any simple books to learn about Buddhism? (quote, life)

[AREQUIPA]

In fact Buddhism can be approached in many ways. The lay way just involves making merit - evidently looking for a better next life rather than extinction.

One can also go the meditation way (I always wondered how Pali studies were going to get one into Nirvana) and it is a short cut if anything is since the mediation technique is teachable in an hour but the practice may take weeks, months or years. One does not even need to be a Buddhist. One does not need to learn about Buddhism or the teachings or the sometimes mind - cracking technicalities or definitions.

However, anyone is surely going to want to find out what the teachings are and what it's all about. If so, the books suggested are a good way of deciding whether and how to go about it. The rest is up to the teacher and the student.

[nezlie]

Here's a different type of book to complement the ones already recommended. Brad Warner is a Zoto Zen priest and a punk rock bass guitarist, really. You can check out his bio on wikipedia.

This is just one of his books, which can be previewed here (lots to read). It will give you a taste for some of his Zen Buddhist views written in a contemporary style.

Hardcore Zen: punk rock, monster ... - Brad Warner - Google Books

You might also enjoy checking out one of the many Buddhist forums available.

http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com/forum.php

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by Wallisdj

When I read the title of this thread, I had to laugh a little.

One of my best friends was a Buddhist Monk. When I approached him about learning Buddhism, he told me there is no shortcut to understanding Buddhism. In addition, he told me that you are either open to Buddhism or not. Even if you are open to Buddhism, that does not necessarily mean that you will understand its concepts.

At the same time, no matter how much one meditates, that is also not a guarantee that a person will undersand Buddhism.

Reading the material suggested in the previous posts will help you understand the exterior, like the skin of an automobile. You might even get a chance to open the hood (bonnet) and look at the engine, even though you might not understand how the engine works.

Buddhism is not a nut-and-bolts type of philosophy. It is not understanding how gasoline droplets and air are used to create an explosion which drives pistons up and down, which in turn create energy to do all the other things that make an automobile perform.

Buddhism is more like understanding all the relationships between all of the different parts of the automobile--including the human operator--and how these relationships continually change over time. How a tiny, single part affects the entire "organism" that we call a car.

Taken to its nth degree, Buddhism takes in the relationships between everything that exists in the universe, the interactions, the conflicts, the causes-and-effects, the "supposed to happen" events.

Let me ask you this question; it will help me understand your level of readiness to understand Buddhism:

If you walk eastward, where will you end up?

Well I do understand what you are saying and Your right, I may not understand all of it and too be honest I am very very humanist so it going to be very hard. I am trying to learn to be more spiritual or at least find and try to develop less of my human side and some of a spiritual side to me. But from what I have been so far reading I DONT UNDERSTAND A LOT OF BUDDHISM already! So I get what your saying. However I feel a need to try!

How does one try to understand it and where does one start? How does one get more spiritual?

As to your question The human/logical side of me, the side that IM stuck in , the first answer that came to me is the ocean. Thanks

[stevemorse]

To all of you and the books, I am going to the library, and I checked out some of the titles and my county has alot of them, so I am heading off and starting to read.

Thanks so much. I really needed this list!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!!! Marilyn

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

I'd highly recommend A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield.

Thich Nhat Hanh also has some very basic, easy to read books on buddhism.

Good luck.

found alot of books by this Kornfield thanks~~!!

[chielgirl]

Kornfield is easy to read.
He studied with Ajaan Cha in Isaan, Thailand.
His study is Theravada.

Being a native English speaker, he's easy to understand.

[hiker45]

Here is all you need to know about Buddhism:

About 525 BC, a Hindu (I think his name was something like Siddharta) realized the Hindu religion did not give him the answers he needed.

So he sat under a tree and tried to figure out how he should live his life. After several days, he reached his conclusions.

Then he began to tell others about the ideas he had formulated. They were impressed and began calling him Buddah, which means 'the enlightened one'.

So if you are interested in Buddhism, then sit down somewhere and figure out your own answers. For inspiration, visit Walden Pond.

[Sunnysee]

The internet is full of good stuff about every conceivable philosophy. Can I recommend a certain one? Nope, but every subject under the sun that I've had curiosities about, has been fully covered in several websites at a time.
Good luck~

[Wallisdj]

Stevemorse,

You have set your foot on the path, but you're not there yet. Think a little more on my question.

A great deal in Buddhism is letting go of what you feel is important, what you feel is necessary.

When you state that you want to be more spiritual, what is it that you really want?

For example, some people would define being more spiritual as to feel more euphoria.

You will run into terms such as "to be" and "to not be." This will be very confusing at first. For me, it was a stumbling block. It was not until I let go of what I felt was important and necessary that I began to understand how matter and energy are also not-matter and not-energy.

If you are a bit on the scientific side, you may have a personal conflict with some other concepts, such as the scientific hypothesis that particles from opposite sides of the universe are in instantaneous communication. Yet, Buddhism also promotes such a concept: we humans are in instantaneous communication with everyone else on the planet, whether we know them or not.

The zillion events that are happening every nanosecond of life on this Earth are impacting each and everyone of us right now. Buddhism does not explain why or how this works. It encourages acceptance. Later, one may be able to anticipate.

And perhaps most frustrating of all, there is no final exam, thesis, or graduating ceremony with Buddhism. "The more I learn the more I realize just how much I don't know." It is a lifetime of learning; perhaps, many lifetimes of learning.

[nightflight]

Originally Posted by stevemorse

Any good recommendations to learn the basics. Something easy but enlightening and something I can easily start to think about and maybe try and practice?

There's tons of stuff on the web. If you want a book that gives a good overview, try Buddhism for Dummies.