Reddit mentions of An Introduction to Buddhism, Second Edition: Teachings, History and Practices (Introduction to Religion)

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/

Peter Harvey's "An Introduction to Buddhism 2nd Edition".

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.

Academic introduction to the religion:

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

Good online resource:

http://buddhasutra.com/

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

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.