(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best buddhism books

Did you read my post with the two books i recommend? IF NOT THEN READ THIS POST.

Working directly with moving energy while stimulating yourself is not really effective if you don't sense energy deeply enough in the first place.If you do sense it deeply enough you can just stimulate yourself to a 9 then take the pleasure in your genitals and move it in the MCO until you feel in your genitals you're at around a 4 or 5..then begin stimulating yourself again to a 9 and move the pleasure again in the orbit.Don't waste you time with using kegels at PONR...even if you manage to get some orgasm it's weak and some ejaculate gets into your bladder...so it's not that effective to restrain from ejaculating if you're just going to have some of it go into the bladder.

You need to understand that energy orgasms are not about using kegels when you're close to ejaculating...it's about circulating enough arousal and building it up to a point that orgasms just appear as a side effect and you do that without kegeling . You can use mula bandha to shoot energy up your spine...but that presumes you have enough sensitivity to energy in the first place to be able to do it.Otherwise just doing mula bandha for hundreds of repetitions is just going to trigger at some point ejaculations. You use mula bandha not like you use kegels...you use it as a pump for energy....but again it's useless if t you don't feel it well enough to direct it thru your intention+mula bandha.

I just feel like most here try to use a broom without a handle or a handle without having attached the "brush"(I don't know what's it called,English is not my native tongue).

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AND THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL...FOCUS ONLY ON ENJOYING THE PLEASURE YOU FEEL MOMENT BY MOMENT(EVEN IF IT'S NOT MUCH)...IF YOU DO THAT HIGHER INTENSITY OF PLEASURE CAN APPEAR WITH PRACTICE...IF YOU FOCUS ON ORGASMING...OR WANTING TO ORGASM...YOU WILL SABOTAGE YOURSELF AND KEEP YOUR PLEASURE CAPACITY STRAINED AND INFERIOR.

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SECOND TIP...SMALL AND MORE SIGNIFICANT TRAUMAS DESENSITIZE YOUR BODY'S CAPACITY FOR PLEASURE...MEANING YOUR PLEASURE IS "BLOCKED"/"CAPPED" AT A SMALL "BANDWIDTH". THAT'S' WHY NEOTANTRA TEACHERS KEEP REPEATING TO JUST STAY WITH PAINFUL MEMORIES OR SENSATIONS AND RELAX INTO THEM,INITIALLY IT DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK BUT WITH TIME YOU CAN SEE PAINFUL EMOTIONS LOOSE THEIR UNPLEASANT CHARGE AND SOME TIMES IT CHANGES FROM UNPLEASANT TO PLEASANT AND CATHARTIC. YOU'LL GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK BY PRACTICING FEELING YOUR UNPLEASANT FEELINGS DEEPLY AND EMBRACING THEM...JUST AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE TO EMBRACE PLEASANT FEELINGS...BECAUSE THEY ARE PLEASURABLE TO FEEL. YOU CAN READ THIS BOOK TO GET STARTED WITH WORKING WITH EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL PAIN https://www.amazon.com/Break-Through-Pain-Step-Step/dp/B001CB6A0A

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~MEDITATION MASTERY~MEDITATION IS WHAT BUILDS YOUR AWARENESS AND ATTENTION SKILLS...THE BETTER THEY ARE THE BETTER YOU CAN FEEL PLEASURE.

FOR WORKING WITH SHINZEN'S THOROUGH MEDITATION SYSTEM HERE IS A MANUAL THAT'S QUITE CHALLENGING BUT ABSOLUTELY WORH IT. http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf

Currently, by far the best book for learning to meditate in the Vipassana/Mindfulness tradition is The Mind Illuminated, by Culadasa (John Yates). This massive tome takes you one step at a time through a system of 10 stages—based on your level of concentration.

This book also offers an entire brain-based theory of meditation—catnip for the neuroscience junkies among us (although it’s also problematic as theory) —as well as expert advice on deeper levels of meditation, many additional meditation techniques, and a method of analytical meditation. Furthermore, Culadasa has a whole appendix section that makes sense of the “jhana wars” (my term, not his) by adding a dimension of depth to the usual dimension of the jhana numbers. This is a huge step forward.

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BUILDING YOUR ATTENTION IN A PLEASURABLE WAY THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE STRAINING/TENSING YOU CAN FIND IN THE BOOK BELOW:

https://www.amazon.com/Path-Nibbana-Mindfulness-Loving-Kindness-Progresses-ebook/dp/B06WRPZZQF

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FOR WORKING WITH ENERGY YOU NEED THE PREREQUISITES(WHAT NEOTANTRA AND CHIA DOESN'T REALLY TEACH PROPERLY)-

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Work-Secrets-Spiritual-Development-ebook/dp/B005EXYB4O

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THIRD TIP...USE VOWELS AND TONE THEM INTO YOUR CHAKRA LOCATIONS FOR 10 MINUTES/PER CHAKRA...UNTIL YOU FEEL THE TISSUE IN THE CHAKRA LOCATIONS VIBRATING,TINGLING. CHOOSE ONE VOWEL AND TONE IT 10 MINUTES AT EVERY CHAKRA LOCATION. THEN CHOOSE ANOTHER VOWEL AND USE IT IN THE SAME DAY OR THE NEXT DAY. A,E,I,O,U and HA( Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ) ETC. don't use actual sanskrit mantras because you're invoking those deities into you.Stick to just vowels alone or the HA sound as describe in it's modern form " Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ".

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FORTH TIP-

A) WHILE STIMULATING YOURSELF BREATH VERY SLOWLY INTO YOUR LOWER ABDOMEN...SUPER LONG INBREATHS AND SUPER LONG OUTBREATHS INTO YOUR LOWER BELLY.INBREATHS AND OUTBREATHS STAY EQUAL IN DURATION.

B) THIS IS MORE ADVANCED BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE YOUR BREATH IS YOUR LOVER THAT CARESSES YOUR BODY,YOUR ORGANS,YOUR EVERY CELL...YOU IMAGINE THIS NOT VISUALLY BUT IN A TACTILE WAY.AVOID TO USE YOUR VISUAL FACULTIES,USE ONLY YOUR TOUCH/TACTILE SENSE OF IMAGINING THE BREATH TOUCHING ON AN INTO YOUR BODY. IT ACTS JUST LIKE A FEATHER ACTS WHILE YOU GENTLY MOVE IT OVER YOUR SKIN.

In The Diamond Sutra: The Pefection of Wisdom, Red Pine (Bill Porter) translated each chapter, provided his own commentary, and quoted other commentaries.

Chapter 12: ... wherever but one four-line gatha of this dharma teaching is spoken or explained, that place is like a stupa in the world of devas, humans, and asuras.

[Red Pine:] This teaching is the true body of the Buddha, and wherever even a single gatha of this teaching is spoken or explained that place shall be venerated as if it contained the relics of a buddha. In fact, these words do contain the relics of a buddha.

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Chapter 15: ... Moreover, Subhuti, wherever this sutra is explained, that place shall be honored. Whether in the realm of devas, humans, or asuras, that place shall be honored with prostrations and circumambulations. That place shall be like a stupa.

[Red Pine:] Much of this last section repeats what is said in Chapter Twelve, where the Buddha says that any place a gatha from this sutra is recited is like a relic stupa that contains the remains of a buddha. Hence, it is honored by those beings capable of understanding its significance: devas, humans, and asuras.... Once again, the Buddha reminds us that this teaching does not come from buddhas, rather buddhas come from this teaching. For this teaching is the diamond body, the dharma-kaya, the body of truth, which buddhas realize and teach to others.

... Asanga says, “Those who uphold this teaching sanctify the place it’s found, break though all obstructions, reach all knowledge quickly.” Vasubandhu comments, “Those who uphold this teaching ‘wear enlightenment upon their shoulders.’ Hence, wherever they are that place is honored with incense and flowers.”

>Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings by William Edelglass et al. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195328175/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_.r97tb0W341EB

I saw that in the 3aminterview with Jay Garfield. Might buy, but I have enough on my list nowday. We shall see.

>In your case, yes, engaging with eastern philosophy might not be the place to look. You're in an extremely specialized field tackling questions that didn't arise until recently. The same cannot be said of many other fields that eastern philosophy has equally insightful things to say about. Ethics, Philosophy of language, Metaphysics, personal identity, etc. I see no reason, for example, why an ethics course should essentially ignore the entirety of what the east has had to say about the ethical life in favor of starting with Aristotle, moving to the hedonists, Kant, and from there move to the usual Singer, Thompson, Rawls, etc. And of course previous examples like Zen on personal identity, emptiness in Metaphysics, and on and so forth. There's ample room for incorporation in the curriculum.

I have nothing against getting contributions from other sources in these fields. I was, a bit, speaking from own experiences and thinking about the research that goes on where I am at.

As to the author of the original piece; I still have a hard time understanding what his arguments are. This is why: it seems obvious to me that researchers should be 'left alone' when it comes to what their interests are. Since they are the foremost authority of the topic, they should be able to decide for themselves what is and what isn't worth their time. Of course some thing caused them to be interested in some topic or other, but that is a causal explanation and leaves out what they themselves would say is the reason for them studying what they do. My intuition is that their reasons would have to do with what they think is true, or what they think is a good way to get to truth. I would feel presumptuous to question that because I do not know the field as well as they do. Obviously the author does not feel that way.

>This will depend on the field in question. And we're not just talking about research with regards to publication, but also looking at the literature to see what can be fruitful applied to teaching philosophy, ethics just being one example.
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>I'll go on later.

When it comes to ethics I think there might be good room for expansion. However we should of course consider the theories on their merit, not on their origin. This is where I thought the author of the original essay was less than clear. He seemed to say that the mere lack of Eastern Philosophy is bad. But why should that be unless that philosophy has merit?

I also did not find the connection he made between the lack of diversity in the philosophy departments with the lack of studying certain kinds of philosophy. We should not tie ethnicities down to a philosophy and think that there is any link between being of a certain ethnicity and liking a certain kind of philosophy. They are separate questions. The lack of people with certain skin colors or genders in philosophy is one question, the lack of the study of Eastern Philosophy or feminist scholars is another. One of these I think has an easier explanation (the latter). As I said in a reply, there wouldn't be much of an improvement if philosophy departments were filled with white males who also study eastern philosophy.

Reply later if you want to. I think we have reached the end of this discussion. I don't have anything extra to add. I enjoyed the exchange.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but if you are looking for a good "intro to Buddhism" book that puts great emphasis on cultivating bodhichitta (the aspiration to attain enlightenment/buddhahood in order to best help infinitely many beings), then I can recommend 3 of my favorite books by the Dalai Lama, and one book by the famous 8th century Bodhisattva Shantideva:

• An Open Heart
  
• How to practice: the way to a meaningful life
  
• From Here to Enlightenment
  
• Shantideva's The Way of the Bodhisattva
  
  I ordered the books from lightest to more dense reading. Shantideva's text is all poetry, I derive great inspiration from it but I admit that it may be somewhat difficult to read for someone less familiar with Mahayana Buddhism.

Of course, of course, the spirit of ehipassiko is expected here: not to blindly accept teachings based merely on authority, and not to blindly doubt teachings based on your opinion and preference, but to verify the teachings for yourself.

It is significant, though, that you don't immediately see the significance and value of this teaching. It flies over your head, so to speak. Even if you don't realize it, this does show an attachment to a view. But perhaps that's where you're at karmically, and you may not open to or understand the significance for some time.

Nagarjuna's teachings tend to be difficult to penetrate for many casual students. Commentary from an enlightened teacher will usually be a big help (commentary; not indoctrination).

Among the sources that assist you in verifying these teachings for yourself, I recall that Gampopa's The Jewel Ornament Of Liberation lists the views and attachments that block clarity on the various levels of Dharmic teachings. But if you continue to be cloudy on this point, you might require direct relationship with a teacher who can transmit the teaching, the practice, and the 'pointing out'.

A little introduction to Nagarjuna was featured in Tricycle Magazine, Winter 2006.

Thank you for your practice and thank you for the conversation. Good luck along the path.

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Edit: The Dzogchen Nang Jang (purification of perception) teachings will also address these points, and prepare you for a practice that gives direct, verifiable experience.

http://www.dhammatalks.org/. They have recommended readings (or listenings) for the starters. The essays are really meant for serious folks. Since you have some experience with breath meditation, I am sure you have sufficient ground to appreciate the Bhikkhu's commentary and relate to it in a personal way. Read a chapter a day or a few paragraphs a day and in a year, you would have covered very good ground. Unless you can talk about the 4 Noble Truths or Eightfold path for atleast 30 minutes non-stop, you don't have sufficient ground in Buddhism.

If you want to get a good overview of Buddhism in a manner that a graduate student would I would recommend http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Buddhism-Teachings-Practices-Religion/dp/0521676746/.

(I am more of a "hokey-dokey" practitioner. I am not a scholar or a religious studies student)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ is also a good resource.

Meditation - Bhavana -- an attitude -- is just playing around with your mind. Satipatthana practice is where the meat is. (You can mix Anapana with Satipatthana).


I am not much familiar with Mahayana stuff. If you have a good grounding in Theravadin thought, switching to Mahayana or appreciating it will be definitely easier. Here are some recommendations.

Lineage texts are a good way to waste your time, particularly if you are a beginner and lack sufficient context to approach the text. If you are of analytic bent -- mathematician or an engineering student -- you will relate well to Theravada. If you are of non-analytic bent -- student of humanities or engaged in social work -- Mahayana or Zen literature will appeal to you.

http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/NanHuaijin.html writings are also a good place to start.

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The most difficult part about Buddhism is Right Resolution. Buddhist practice is about having a strong will.

Sharon Salzberg talks about this in one of the first chapters of her book. She mentions a week of retreat dedicated exclusively to metta to herself and getting out of it with seemingly nothing to show for it. This was followed by some kind of home accident accompanied by a thought on the lines of "damn you are soooo clumsy, but I love you any way".

She emphasizes that you don't have to feel anything for metta to be doing its work. The metaphor was patiently planting seeds and watering the garden.

I had a lot of resistance adding metta to my practice, but kept trying to find something that worked for me. I read not only her book, but Loving Kindness in Plain English and another one that was freely available online (I can get the reference if you want it). Nothing clicked until I read Banthe Vimalaramsi's [take on it] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WRPZZQF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1).

This is very much due to /u/Share-Metta and other SE users very wholesome trumpeting of its benefits. I'm really glad I took their word for it as metta is now my favorite part of the practice. :)

Before I begin: I know that you and I have argued in the past, and I want to tell you that I found this talk to be much more agreeable to me than your previous ones. I think that there is a lot more common ground between us than you might think.

> There are three major divisions of Buddhism, the Theravada, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. They each have different canons, each holds a different list of books they consider to be authoritative

This is not wrong, per se, but is a bit of a simplification-- let me fill in here a few points which you may know, but (understandably) left out of your talk.

In early Buddhism, there were a variety of sects (traditionally 18, as you point out). Theravada descends more or less directly from one of these sects, and relies on the Pali canon. Other sects, such as the Mūlasarvāstivāda, the Dharmaguptaka, the Mahasamghika, etc., also had canons of their own, written in Indic languages (Sanskrit, some form of Prakrit like Gandharan, etc.). Some of these texts were translated into Chinese, and incorporated into the Chinese canon, and some were translated into Tibetan and incorporated into the Tibetan canon. In addition, some survive in fragments of the originals, and others in other translations (i.e., Khotanese.)

Also: remember that there is more to the canon than the sutras-- there is also the Vinaya in all canons (the Dharmaguptaka in the case of the Chinese, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda in the case of the Tibetans), and additional texts in all canons (Abhidhamma in the Pali, Shastras and Tantras in the Tibetan, all that and more in the Chinese.)

The Chinese canon includes many texts with analogues in the Pali canon, plus other texts, some of which are specifically Mahayana, and some of which are not (like the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya). The Tibetan canon includes a smaller set of texts with analogues in the Pali, plus the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, plus some Mahayana texts, plus some other types of texts, including some Tantras (some of which were composed in India, and some of which were not.)

So: we have three intact canons, plus parts of others. And all three canons can trace themselves back to one or more of the 18 schools.

>Most scholars believe that the Pali Canon is the oldest version of the Buddhist scriptures.

This is the part that is not completely accurate. We can historically reconstruct some texts and doctrines which must have been pre-sectarian, and can tell (for the most part) which texts are post-sectarian. And, in doing so, we find that the Pali canon is not the earliest canon-- it, too, has sectarian supplements. Many Pali texts are earlier than many Chinese or Tibetan texts, but many are not. In some cases, the Chinese or Tibetan may more accurately reflect a pre-sectarian position than the Pali-- and several cases like this are known.

But in general-- your explication of the textual situation was very clear. Nicely done.

I know I've asked this before, but do you have a citation for your "Be lamps unto yourselves" quote? It appears to be a cut-and-paste of part of the Kalama Sutta with a bad translation (possibly Carus?) of the part of the Mahaparinirvanana Sutta. I'd be very surprised if it is an accurate translation of a single passage in the Pali canon, but I'd love to be proved wrong on this. (One tip-off that the quote is inaccurate is the anachronistic reference to books...)

re: "how much the Hinduism of the time alter or distort the Buddha's teaching", I'd recommend you take a look at Richard Gombrich's book What the Buddha Thought which does an excellent job of explicating early Buddhist doctrine in relation to the Vedic and Brahmanic orthodoxy of the Buddha's time. A fascinating, and very readable work, which makes clear a lot of sutras and concepts which might otherwise seem mystifying, and a good guide to the earliest Buddhist thought.

Finally: I still disagree with you about what you view as dogmatism and fundamentalism, but I think we are actually much closer than you think. I completely agree when you talk about "unity in essentials, freedom in non-essentials, and acting and speaking in lovingkindness with each other."

Where I think you and I disagree is as to which items are considered essential and non-essentials, and what kind of hermeneutics we should apply in order to find "what the Buddha taught."

Sure, no prob!

I don't know if it helps, but zazen has been described as goalless meditation. Not reaching for any special state, just sitting. Maybe you already know that, and again I don't know how it compares to vipassana. :)

Shobogenzo is cool. The most popular version nowadays is the Kaz translation. At least in the San Francisco area. Brad Warner prefers his teacher's version, says the translation is more accurate. I've only read bits and pieces of both, but I think the Kaz version is easier to read. Feels more poetic I guess. Though only downside I've noticed is the chapter titles are in English, while most people refer to their Japanese titles (Uji vs Being Time, etc.).

Dogen also wrote Fukanzazengi which instructs how to practice zazen. It's pretty cool, and I remember a monk at SFZC reading parts of it when I took the intro class. Actually, I should really read it again.

This stuff should really be stickied, but that's a whole other can of worms, haha. Maybe r/zenbuddhism could put something together.

• As a man thinketh - A good starting point to reflect on life situations. This is a quick 35 page read.
  
  
• On Liberty - A classic on the theory of liberty, especially freedom of speech
  
  
• Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle's book on ethics
  
  
• The Art of Power - This is the best intro book on Buddhist ideas that I've read. The word power in the title doesn't refer to political or monetary power, but instead the power of clear thought.
  
  
• A Theory of Justice - John Rawls theory of justice.
  
  
• Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: from Thales to Aristotle - This will cover most of the classics of ancient greek philosophy. Best intro to that topic, I've read pretty much everything in there.

>This is obviously not a priori true, but an empirical claim. So you need to demonstrate that there are questions that professional philosophy has missed or show that this is true in general.

OK, but there's only so much I can do on reddit. The best approach is to show where that has been done. This is one such place:

Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings by William Edelglass et al. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195328175/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_.r97tb0W341EB

>If the first option can be demonstrated I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to publish that. So what is the person in the original essay complaining about? That you need to publish and argue your case before people pay attention?

Well, namely that what I'm talking about has been done, but because of institutional biases it gets very little attention. People think of it in terms of comparative religion or history of Philosophy at most, very seldom as a system of live questions going on to this day.


>One piece of evidence I have is that I know that most of the stuff published now days engages with debates surrounding language, logic and mind with theories that were formulated in the 70s-80s, or later. It is improbable (not impossible) that I will gain anything by shifting through things not directly pertaining to those theories. But this is of course very vague. But take the three things that are researched at my department: expressivistic logic, questions related to the intersection of semantics and pragmatics and questions relating to confirmation theory (specifically bayesian approaches to the same). With some notable exceptions (Bayes, Frege) , no one writing before the 20th century would have been able to contribute anything to questions in these fields directly because these fields were not in existence before that time. Surely this must count as evidence against that I would find something pertaining to those topics in Eastern Philosophy?

In your case, yes, engaging with eastern philosophy might not be the place to look. You're in an extremely specialized field tackling questions that didn't arise until recently. The same cannot be said of many other fields that eastern philosophy has equally insightful things to say about. Ethics, Philosophy of language, Metaphysics, personal identity, etc. I see no reason, for example, why an ethics course should essentially ignore the entirety of what the east has had to say about the ethical life in favor of starting with Aristotle, moving to the hedonists, Kant, and from there move to the usual Singer, Thompson, Rawls, etc. And of course previous examples like Zen on personal identity, emptiness in Metaphysics, and on and so forth. There's ample room for incorporation in the curriculum.

>This is not to say that it would necessarily be irrational to engage with that field to figure out if you could apply it elsewhere, just that if you do research in those fields then you are probably better off reading other stuff.

This will depend on the field in question. And we're not just talking about research with regards to publication, but also looking at the literature to see what can be fruitful applied to teaching philosophy, ethics just being one example.

I'll go on later.

The most lucid expositions I know of for original buddhism are Walpola Rahula - What the Buddha taught and Paul Williams - Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition.

I read them years ago, but I remember that what I particularly liked about them is that they are pretty clever in clearing common objections that a modern student may have, they don't dumb it down (while still being clear and concise), and they don't avoid the sides of Buddhism that may be scary for people (in other words they won't present Buddhism as a good-vibe, let's just chill out and love everybody style of life, like many books do to cater to wide audiences).

Welcome.

I would recommend Buddhanet's Basic Buddhism Studies as a starting point.

After that, try listening to some of the Dhamma talks by Gil Fronsdal and others over at Audiodharma.

In terms of books. Believe it or not "Buddhism for Dummies" is actually a surprisingly accurate primer/overview that covers most of the popular schools.

What the Buddha Taught is frequently recommended. It covers the core Theravadin philosophies and is very well respected. However, it can be a little dry and scholarly if you're not the literary type.

Other books to look at, imo, are anything by Pema Chodron, or anything by Thich-Nhat-Hanh. The books with the Dalai Lama's name attached are usually alright, but tread with caution as some of them are ghost written or co-authored by others and misinterpret or misrepresent some of the concepts.

For plain old mindfulness and meditation without the metaphysical trappings, try Wherever you go, there you are by John Kabat Zinn and the free online book Mindfulness in Plain English by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana.

Then check out the world Buddhist directory on Buddhanet and see if there's a school near you that fits with whatever style of Buddhism resonates most with you. Almost every town has a Zen center or a secular mindfulness center, but if you want more traditional schools like pure Theravada or Tibetan, you may or may not need to travel to find a school.

Hope that helps!

Just wanted to let you know I'm not the one downvoting you. I think it's good you care so deeply.

But there's a difference between a lack of respect, and humor. Go read the Pali canon. Even the Buddha used some gentle ribbing occasionally. While reading through it I definitely laughed out loud more than a couple times. Humor can be a great tool to point out some failings in your practice in a easy way.

If your practice is making you a humorless zombie, or even worse you can't laugh at your own expense every now and then -- how big of a hold does your ego have over you? How self important are you?

Yes, there are some horrible atrocities in the world, and yes we should be doing something about them. But this (rather bad) page has nothing to do with that, nor was it insulting the people harmed by that. Instead it was more poking some fun at some of the silly materialistic things we can do that really are unrelated to the goal.

One of the main links on that site was to the book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa. Which is a rather fantastic book that goes into this issue in detail.

Congratulations on your interest in a path that is truly deep and awesome. If you're looking for accessible, structured guides to Buddhist practice and theory, The Mind Illuminated and Seeing That Frees are totally solid. The first book covers concentration, bliss, and relaxation, while the second is about developing and understanding insight. Both have techniques that you can start applying immediately.

> I am particularly interested in an idea of the mutual arising of the world and consciousness equally and necessarily.

If you are watching a spoon, it would mean you are conscious of the spoon. If you are conscious of the spoon then the appearance of the spoon (together with the tactile sensation, visual sensation and everything else) is dependent on your consciousness. Same is true for all that appears. All objects of consciousness is dependent on consciousness, attention, perception and such.


At these point some may start to get a bit idealistic and think of consciousness itself being the ultimate ground of all phenomenal appearances. But Madhyamaka Buddhists aren't immediately ready to do so.


They may ask what even is consciousness? Isn't consciousness always consciousness OF something? To be conscious of nothing sounds like the definition of unconsciousness. What would even remain of consciousness if all of its objects (all visual sensations, sounds, thoughts, imaginations, feelings, beingness everything mental or physical)? It would seems whatever there would be, it wouldn't be really consciousness in an honest sense.


So it is not just the phenomenal objects that are being grounded by consciousness but consciousness itself is being grounded by its phenomenal object.


Counter Point: Some may argue it is possible to have 'consciousness without content', for example, Robert Forman's 'Pure Consciousness Event' and other similar stories of 'Mystical states' of experiences 0 where there is no objects but still there is 'self-luminosity' (awareness of being). Some like Miri Albahiri (check "Analytical Buddhism") even argue that when Buddhism rejects consciousness as permanent they are rejected "object-oriented consciousness", but when Buddha talked about 'unconditioned' he was actually talking about similar form of pure consciousness (witness-consciousness) - objectless mode-neutral awareness with something it like to be it. When it comes to discussing the validity and implications of mystical states and advanced meditative states it kind of gets beyond the scope of pure philosophy. I guess, one can still argue that 'self-luminosity' is itself a sort of content and appeal to experiences (non-experiences) of radical unconsciousness to emphasize what it's like (not like) to be radically without any content in experience.


> You seem knowledgeable about this topic, would you have any recommendations for further reading?

I read a few books, but don't remember all of their names. Jay Garfield's "The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way" is based on Nagarjuna's magnus opus Mulamadhyamakakarika. It was a good book. The only one I tried to read seriously on Nagarjuna. It can get a bit repetitive and dull at times. It is set up more as a translation(of source passage)-commentary format. In contrast, Jan Westerhoff "Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A philosophical investigation" seemed more pleasant to read (I have only skimmed through it). It isn't set up in translation-commentary format, but more as a philosophy book with chapters organized in terms of specific themes and such. It is must easier to navigate through. Though Jan Westerhoff can get to a more metaphysical side of interpretation which I may not be completely in favor of. Anyway, Garfield + Westerhoff may be still a good intro to Madhyamika in general.


About consciousness-world dependency there are some passages in Chandrakriti's madhyamakavatara (introduction to middle way) in chapter 6 related to that. I didn't get much out of the source text on this specific regards though (it is still good expansion of madhyamaka concepts in general). Chapter 27 in "Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings", expands more on this idea of consciousness-world dependency from Chandrakritian's perspective and overall tackles this idea in much more details than I have found elsewhere.


Since you are reading a book on Santideva you can also look at the translation of the source text: http://www.tibethouse.jp/about/buddhism/text/pdfs/Bodhisattvas_way_English.pdf (particularly the chapter on Wisdom)


This book (https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-That-Frees-Robert-Burbea/dp/0992848911/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8) is also interesting. It is not really a scholarly philosophy book on emptiness rather it is more about tackling emptiness from a meditative perspective. Even if it is about meditation, it provides interesting insights about the nature of emptiness.

Unlocking the Zen Koan: A New Translation of the Zen Classic Wumenguam has been helpful. Also, reading Red Pine's translations and commentary on the The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra. Although many people speak of the influence of the Lankavatara on Zen, I find it very difficult to read, even Red Pine's fairly approachable translation. But, the idea of "no views" and "no perceptions" was helpful, and "to speak of [this] to to speak of not [this]". Those themes come up often in koans. And studying Lao Tsu helps. Despite what the "not zen" crowd says, a background in Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism, and some historical background really does help a lot. Currently reading Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism and The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China to get some background on Mazu's lineage. Like many westerners, I used to think koans were just about derailing rational thought. While that is useful, now I also see some patterns, a certain amount of "sense", and more experiences of "of course". Easier koans like, it is your mind that moves help with the more difficult ones. Another helpful one is What are you doing? What are you saying?.

The Tao Te Ching is also neat (if not strictly Zen) – the Taoist influence on Zen is pretty strong. For the poetry of it, I’m really fond of the translation by Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng, but in terms of a helpful explanation of the text, I really like Wai-tao’s translation included in Dwight Goddard’s compilation A Buddhist Bible. A Buddhist Bible is also an amazing compilation that I love (my copy’s gotten pretty beat up over the less-than-a-year that I’ve had it), but I’m not sure how helpful it is specifically in terms of understanding Zen.

(If you want to read really difficult but very integral Zen text, I’ve also started reading the Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross translation of Master Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye.)

Very nice. A few summers ago, Ven. Garchen Rinpoche came to our local center and gave the Zhitro Empowerment, which is part of the "Tibetan Book of the Dead". This book is the latest and best translation of Padmasambhava's text on the 100 Deities practice. The Zhitro deities are part of a text that includes one of the best explanations of the Mahamudra View. (The after-death practice is, if I remember correctly, Chs 7-10.) Most people don't realize that the book covers in depth on the Mahamudra View and how to arrive at the View. Worth the expense of the book. Essentially, the text is also 10 Chapters of Sadhanas on Mahamudra (from soup to nuts, more or less). One passage (in Chapter 6 or 7, I think) says these deities, which are now in front of you (after your death), were the mandala of your body during your life but you didn't realize it. Our bodies are the stuff of Stars and Buddhas. And you thought you were nothing special. You are special. Every person is composed of Buddhas and an awareness., with the capability to take us all the way to Liberation and Enlightenment. Pretty awesome stuff.

tbh, I intended it to be taken fairly lightly, a bit tongue in cheek, it wasn't meant to be very serious advice, I leave that to people in the sub that actually practice Zen, I've just done some basic reading and sat with a nearby group on occasion

but, to make up for my error, if OP bothers to read this, I'll write something a bit more serious:

my understanding of Zen practice is that it all boils down to meditation, at least the way it's been imported to and developed in the West. I know here in the US in most larger cities there are quite a few Zen groups, my advice would be to go and ask for meditation instruction, they'll either have a teacher or materials they suggest you turn to - if you can't find a Zen center, I'd recommend a Shambhala center; their meditation instructors are pretty good, in my experience, and imo a beginner won't see a difference between zazen and shamatha

for books, many people recommend Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuku - I read and really enjoyed The Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau


hope this is helpful

Try to distance yourself from the desire of wanting to be called, or labelled as anything. A good book to read that is full of wisdom is Chogyam Trungpa's Cutting Through Spirtual Materialism.

When one starts to awaken, Ego will often try and get in the way. The wisdom and realizations you come into, are often bound to ego. I find the trick is say very little about your own personal realizations. The more and more you talk about something you've realized (that may very well be so exciting and incredible) the more the experience is diminished and replaced by 'the story' of a realization. This is like watering down your epiphanies so they can be communicated with others.

Finally, try and remember that the people you see, who you talk too, are projections of your mind, and if you feel a certain way about them, there must be a karmic cause for this. Dig into that. Try and see/feel where it's all coming from.

We all have our short-comings and limitation. Also we have our uniqueness. We must look at things that we do right. Where we have a flow. We must seek knowledge and wisdom. Philosophy. These things makes us better. Rather they reveal the best parts of us.

Here are some books that have helped me:

• Stephen Covey 7 habits
  
  
• The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle
  
  
• The Art of Power- Thich Nhat Hanh
  
  
• Listen to Alan Watts & Jiddu Krishnamurti
  
  
• The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything
  
  Here are some things I have saved that I read on and off
  
  "What you need now to do is, to check how much you are on the feeling level and how much on the thought level. Most are, and naturally, on the thought level because that is our comfort zone. We have to act on that level. It is the functional level. We need it to study, operate, plan, achieve and so many other things like research, analysis, But we need the feeling level to relate to others. Sadly this is much neglected and we use our thought level to deal with others. we are not in touch with our feelings. To be a sensitive person we need our feelings. We will even rationalize away our feelings. So this is the beginning. "
  
  "Feed your head." -Grace Slick
  
  Where you are headed is more important than how fast you're going, yet people are consumed with speed rather than direction.
  
  Concentrate every minute on doing what's in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can, if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that's all even the gods can ask of you.
  -- Marcus Aurelius
  
  Check /r/Stoicism or r/meditation
  
  The bad things, don't do them.
  The good things, try to do them.
  Try to purify, subdue your mind.
  That is teaching of all buddhas.
  
  "If you are becoming a more patient, kinder, and less violent person, you are truly learning life's lessons."
  
  Be a Wanderer and find the inner master that lies dormant within you.
  
  

>What is your opinion on books written that seem to compare Buddha and Jesus?

I haven't read any, so I can't say. I would have no problem with it in principal as long as both men and teachings were honestly compared. If you read that they were really teaching the same thing, it isn't true in the least. To say so is an inexcusable whitewashing.

>Are they useful or should I not waste my time?

Understanding how your religion compares with Buddhism is useful. It will help you contextualize Buddhism.

Also, what books on better understanding Buddhism would you recommend, if any?

What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula is a classic. It is also available as a hardcopy.

What the Buddha Thought by Richard Gombrich is a great companion book.

> Meanwhile the Buddhist monk describes the Christian who follows his conscience and lives in the grace of God as an "anonymous Buddhist."

A few weeks back I noticed a book at Powell's entitled What Makes You Not a Buddhist. I didn't end up buying it (or more than skimming it) but it appeared to deal with the notion that Buddhism entails at least believing the Four Noble Truths, and that if you reject them then you're not a Buddhist.

For instance, if you believe that any describable state of affairs is permanent, then you're not a Buddhist. This would seem to me to include the Christian notion of heaven, which is by definition eternal and yet has particular properties. If you believe in the Christian heaven, you can't be a Buddhist.

If paying shipping doesn't bother you, check out used books on Amazon. Lots of people would rather pass a book along to the next reader than throw it away, and some people sell books just for the tiny profit they can make on Amazon's shipping fee, so there are a lot of used books that go for basically free + shipping. Here are some good deals:

• An Introduction to Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki, $0.32 plus shipping
  
• The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, $0.01 plus shipping
  
• What the Buddha Taught, $0.91 plus shipping
  
• How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life, by H.H. the Dalai Lama, $0.18 plus shipping

In relation to your first post ever, tanha means thirst and is usually translated as 'craving' or 'wanting'. It's upadana, which means 'fuel', which is sometimes translated as 'attachment' or 'clinging'.

IMO your post presents one of the drawbacks of translating the Pali word 'upadana' as attachment, because attachment in English is primarily used to describe interpersonal relationships, particularly in the relationship between a caregiver and a child (see attachment theory in psychology).

Reasoning from the English "relationship sense" of the word attachment, people seem to think lack of attachment implies some sort of coldness towards the people around them, or non caring.

But actually (as far as I can tell), in the early buddhist texts 'upadana' seems to be used either in the sense of fuel (e.g. desire is the fuel(upadana) for the 5-aggregate process) or it refers to taking something as a self.

IMO, non-attachment actually refers to either 1) the rebirth process running out of fuel(upadana), or 2) not identifying as anything.

These are just my thoughts. Either way, you might be interested in Venerable Analayo's Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation, if you want to learn more about the Buddha's teaching re. this topic.

Good luck! :-)

First of all, can I just say how much I love giving and receiving book recommendations? I was a religious studies major in college (and was even a T.A. in the World Religions class) so, this is right up my alley. So, I'm just going to take a seat in front of my book cases...

General:

1. A History of God by Karen Armstrong
   
   
2. The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong
   
   
3. Myths: gods, heroes, and saviors by Leonard Biallas (highly recommended)
   
   
4. Natural History of Religion by David Hume
   
   
5. Beyond Tolerance by Gustav Niebuhr
   
   
6. Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel (very highly recommended, completely shaped my view on pluralism and interfaith dialogue)
   
   
7. The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
   
   Christianity:
   
   
8. Tales of the End by David L. Barr
   
   
9. The Historical Jesus by John Dominic Crossan
   
   
10. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan
    
    
11. The Birth of Christianity by John Dominic Crossan
    
    
12. Who Wrote the New Testament? by Burton Mack
    
    
13. Jesus in America by Richard Wightman Fox
    
    
14. The Five Gospels by Robert Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar (highly recommended)
    
    
15. Remedial Christianity by Paul Alan Laughlin
    
    Judaism:
    
    
16. The Jewish Mystical Tradition by Ben Zion Bokser
    
    
17. Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliot Friedman
    
    Islam:
    
    
18. Muhammad by Karen Armstrong
    
    
19. No God but God by Reza Aslan
    
    
20. Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations by Michael Sells
    
    Buddhism:
    
    
21. Buddha by Karen Armstrong
    
    
22. Entering the Stream ed. Samuel Bercholz & Sherab Chodzin Kohn
    
    
23. The Life of Milarepa translated by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa
    
    
24. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by John Powers
    
    
25. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones compiled by Paul Reps (a classic in Western approached to Buddhism)
    
    
26. Buddhist Thought by Paul Williams (if you're at all interested in Buddhist doctrine and philosophy, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not reading this book)
    
    Taoism:
    
    
27. The Essential Chuang Tzu trans. by Sam Hamill & J.P. Seaton
    
    Atheism:
    
    
28. Atheism by Julian Baggini
    
    
29. The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud
    
    
30. Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht
    
    
31. When Atheism Becomes Religion by Chris Hedges
    
    
32. Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith

Yeah, that overly simplistic "just sit" instruction of Zen is really not very useful for beginners and much of the language used is not as clear or direct.

Buddhism has become a big business lately, and there are many bullshit artists making tons of money on books and BS these days. (I read "Zen Confidential", and it totally falls into this trap. This guy spent 10 years in a Zen monastery in Cali and didn't really make shit for progress imo.) For some reason "Zen" has become super popular in the US, probably due to our cultural fertilization of Japan. Don't bother reading any of the modern stuff. (Anything past D.T. Suzuki I wouldn't really put much stock in.) I can certainly recommend the Shobogenzo by Dogen though as a timeless classic. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419638203/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1419638203&linkCode=as2&tag=hardzen-20&linkId=AZEOP5C4QUQK5MMG]

I was seriously considering joining a monastery myself about a year or two ago and went to a bunch of different sects temples here in town. (I live in a big hipster city so there are a ton more than most places in the USA.) Personally I concur that the Theravadan approach is the best overall beginner approach to Buddhism for the majority of people. I sat in on at least 15+ meditation classes at Zen, Tibetan, Pure Land, Theravadan, and the style and feel of the classes are totally different. Personally I find Tibetan the most egregious offender and totally off kilter with what Buddha actually taught and more akin to a religion than philosophy. (Complete with visualizing deities and fucking them; something I doubt Buddha would have advocated for considering his battle with Mara!)

I definitely think emphasizing the Jhanas more as a benefit of meditation practice and goals would be more beneficial for presenting the material to a Western Audience rather than "just sit". Many people (even Buddhists) don't even know about the Jhanas! It's nuts!

Overviews are still "beginner" books. Here are some good ones - Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices

Within a tradition, you will find more advanced books. The Tibetans might recommend "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation" or "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment". For Theravada, first see the online resources like http://aimwell.org/books.html and https://www.dhammatalks.org/

Since you're embarking on a survey of religions, I recommend this:

First, read the first 5 books of the Old Testament in Bible - aka the Pentateuch - and if you can get a Jewish commentary on it, do so. They are their books, after all.

Then, read the first 5 books of the New Testament - the Gospels and Acts.

If you're still cooking at that point, then swing back and read Isiah (with Christian footnotes and commentary because this is where Jesus' coming is prophesied), then read Romans, because it's a good summation of Christian theology.

If you're still going after that, then read the rest of the OT and the NT.

Get a good translation - this is key. I prefer the Oxford Annotated NRSV. It'll have everything you need, except for the Jewish commentary on the OT. Consult a Rabbi about what would be best there.

In other recommendations, I suggest Introduction to Zen Buddhism by Daisetz T. Suzuki for Zen Buddhism. To me, it was the most clear attempt to describe it in a book.

also, I would like to add Rob Burbea. He is the resident teacher at Gaia House in the UK (which is kind of like the Spirit Rock of UK). While I did not have an opportunity to meet him since he was ill, his book Seeing That Frees really REALLY impressed me -- maybe the book isn't everyone in fact I had to read it very slowly because I did not always understand what he was talking about. It's the only book I've purchased for other people who are trying to get a new angle on their meditation experience but also understanding how to sort of achieve what is talked about and do the internal investigation of freeing your mind --

https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-That-Frees-Robert-Burbea/dp/0992848911

Personally, I don't find it as a 'beginner' book but if you have been practicing for awhile it may offer some helpful suggestions on your practice but also an intellectual understanding of the process.

Born to Run helped me fall in love with running. I had never been so deeply & passionately drawn to anything... now I'm training to run my first marathon and I'm more excited for this than for when I graduated from college.

Against the Stream was another life-changer - it helped me learn to breathe, relax, focus, and stay in the present moment.

The Life Of Milarepa

An Introduction To Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki

The Way Of Zen by Alan Watts

Be Here Now by Ram Dass

These are just some of the better ones ive read so far, all really great starting off points into Buddhism. Zen in particular. Good luck!

I know this isn't directly related to the article, but I've been reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead (this version)

My goodness what a ride. I am about 60% through (probably much more, considering the appendixes), and have just gotten through the first part of the the Great Liberation Through Hearing (or something or other).

I now see why Timothy Leary and Ram Dass wrote the Psychedelic Experience as a "follow up" to this book. It is almost as if death is the ultimate trip and the Tibetan Book of the Dead's writings are the ultimate trip guide/sitter.

Anyways, back on topic, I enjoyed this write up. These articles from that site are posted here so often it is almost feels like promotion, but they are typically great reads.

A little background on me:

.

First encountered Chinese Buddhism & Taoism through Chinese martial arts around 1994. Tried to study Buddhism more seriously at the end of the 90s. My first book was "Entering the Stream" edited by Sam Bercholz. Something about the teachings in the book I didn't like very much at the time. Initially, I was very big on tradition and trying to find the most traditional teachings and according to the book that meant fairly severe renunciation. I was a college student at the time, with big plans, and all the talk of renunciation & the suffering pervading the world really turned me off.

.

Due to various reasons, I revisited Buddhism as an adult. I'd been exposed to Theravada Buddhism through Thai martial arts (since around 04), but what was really different this time around were some documentaries that were available on Netflix. These documentaries included life stories of the Buddha, as well as talks by Joseph Campbell, and Robert Thurman. I think it was Campbell that really got me hooked, because we have/had fairly similar backgrounds (he actually reminds me of my deceased grandmother). I started reading and researching whatever I could get my hands on. I started visiting all the Buddhist groups in town: the Thai Theravada temple that my Muay Thai coach regularly attends, the Vietnamese Temple that my boxing coach regularly attends, the local Rissho Kosei Kai Dharma Center, a Lam Rim study group in the Gelug school of Tibetan Vajrayana, and even looked into a couple of others. Over time I experimented with different teachings and practices, trying to find out where I fit in.

.

My first encounter with Pure Land Buddhism was probably saying "Amitoufo" to Chinese kung fu practitioners back in the mid 90s. My first experience actually studying Pure Land Buddhism was the book Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith by Thich Tien Tam, given to me by the monk at the Vietnamese Temple. I really did not like that book at first. It was a hard read for someone first trying to acclimate to the Buddhist world view. I remember at the time thinking of something Campbell once said about "any good medicine makes you gag," so I sat with it and let the book roll around in my head for a while. By the end of the book, my view of the teachings was a bit different, but still not very positive. Around the same time I was battling a fairly serious, extremely painful, recurring infection and so at the recommendation of some friends at the Lam Rim group & the Vietnamese Temple, I tried doing Medicine Buddha practice to help me cope with it. Not sure exactly how or when, but the Medicine Buddha practice "opened me up" for Amitabha Pure Land practice. Once the infections subsided, suddenly, I wasn't so averse to doing Amitabha Pure Land practice.

.

I ended up staying with the Vietnamese temple while I was in Texas and continued Pure Land as my main form of practice. A year or two later I moved to Georgia and have since started studying Japanese forms of Buddhism, both formally via online coursework & informally via reading and correspondence with teachers. There are also a Chinese Pure Land center and a Ch'an temple here in my current town that I've visited as well.

.

My personal preference as far as Pure Land schools is currently the Jodo Shu school of Japanese Pure Land. These are the teachings and practices I hold as primary, though I love to learn about all forms of Pure Land teachings.

I've had a lot of trouble finding a book for beginners. The best one I've found is Entering the Stream. It covers all the important teachings, the three main variants, and has instructions for practice. It is moderately accessible and well organized.

I like that it is a balanced book. Most books on Buddhism focus on a certain flavor, with Zen being the most popular. This book presents the core of Buddhism and then introduces the various flavors.

As for the beginner type of books from Tibetan Mahyana tradition:

The Path to Awakening

The Way of Tibetan Buddhism

As for the serious and more advanced reading:

The Jewel Ornament of Liberation

Buddhist Cosmology

Something exciting are always life stories of great Bodhisattvas:

Life of Padmasambhava

Life of Naropa

Life of Milarepa

As for the mantras:

OM MANI PADME HUM

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

The metta style in the TMI appendix wasn't resonating with me. If that happens definitely search for other ways of practicing metta - the one in this book has been helpful for me:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1909314552/

More info related to the author and book mentioned above:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/2oid0e/bhikkhu_analayo_on_alternative_metta_methods/

Hope you're well :)

I found What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse to be absolutely wonderful, as well as Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

Both are great introductions to Tibetan Buddhism, and Buddhism in general.

A few good books:

Pali suttas:
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911

Overview of the Mahayana:
http://www.amazon.com/An-Open-Heart-Practicing-Compassion/dp/0316930938

Bodhicitta:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Expand-Love-Widening-Relationships/dp/0743269691

Shunyata:
http://www.amazon.com/How-See-Yourself-You-Really/dp/0743290461

Perfection of wisdom sutras: Heart Sutra:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Understanding-Commentaries-Prajnaparamita/dp/1888375922

Diamond Cutter sutra:
http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-That-Cuts-Through-Illusion/dp/1935209442

3 principle aspects of the path:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Three-Principal-Aspects-Path/dp/1559393505

Zen:
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Shunryu-Suzuki/dp/1590308492

I recommend Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation by Analayo.

It is a quite fascinating book, and gives a very different perspective on how to practice the Bramaviharas. The standard method of sending compassion to several people, first yourself, then a close friend or mentor, then an acquaintance, etc... This was not how the early Buddhists did it, according to Analayo's analysis of the suttas.

Congratulations on proving I am not omniscient, replace the words "have been told" with "have read" if you like. Whether you have been told the misinformation or have read it, you are still clearly misinformed and it doesn't matter how I think that misinformation came about.

So again, read the sutras before making claims about what a particular school does or does not involve. I hear the Diamond Sutra is pretty popular in Zen, maybe start with that?

The Siderits book is a great introduction. After that, Buddhist Philosophy by Edelgglass and Garfield is a great anthology of Buddhist writings. https://www.amazon.com/Buddhist-Philosophy-Essential-William-Edelglass/dp/0195328175/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505306019&sr=8-1&keywords=buddhist+philosophy

> Why can the object of meditation not be awareness itself?

It can and I didn't say it couldn't. Meditating on awareness itself leads to a magnified experience, a fuller experience of whatever happens. Ultimately, that is with extreme concentration power, such meditation would lead to an experience of oneness with awareness, of becoming the ground of being, so to speak. Whether this path and goal is conducive to wellbeing depends on other factors, such as your disposition.

Understanding consciousness from the first-person is limited and does not necessarily lead to wellbeing and a sense of connectedness, but I believe now I understand what you are looking for. And to that end I recommend meditating on the four brahmaviharas. This training will improve your wellbeing and sense of connectedness, and can lead to deep meditative states. For a more complete understanding of this practice than my article offers, I can recommend the rather new book "Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation" by Bhikkhu Anālayo.

I'd like to second the simplicity of such insightful synthesis.

Apparently both -decreasing dissociation and fulfilling most-basic needs- are closely intertwined; and a major common obstacle to both lies precisely in the lack of self-trust we've been acculturated into adopting –making us believe that this process never actually happened and that we are indeed faulty and helpless by Nature's 'mistakes' (i.e. breaking through the Consensus Trance is a first step towards genuine self-agency).

Trust yourself all along the process even especially when encountering difficulties -all along your trial-and-errors- for these are potential sources of great understanding and learning.

​

>It's not the Path that is difficult,
>
>but the difficulty IS the Path.

–S. Kierkegaard.

​

​

Persevering in this attitude one may also get to fully experience a buddhist approach:

​

> Pleasure is not different from difficulty. Good is not different from bad. Bad is good; good is bad. They are two sides of one coin. We know we will experience both pleasure and difficulty. If you try to escape difficulty, your effort will be in vain.
>
> With the acceptance of the fact that everything changes, we can find pleasure in difficulty. This is the basic teaching of how to live in this world.
>
> You have to make the effort. Sometimes it is not so difficult, sometimes it is more difficult. That is okay. The important thing is to make the effort; accept that things change, and find perfection in imperfect existence.

–Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

​

​

cc: u/SRV1981 (here another author/works worth digging in)

Amazon.com links provided:

1 The Slight Edge

2 Mastery

3 The 4-Hour Workweek

4 The Art of Power

5 Thinking, Fast, and Slow

6 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

7 The Power of Now

8 The Power of Habit

9 Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?

10 The 48 Laws of Power

11 Your True Home

12 Ego Is the Enemy

13 The 4 Hour Body

14 The UltraMind Solution

15 The Dip

Speaking as an academic, I've found Siderits lacking, for Buddhist philosophy.
Instead I would highly recommend two books by Paul Williams. Buddhist Thought for an overview of Indian Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism to supplement it. Together they give an amazing overview of Buddhist thought.

It is a book by Gampopa, who was a major figure within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is a general overview of the Mahayana Path, discussing the 5 Paths, the Bodhisattva Bhumis, the Paramitas, Bodhicitta, etc. Although Gampopa was involved with the Vajrayana, this text is essentially entirely a Mahayana text, not a Vajrayana one.

If you're interested in more info, you might check out the amazon page, perhaps looking at some of the reviews.

As it says on the back cover, "Anyone who knows the Jewel Ornament well can say that they really understand Buddhism."—Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen

(For fairness, perhaps, some Theravada practitioners may take issue with this statement, so you might consider it to be from a Mahayana perspective at least)

I just read The Road to Nibbana which focuses on metta. It adds a sort of relaxation step that you apply to anything that comes up. Maybe that would help.

A shorter and cheaper book covering the same technique is this.

Edit: also I sometimes find it helps a lot to dive right into any major bad feeling that comes up, and then relax. I think I've seen that suggested somewhere. But take anything I say with a grain of salt, I'm not exactly advanced and I've never worked with other meditators.

Hey, /u/Apiperofhades. I read your /r/AskPhilosophy post so I'll suggest books based on the following:

>I'm more interested in academic historical work on doctrine and practices and so on.

/r/Buddhism's most famous academic (who recently passed away), /u/michael_dorfman, recommended Rupert Gethin's The Foundations of Buddhism and Peter Harvey's An Introduction to Buddhism religiously, "to get a basic understanding of Buddhist doctrine".

Additionally, you may wish to consider chapter 5 of Surendranath Dasgupta's A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1, titled 'Buddhist Philosophy' (all five volumes can be found here on Internet Archive; the first alone here on Project Gutenberg), and chapter 5 (and, perhaps, 9) of Mysore Hiriyanna's Outlines of Indian Philosophy, titled 'Early Buddhism' (and 'Later Buddhistic Schools'). This book can be found here on Internet Archive.

I started with the Dalai Lama's An Open Heart. It is fairly simple, and starts out with a very general theory of what makes a healthy, good life.

There used to be a scholar who was really active in this forum until he passed away - Michael Dorfman - and he would always recommend these two books:

The Foundations of Buddhism

An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices

If you're tempted by something more traditional, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a wonderful introduction to zen buddhism. The first couple of chapters are about the proper meditation position, and the rest about the mindset.

It's the Western branch of Japanese Soto Zen, which means it contains literally zero religion or mysticism of any kind (and explicitly so). I tried to read different books, and most of them leave too much of an aftertaste to go well with my atheism.

I recently finished a boom that sounds like it may be what you're looki for. It's by a gentleman name Daniel Ingram, and it's entitled Mastering the core teaching of the Buddha. It approaches meditation in a very straight forward manner that I found quite refreshing . Here is a link http://interactivebuddha.com/mctb.shtml

Another is Cutting through spiritual materialism by Chogyam trungpa, link here http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Spiritual-Materialism-Shambhala-Editions/dp/0877730504

This is where I started. Lots of great info.

Kevin Griffin - One Breath At a Time


Noah Levine - Against the Stream

These are buddhist models, but I've found both these men's takes very helpful. They have talks on each step available online. I don't think I'll every consider myself buddhist, but I find a lot of their advice helpful. They offer ways of getting around obstacles of the twelve steps for people not keen on the salvation from an external force idea.

https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Dummies-Jonathan-Landaw/dp/111802379X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498746817&sr=8-1&keywords=buddhism+for+dummies

No joke, it has been a huge help to me.

You could try mindfulness meditation.

Kevin Griffin has a good book on integrating Buddhism and the 12 Steps called "One breath at a time": http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RTSFIM/

Noah Levine's style might be worth checking out to see if it resonates with you: http://www.amazon.com/dp/006073664X/

I do university research on applying mindfulness to addictive behavior problems, and my team has run 1 randomized controlled trial (funded by NIH), and we're in the middle of a bigger trial right now, evaluating our Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention program. If you're in the Seattle area, send me a message and I can tell you about groups we're running that you could check out, if you're interested.

-J

>nobody wanted to do any real study and meditation any more, just receive blessings.

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, by Chögyam Trungpa, 1973.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_materialism -

- http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-57062-957-0.cfm -

- Introduction, text online - http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/cutting.htm -

- http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Spiritual-Materialism-Shambhala-Editions/dp/0877730504 -

There actually is a Buddhism for Dummies book. I also read [The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism] (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Buddhism-Edition/dp/1592579116/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1382312621&sr=8-7&keywords=buddhism+for+dummies) in a Buddhist study group a while ago. It was pretty informative for just starting to get your feet wet.

In order:

1. Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha from Daniel Ingram
   
2. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
   
3. Shobogenzo
   
   The first one is very neutral, and very good. In the other ones I assume that you have an inclination for Zen (which might or might not be the case).

I don't often recommend this book these days, but I think it might be helpful to you at this stage of practice. It was to me: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It is a classic.

I know one person who read and enjoyed Buddhism for Dummies.
https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Dummies-Jonathan-Landaw/dp/111802379X

Academic introduction to the religion:

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Buddhism-Teachings-Practices-Religion/dp/0521676746

Good online resource:

http://buddhasutra.com/

Try picking up a copy of Dogen's Shobogenzo. I like the Nishijima and Cross translation here: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Dogens-Shobogenzo-Book-1/dp/1419638203

This is what I have

The Diamond Sutra https://www.amazon.com/dp/1582432562/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SJq9ub01CV1H4
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1582432562/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SJq9ub01CV1H4

Try this. Its another book you can get from amazon or just go to any book store

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/111802379X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521450733&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=buddhism+for+dummies&dpPl=1&dpID=51id0U2rgDL&ref=plSrch

Have you read The Art of Power by Thich Naht Hanh

relevant

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

I will say, the one book that caught my eye and attention was, "Entering the Stream"

http://www.amazon.com/Entering-Stream-Introduction-Buddha-Teachings/dp/0877739811

This book will explain the situation:
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

https://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Thought-Buddhist-Studies-Monographs/dp/1845536142/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=what+the+buddha+thought&qid=1575099200&sr=8-1

So, you're not interested in studying zen but studying what zen is about and where it's coming from.

Try this one.

It's not built on top of reincarnation. It's a part of it, yes, but it's arguable whether its meant literally or rather as way of communicating the buddha's message to the less intelligent. I tend to go with the latter.

Buddhism is based upon the understanding that a) life is suffering b) suffering is caused by emotions c) you can escape suffering.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-You-Not-Buddhist/dp/1590304063 My favorite book on buddhism. Gives a much better description than I ever could.

I recommend reading Carl Jung and either DT Suzuki or S. Suzuki.

Most of what you’ll find elsewhere are just bullshit artist Gurus looking manipulate their power over you for self-aggrandizing purposes.

It’s been my experience that “occult” should be understood more from a psychological/numinous point of view rather than a supernatural. That is, personal experience that you are the source of, rather than someone else, person, thing or diety, which most lays claim as being the source of what your experience may be. Thus disempowering/stunting your path for development.

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691006768/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_naI0Cb30YZNGJ

Psychology and Religion: West and East (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 11) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691097720/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9hI0CbHSVC6E5

An Introduction to Zen Buddhism https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802130550/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AiI0CbSSEKFGX

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590308492/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6iI0CbMYD0STX

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism knocked my, "I'm spiritual and everything is solved by talking about Buddhist concepts" self on its ass. Rightfully.

Metta meditation doesn't necessarily have to be an internal dialogue. Bhikkhu Analayo talks how the typical metta exercises didn't work for him. He has made references to how he practices metta in some of his talks. Roughly, it is generating the feeling of goodwill in the body, and then using it as the mediation object. I have experimented with my understanding of his method when very agitated during meditation, and have found it useful. I presume he discusses the method in detail in Compassion and Emptiness in Early Buddhist Meditation. Here is an excerpt from a talk where briefly talks about metta meditation: Alternative metta methods

here is an interview:
http://www.pimg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMS_intvw_0508_v3.pdf

probably similar to Analayo's recent book on emptiness:
https://www.amazon.com/Compassion-Emptiness-Early-Buddhist-Meditation/dp/1909314552/