(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best buddhist history books

I would recommend this one - in fact, the first chapter devoted to archetypal imagery would be a great read for anyone interest in JBP works.

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amazon.co.jp

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I have really enjoyed No Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners by Noah Rasheta - No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641520477/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_O8A2Bb5CHZK9E

Very easy and quick read. Then there’s recommendations for other books as well. But it’s a really good starting point.

I've read much of it, but I didn't "get it" until research led me to understand that Dogen's view of Zen is radically different than Chinese Chan Buddhists, e.g. Bodhidharma [1]. That understanding did help, but I'm still confused by Dogen's philosophy of practice-enlightenment (I don't find it as straighforward as Bodhidharma, for example), so I'm still researching occasionally as time permits. But honestly, I think Dogen just confuses things for me, and may be unneccessary.

[1] There are myriad Zen scholars that detail the idea that Dogen is different. Here are some starting points for anyone interested.

http://www.georgewrisley.com/The%20Buddha%20Still%20Rides%20a%20Bike-Wrisley.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Dogen-Meditation-Thinking-Reflection-View/dp/0791469263

http://www.amazon.com/Dogen-Textual-Historical-Steven-Heine/dp/0199754470


Before you get mad at me for presenting a slanted view (i.e. that Dogen is a different brand of Zen), these authors are well respected and pro-Dogen.

Carl Olson's The Different Paths of Buddhism is historically clear and highly in-depth. He has an amazing ability to convey the inward feel of each different school even while putting them in their objective outward context.

Sue Hamilton has an excellent book on the subject, entitled Early Buddhism: A New Approach: The I of the Beholder, and Eviatar Shulman wrote a classic article in the JIP on Early Meanings fo Dependent-Origination.

You may also want to check out some of the relevant articles on Jayarava's blog-- he is a fan of the subject.

HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE JAPANESE BUDDHIST TRADITION

For Japan. Haven't looked for other country's take on the matter.

Edit:

We’re Queer And We’ve Been Here

Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Book 20)

I Am Divine. So Are You: How Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism Affirm the Dignity of Queer Identities and Sexualities

I've read ewk talk about issues with D.T. Suzuki. He's been ambivalent before. I think implying he's a blind supporter is a bit uncharitable.

And as far as personal interactions, he excitedly pointed me to this new collection of koan commentaries by 12th century female Zen masters, something I don't think an elitist uninterested in modern scholarship would care for.

Edit: Removed the personal critique because it felt judgey.

Even if they are translated, they are not available online. But I've learned about these texts through The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate, which lays out all these works with titles in Tibetan.

In these works 8th Karmapa gives his own commentaries on the Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidharma Pitakas and connects the dots that lead to the emergence of The Middle Way.

There is also a few mentions of this in Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions, in the section of Commentary on Maitripa's Mahamudra, which is called "Sutra Mahamudra" that was based on the Heart Sutra teachings, and later used by both Gampopa and 8th Karmapa as the foundation of their own works:

>The Karmapa says that the explicit teaching of this Mahamudra system is the Madhyamaka of emptiness free from reference
points as taught in the sutras. Implicitly, he explains, this Mahamudra system also teaches the profound actuality of both sutras and tantras, that is, the ordinary and extraordinary ultimate Sugata-Heart (Buddha nature).

As for Tarantha, there is Recollection of the Three Jewels Sutra with Taranatha's Commentary Vol. 2, where he explains the Sutra teachings from the point of view of Madhyamaka.

Also, if you can find Frameworks Of Buddhist Philosophy by Jamgon Kongtrul, which is probably the most extensive study available in English that explains how each branch of Buddhism has emerged from the earliest sources.

There is much to be learned and researched, but I personally feel that this is only the tip of an iceberg, and as more texts emerge from the Tibetan archives, the clearer the picture will get.

The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path by Sangharakshita :)

+1

and that said, you might also find these useful. I'm not saying I agree with them 100%, yet they may be good places to start.

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Esoteric-Buddhism-Tibet/dp/8120815793/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1503516802&sr=8-3&keywords=rise+of+esoteric+buddhism

https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Yoga-Tantra-Religions-Thirteenth/dp/0521695341/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503516846&sr=1-1&keywords=indic+tantra

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Tantric-Buddhism-Transgression/dp/0231162413/ref=pd_sim_14_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EK7699K3JHGRJJYAFCVD

I recommend reading Huston Smith's Buddhism: A Concise History to get a very simple overview of how each of the schools developed. For a more academic treatment of the topic, Andrew Skilton's A Concise History of Buddhism is a good read.

Richard Gombrich's Theravada Buddhism is a great text on the social/historical background of the origins of buddhism.

I'm reading Robert Thurman's The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti if anyone would like to join!

I have a friend who used to live in Toronto for a while. He is a BTW Wiccan and also a professor of anthropology who writes on Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately he's in Australia now, so no direct use but I know from him that there certainly used to be Wiccan groups in Toronto when he was there, so I guess there still are.

>Regarding Vipassana, it started from Burmese teacher taking a look at the Pali cannon as well as the Abhidhamma.

There is literally an entire book about how it was created and the social context.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GMEJ0FO/

It wasn't Mahasi Sayadaw that did this. He just ran (and developed) that work, among others.

" Troll claims other people don't have experiences "

so when you read miaozong its obvious she had a dai kensho experience and you are doing a 180 degree turn and have decided you have had one ?

like paul of tarsus, you are off to missionize the world ?

I think you might like After Buddhism by Stephen Batchelor. There's at least one part where he mentions that the Buddha was likely adapting thoughts to the beliefs of the people around him, which were often Hindu ascetics that believed in reincarnation. (Or, to your point, the people writing down what he said were adapting what he said to their beliefs, etc)

You can find it also in amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Buddha-Paul-Carus/dp/1603863974

Buddhism has also been compared to Pyrrhonism.

Discussed in this book: Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism.

2 more weeks

Recommended reading

I'm always the last to know.

This year there is so far two BIG BIG deal translations.

1. Shobogenzo: The Real Deal, Cleary's trans. E-book only. Vol. 1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3BJK1Y
   
2. A book of sayings by a female master from around Wumen's time.
   https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Echoes-Classic-Commentaries-Masters/dp/161429187X

There's a commentary about this text in Zen Echoes: Classic Koans with Verse Commentaries by Three Female Chan Masters that I found interesting: [emphasis mine]

> According to tradition, Aṅgulimāla was a notorious murderer who had killed 999 people, stringing a finger from each victim in a garland around his neck (“Aṅgulimāla” means “garland of fingers”) before he was converted by the Buddha and entered the path. It is interesting to speculate why, of the many episodes from Aṅgulimāla’s life, this one became a kōan. The statement made by the reformed murderer that he has never killed a single being — which is what Buddha instructs Aṅgulimāla to tell the woman suffering the pains of a difficult birth — can be understood as meaning that he himself has been “reborn” into the Dharma.