About Buddhism...

I'm an atheist who wants to know more about Buddhism and what it's all about. What I know really appeals to me, but I'd really like to read more about what some of the key beliefs and philosophies are. Can anybody recommend a few books, either about Buddhism in general or about different sects of Buddhism?

Here are some that I would recommend for beginners:

A Path With Heart Jack Kornfield. Highly recommended for people looking to incorporate buddhist philosophy into a modern lifestyle.

Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart by His Holiness the Dalai Lama -- rather technical, but short and a good read.

Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das. Another good primer aimed at us westerners.

Also, a good translation of the Dhammapada (the sayings attributed to Buddha) is highly recommended.

I recommend "What The Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula.

someone say my name?

buddha, the awakened one. A rich kid who ran away from home to seek enlightenment. He wandered long and far, he tried everything else but found his awakening under a Bodhi tree. The Buddhist path is one to acquire good karma so that your next life and that of others will ameliorate. By good actions one builds up good karma for oneself as well as the universe. The buddhist path is one whose goal is the striving for the ultimate in truth, good will and perfection. To be perfect and to spread the light of this perfection to all.

find a buddhist temple, there are a lot more of them around then you think, and almost assuredly one within easy transit of you, and speak to a monk. they are always happy to share that which they know with those who ask.

One thing you'd do well to note is that buddhism has been around ~2500 years and in that time many different flavors have emerged. There are several that deify the buddha and other enlightened supernatural beings as Amitabha demonstrates. I really like the Dammapada alot, and it's short. But you would probably do well to check an encyclopedia of buddhist sects and pick your favorite flavor to study. Theravata, Mahayana, and Zen will most likely interest you more than say Pure Land.
Zen is cool.

I can recommend a good book on Pure Land, though, called River of Fire, River of Water by Taitetsu Unno.

Sidhartha by Hermann Hesse

I'm a little more inclined to Zen than the complicated "religious" aspects of Buddhism. For that I'd go with any title that sounds up your alley by D.T. Suzuki, Cheri Huber, Charlotte Beck or, if you want to see how it works out in an actual thinking person's life, Alan Watts -- who ends up with a personalized mix of Zen, Vedanta and Hindi beliefs. Pema Chodron is also good. Chogyam Trungpa. Eknath Easwaran is very readable. Mark Epstein is a wonderful starter, especially in "Going to Pieces Without Coming Apart." So is anything by Osho (formerly the bad-rapped Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) ... he's very worthwhile on Buddhism or anything else, if you ask me -- fleet of Rolls Royces and all. Thich Nhat Hanh is popular and simple, like the Dalai Lama, but I'd go with any of these others first.

Stephen Batchelor has a fascinating book called "Alone With Others: An Existential Approach to Buddhism."

If you want the history and complexities of it, there are books galore. I think Joseph Campbell probably does the best job of putting the beliefs in perspective for Westerners.

Oh, I wrote too much.


[Edited on Sep 17, 2003 by StickyRice]

great book. highly recommend it.

The zen related material is definately my favorite.

Tee hee.

I know. And I wish I hadn't done it now. Because I am old and I read constantly, I know all these books. But it looks bad.

*weeps, locks door upon self*