Quote:
Originally Posted by elisaa
This is what I thought but I have no real knowledge to ba  ck up as I have not studied. I would like to study the teachings of Gotama Buddha, without the religious aspect.
I don't believe in heaven, hell or reincarnation in an after life. However I believe in reincarnating here on earth in the sense of changing who we are or reinventing ourselves.
Would you happen to know where I can get a hold of the teachings? Thanks and in the meantime I'll search. |
Given what you have said above, I would make this suggestion. A book that you might find interesting as an orientation is
Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor.
It is in large part a biography of his experiences over many years in several Buddhist traditions, and his ultimate move in the direction indicated in the title. There is, however, in the last two-thirds of the book a great deal of biographical material about the Buddha's life and teaching career. I should point out, there is
not a lot of introductory type material on basic teachings, but the skew of the books is more about the author and the Buddha as people, so this is not an obstacle for someone who does not have this knowlege under their belt. I really think this would be an excellent place to begin.
Batchelor has written other books, he used to translate Tibetan and Zen material so he is no slouch. Two books of his which might interest you are:
Buddhism Without Beliefs and
Alone With Others. Both of these are available in paperback editions.
The first book I mentioned may at the moment only be available in hardcover, but nowadays the paperback versions usually follow quick on the heels of the hardbacks.
A superb biography of the Buddha, but it may still be out of print and available only in used bookstores - which also treats on the teachings - is
The Historical Buddha by H.W. Schumann. It is, in my estimation worth searching for, and it is in paper.
The classic introduction to Budda's teachings has been and remains,
What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula. It is thorough, though many people find the author's sometime non-parenthetical use of foreign language terms a distraction. Nevertheless, it is a mini-course in itself of basic, conservative, orthodox Buddhism, and it will remain a great reference to jump back to no matter what direction you strike out in afterwards. I believe there is a new edition of this book in paperback....it has been through a zillion printings.
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