entailed direct knowledge of the source for the arising and the subsiding of suffering, and more importantly, of how to bring that vicious cycle to an end. This latter endeavor entailed an "awakening" of sorts which was meant to bring human mental suffering to an end. It was not meant to end all suffering, because that would be impossible. Meaning that physical suffering is a fact of life. Yet, its impact upon the human mind can be lessened to a considerable degree such that a satisfactory life is able to carry on in spite of whatever physical suffering might need be endured.

If this is what you are seeking, then you will not be disappointed by what the Buddha had to teach, if you are able to find reliable sources from which to learn.

In peace,
Ian

Excellent post Ian. Thank you very much for the detailed and heartfelt response

Essence of Buddhism by Traleg Kyabgon is an excellent introduction to Buddhism (Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana). It's available at the local library here in the Portland, OR area, so it might be available where you're at too. If not, it's pretty inexpensive at Amazon.com ($13.22).

I like Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana for a good starter.

For something a little shorter and yet more to the point of practice: Mahasi Sayadaw's Practical Insight Meditation is hard to beat.

If you want something more traditional, perhaps Path to Deliverance by Nyanatiloka. This one is very Sutta based and so has that old-school Buddhist feel which people have mixed reactions to. It is much more broad and systematic than the others. If you like that, I would read the Vimuttimagga.

A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield is not explicitly Buddhist yet is a good summary of a lot of what you will find in Western Mainstream Buddhism/Fusion Spirituality, and is a great book in and of itself if you can look at it as the technical manual it is rather than get lost in how nice it sounds. It is the sort of book one's generic grandmother might read and think was nice in its way, and yet it is so much more than that if you can actually pay attention to what it is saying.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is also a nice short book that packs great wisdom in it.

Introduction to Tantra is really misnamed and deserves a place on this list also.

I agree that Ian's post was simply excellent.

Thanks Dan,

Gunaratana's book is great and in fact is what I ended up sending (before I saw your post) to the person I wrote this post about. By the way, I enjoyed your book a lot (reading it for the 2nd time... figure it will take at least 4 to really absorb it). So far it's been very enlightening (maybe not in the classical sense :-) ) and makes me hope that it will help lead to a post "baby-boomer, culturally trapped asian transplants" type of american (i.e., pragmatic) meditation practice that will start to appeal to the mass of "regular joe's" (by that I mean not just to hippie kids who may be "Buddhist" because it fits their self-narrative, but folks like me who have families, real jobs and own homes).

During the whole first reading I kept thinking, "finally, a book written by a fellow Gen-Xer who's tired of the fluff and bulls***." Once while reading it at night and laughing out loud, my wife asked what was so funny. I said, "it's like the Buddha and Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) collaborated on this." I think she answered with something about you perhaps being their secret love child. :-)

Anyway, thanks again for the response and the book...

Greg

Luv child, baby!

Glad you liked the recommendations and book.

Yeah, it is actually strangely easy to forget what I even wrote in it, and was done the honor of having been sent a selection of some of the quotes from it that someone thought were funny, which at this point I am far enough from writing that they seem to have been written by another author and I can laugh at them as if they were someone else's joke:

Thus, you pansy critics can all drop dead.

...algebra teacher and you told your students to solve the homework in the
back of chapter one. Instead, your students turn in long, rambling essays
about the traumas of their childhood.

...might also benefit from a bit more sunshine and exercise or perhaps even
some of those new anti-depressants

....most of these experiences are sufficient grounds for a diagnosis of
mental illness

I just provided enough information for a few of you to become Master Posers

....yoga-butt, or super-fast fists of steel

If you tell people you are enlightened and also promote very high,
idealized, delusional, perfectionistic models of awakening, those who
actually get to know well will realize how full of shit you are

Why some whackjob included this bizarre ideal of many-fold bi-location in
the model I have no idea, but somehow no Tibetan since has had the balls to
throw it out

the vast majority of people who are supposed to be doing insight practices
are actually just wallowing in their own neurotic crap

God...is the annoying itch in their armpit

....dentally challenged Cro-Magnon

....with light shining out of their ass

....very rude awakening indeed, to make a bit of a bad pun.

I am going to jump into the fray, as is my typical style,

....oxymoron perpetuated by regular morons.

"Wazoo Tulku, Supreme and Luminous Dharma King." ...."Wazoo is old and of
substantial girth..."

Hi Greg,



One work that I consistently recommend to those new to the path and the curious is Bhikkhu Bodhi;s The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html
Simple,beautiful, classic.
Metta

Ben