Recommendations for books on Buddhism?

[rousseau]

I've studied Buddhism before and know the basics, but have had my eye out for some good books on the philosophy and figured I might get a few decent recommendations here.

Looking for either:

- An academic, historical survey that's readable but not dumbed down to the level of lay-reader

and/or

- Something that details out the practical aspects of the philosophy, preferably not too dumbed down either

Or just whatever you've read that's decent.

 

[rousseau]

Decided to just parse through the university library's catalogue.

Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach looks promising.

And maybe this one too:

Buddhism: A History

 

[Torin]

Huston Smith has a book on world religion that has a chapter on Buddhism. That's all I've read on the subject, but I recall it being decent.

 

[steve_bank]

Like Christianity there are multiple sects or schools of thought. Enlightenment for all or only the few and so on. Zen Buddhism is not accepted by all Buddhists.

It is like asking if there any good books on Christianity. Start with a history on Buddhism. Search on book history Buddhism.

It is as braod a topic as is Christianity.

I am not an expert. If you go by the original teachings it is as conservative as any of the Abrahamic traditions. Search on the 8 Fold Path. No intoxicating substances. No sex outside of marriage. Right speech, right action, right occupation. There are many books in the west that sidestep those things. It is a moral code of conduct.

 

[rousseau]

Like Christianity there are multiple sects or schools of thought. Enlightenment for all or only the few and so on. Zen Buddhism is not accepted by all Buddhists.

It is like asking if there any good books on Christianity. Start with a history on Buddhism. Search on book history Buddhism.

It is as braod a topic as is Christianity.

I am not an expert. If you go by the original teachings it is as conservative as any of the Abrahamic traditions. Search on the 8 Fold Path. No intoxicating substances. No sex outside of marriage. Right speech, right action, right occupation. There are many books in the west that sidestep those things. It is a moral code of conduct.

Sure, but there are good overviews of Christianity as a whole, and that's exactly what I'm looking for with Buddhism.

 

[steve_bank]

Like Christianity there are multiple sects or schools of thought. Enlightenment for all or only the few and so on. Zen Buddhism is not accepted by all Buddhists.

It is like asking if there any good books on Christianity. Start with a history on Buddhism. Search on book history Buddhism.

It is as braod a topic as is Christianity.

I am not an expert. If you go by the original teachings it is as conservative as any of the Abrahamic traditions. Search on the 8 Fold Path. No intoxicating substances. No sex outside of marriage. Right speech, right action, right occupation. There are many books in the west that sidestep those things. It is a moral code of conduct.

Sure, but there are good overviews of Christianity as a whole, and that's exactly what I'm looking for with Buddhism.

The Internet is your friend Grasshopper. How is it that you know this master?. How is it you do not Grasshopper? Grasshopper you must embark on a journey through the Internet. The journey of a thousand Internet hits begins with one search. Fear not Grasshopper, there will be dead ends and frustrations but you must persevere to achieve your goal.

 

[rousseau]

Like Christianity there are multiple sects or schools of thought. Enlightenment for all or only the few and so on. Zen Buddhism is not accepted by all Buddhists.

It is like asking if there any good books on Christianity. Start with a history on Buddhism. Search on book history Buddhism.

It is as braod a topic as is Christianity.

I am not an expert. If you go by the original teachings it is as conservative as any of the Abrahamic traditions. Search on the 8 Fold Path. No intoxicating substances. No sex outside of marriage. Right speech, right action, right occupation. There are many books in the west that sidestep those things. It is a moral code of conduct.

Sure, but there are good overviews of Christianity as a whole, and that's exactly what I'm looking for with Buddhism.

The Internet is your friend Grasshopper. How is it that you know this master?. How is it you do not Grasshopper? Grasshopper you must embark on a journey through the Internet. The journey of a thousand Internet hits begins with one search. Fear not Grasshopper, there will be dead ends and frustrations but you must persevere to achieve your goal.

Thanks. I hadn't thought to check the internet. In the past 5 years and 150 books I've read I didn't once attempt to use Google.

The problem is Google isn't a good tool to find good books, it's only useful for mass produced garbage, which is why I ask for recommendations on forums. Because people on forums have already read good books, the kind I'm looking for.

I don't understand why you think it's such a problem to ask a question on an internet forum. If people don't want to click on the thread, they don't have to.

 

[Politesse]

Strictly philosophical works I know less about, but I am very fond of Rick Fields' "When the Swans Came to the Lake", which concerns the history of Buddhism in the United States, via Europe, Japan, Blavatsky, and many other channels. It was an irreplaceable guide as I started exploring my local religious terrain. In the realm of ancient texts, I find the Milindapanha very accessible and interesting; something about the syncretic blend of ideas placed into a pedagogical question response format just appeals to me.

 

[rousseau]

The Internet is your friend Grasshopper. How is it that you know this master?. How is it you do not Grasshopper? Grasshopper you must embark on a journey through the Internet. The journey of a thousand Internet hits begins with one search. Fear not Grasshopper, there will be dead ends and frustrations but you must persevere to achieve your goal.

Thanks. I hadn't thought to check the internet. In the past 5 years and 150 books I've read I didn't once attempt to use Google.

The problem is Google isn't a good tool to find good books, it's only useful for mass produced garbage, which is why I ask for recommendations on forums. Because people on forums have already read good books, the kind I'm looking for.

I don't understand why you think it's such a problem to ask a question on an internet forum. If people don't want to click on the thread, they don't have to.

Decided to just parse through the university library's catalogue.

Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach looks promising.

And maybe this one too:

Buddhism: A History

And I had already found the above books in the university library catalogue nearby, which look like they fit the bill of what I was interested in. Probably pulled the trigger a bit too quickly on this thread, but this seemed like a topic where this forum might have some good leads.

 

[rousseau]

Decided to just parse through the university library's catalogue.

Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach looks promising.

And maybe this one too:

Buddhism: A History

I dove into both of these yesterday and today.

The philosophical approach is a pretty decent overview of the core tenets (although probably not as rigorous as I'd like), but the history actually does a pretty good job of that too (maybe even a better job) AND it's a pretty good, readable (yet not stupid) history. Might actually pull the trigger and buy it, reminds me of the History of Christianity by Paul Johnson I own, but far less rambly and a bit more accessible.

 

[fromderinside]

doing something along OP lines is a WOT.

 

[fromderinside]

Probably a bit of explanation is in order on my last comment. Unless you are going to become a buddhist you will 'gain' little by studying it. It is a systematic practice based on false premises of ancients like any other religion or practice. One can find inner this and that without having to subscribe to any particular practice or suite of behaviors. So my conclusion of Waste of Time.

Does one become knowledgeable in psychiatry to become a Freudian? Of course not. One becomes a psychiatrist by studying what underlies behavior which is a bit like saying one becomes a saint by performing three miracles.

How about I put it this way. Resolve your uncertainties by identifying them then finding means to improve them. You will probably become a scientist if you take that approach.

 

[rousseau]

Probably a bit of explanation is in order on my last comment. Unless you are going to become a buddhist you will 'gain' little by studying it. It is a systematic practice based on false premises of ancients like any other religion or practice. One can find inner this and that without having to subscribe to any particular practice or suite of behaviors. So my conclusion of Waste of Time.

Does one become knowledgeable in psychiatry to become a Freudian? Of course not. One becomes a psychiatrist by studying what underlies behavior which is a bit like saying one becomes a saint by performing three miracles.

How about I put it this way. Resolve your uncertainties by identifying them then finding means to improve them. You will probably become a scientist if you take that approach.

Yea I agree with this. I'm not looking at books on Buddhism to become a Buddhist, or with any notion that they actually lead to overcoming the human condition.

But at the same time many Asian religions in particular have hit the nail on the head about how to live a good life, and also lend themselves toward an understanding the human condition. And also I just don't have anything else to read .

Take buddhism:
- the soul doesn't exist
- we suffer because we're constantly worrying about our well-being
- by exerting right effort, intention, concentration, wisdom etc one approaches harmonious living

I don't think I'm going to reach some weird notion of nirvana by knowing this stuff, but they're pretty good ideas. Same with the origins of Indian philosophy and non-violence, karma. Or Taoism and Wu-Wei.

So yea I guess it is kind of a scientific approach.. looking at religions and extracting the good parts. And also I need something to read and Buddhist history is turning out to be not totally like all the other things I've read.

 

[fromderinside]

Just seems to me that good choices rely on more current tools developed since some poop laden swami or guru or apostle or mentor dropped his or her load of opinions some time before running water in houses. My suggestion? No better. Try Total Quality function deployment Methodology if you want a group based system to get at best. Worked for Toyota.

 

[rousseau]

Yea I agree, although I would say there is more wisdom in some of these philosophies than given credit for. Some of these ideas likely exist in modern form, but in a convoluted 500 page book written by a PhD, when all you really need to say is 'pay attention to what you're doing, learn, focus, work hard'.

I don't think they're any kind of silver bullet, but buddhism in particular does end up accidentally distilling some important/useful ideas.

 

[fromderinside]

... buddhism in particular does end up accidentally distilling some important/useful ideas.

Objectively patently false. Subjectively only if your belief systems are already congruent with such practice.

 

[rousseau]

... buddhism in particular does end up accidentally distilling some important/useful ideas.

Objectively patently false. Subjectively only if your belief systems are already congruent with such practice.

I think you're getting the impression that I'm taking these philosophies more seriously than I am.

They're just nice sets of ideas, laid down by people who actually thought about what they were doing for a while. The ideas don't merit full blown religions, but a person can casually read what they came up with and parse through what might have value, and what's just bullshit.

Taoism - Don't focus on how to execute well, focus on learning how to execute well until you do it naturally

Buddhism - Focus on living properly and being aware that the world is transient

These two ideas could be summed up by a couple chapters in a business book, but there's still value there. So yea I'm not really studying Buddhism, just parsing through some books because it's an interesting read, and if there is any value I can take from it, so be it.

 

[steve_bank]

Buddhism is a psychology more than religion. I came to look at Buddha as the first self help guru. It is about mental health framed in his cultural metaphors. Buddhism describes psychological states.

Rousseau's 'money mind' is rattling its cage. Plenty of metaphors in Buddhism and Asian thought.

There are extreme practices that developed I doubt Buddha would have condoned.

A body was unearthed. It was a monk buried in a box with straps keeping him in a setting position. The practice apparently involves withdrawing into a mental reality as one starves. The ultimate rejection of the world.