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Reddit mentions of Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day

Sentiment score: 14
Reddit mentions: 29

We found 29 Reddit mentions of Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day. Here are the top ones.

Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day
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  • Broadway Books
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ColorWhite
Height8 Inches
Length5.2 Inches
Number of items1
Release dateDecember 1998
Weight0.35053499658 Pounds
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Found 29 comments on Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day:

u/Uncle_Erik · 40 pointsr/fatpeoplestories

Thanks for stopping by - I'm pulling for you! If you don't mind some unsolicited advice, I know a few things that might help.

I went from around 300 to 170 today. I'm working on getting that down to the 140-150 range. 170 is healthy for me, but I need to scrub off the rest. I'm under 1,000 calories a day, so I should be there by the end of the year or end of January. Doesn't matter, it's coming off.

If you don't have a pet, think about it. There are lots of them at the shelter and they are tremendously beneficial, especially cats and dogs. Nothing against birds and fish, but cats and dogs are really affectionate. They give you something to look forward to and something to look after. If you got a dog, you could take it out a couple of times a day. A good excuse to get outside and exercise, plus the dog will love it.

A couple of books I've found very helpful over the years are Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius and Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen. A little stoicism and reflections on life from nearly 2,000 years ago is surprisingly helpful. So is Hagen's book. No, it's not some religious tract. It's an introduction to Buddhism and a different way of looking at things. 100% compatible with atheism, by the way. Clear, concise and always interesting. At worst, you'll simply understand Buddhism. At best, you'll find some tools to improve your life.

Think about weight loss in the long term. It's going to take you two or three years to get where you want. But that's OK. It gets frustrating day-to-day when you just want it to be over with, but you have to stick it out. You've probably covered this with your therapist, but it's really important to shift your rewards away from food. Get yourself used to going for something else. Make it something productive. Go to school, or at least take some classes. Learn another language. Take up some hobbies. Make those things into your new reward. It won't happen overnight, but work at it.

Hopefully, those might help you out. I'd like them to. Keep working at it - you will get there.

u/Briguy24 · 4 pointsr/relationships

I have depression which I recently started taking meds for. I don't think that was due to my childhood as there's a history on my mom's side.

I can't speak for you but I found a lot of perspective back in early college reading books of Buddhism. Specifically this book, I'm not a Buddhist or anything but it did help put things in place for me.

Life is suffering.

This idea stuck with me. Shit will smack you down, it will piss you off, it will make you feel horrible and it will come your way eventually. It will happen so stop worry when/if it might happen. Acknowledge that things like that will come along and learn to deal with them.

I got some distance and perspective during the college years. I decided I didn't want to be like that and I pushed myself, no that's wrong, I restrained myself from being like that. What I found was holding back those little jabs allowed me to look at things differently. I made a spot to grow myself and I'm a happier man for it now.

It's not easy being around them when they start up with that shit and I will admit it upsets me still no matter how much I rationalize to myself it's just how they are. I just think to myself I can be better than that and I need to let go of that frustration.

u/thunt · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

I'm not really connected to any other buddhists, but this is what I did:

  1. Read How to Practice by the Dalai Lama. (I also enjoyed Buddhism plain and simple by Steve Hagan

  2. Bought some nice cushions for meditating at DharmaCrafts

  3. Downloaded some free timers from (ZenCast.org)[http://www.zencast.org/2005/05] (also a great podcast)

    then meditate daily. I like to write it on my calendar to keep track.

    best of luck!
u/afkmofo · 2 pointsr/self

Read this. http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323


There is a free torrent of it on the web somewhere as well.

u/TheDude1985 · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

"Buddhism Plain and Simple" is a really good introductory book-

http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323

u/venom087 · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

Buddhism Plain and Simple, it is what it claims to be

Edit: although, from looking at the comments on Amazon, not everyone agrees

u/gaso · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I think you'd find this book interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323

I consider myself an atheist lay Buddhist, I don't believe in 99% of the mythological components that are included in some Buddhist belief systems. If I was interested in fruity shit I couldn't see with my own eyes, well...there are a lot of religions out there like that. I found Buddhism compelling because it was, at the core, dedicated to honest to goodness truth.

u/bokan · 2 pointsr/getdisciplined

Hey brother. I have been through some similar things, although I won't claim to understand exactly what you're experiencing.

Here are some things that helped me. First, this book-

https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Practice-Being/dp/0767903323

These contain some mostly secular Buddhist philosophy. The old Buddhists had everything figured out, I think. They acknowledged that life is suffering and pain. The second book is a recipe for detaching yourself from your concept of yourself. I know it sounds weird and useless but it helped me so much to be able to detach from the frame I had set for my myself, as the concept of a man, with failings, losses, painful memories, and all that, and to be able to exist instead in a state of childlike blankness and joy. I know you said you have tried meditation but I found I needed some of the explanation that the book provided. Please try it.

Second, fitness- wise, you sound like a hardgainer, which is always frustrating. German volume training isn't a program that has ever worked for me- it's too hard to get the weight right. I can't recommend a specific program, but you'll get a lot of support for mark rippetoe's starting strength. You're probably training just fine though- might want to get some mass gainer powder and up the calories to something crazy. One thing I will say- big lifts such as heavy squats and deadlifts, I believe increase can testosterone levels. You'll possibly get more of this effect that doing he somewhat lighter weight with german volume training.

Finally, in terms of making music- I'm in a psychology graduate program, and I just got done taking a few classes on learning. Innate ability (such as whatever 'creativity is' may differentiate experts from the very top of the field, but the number of hours of deliberate practice (practice with goals and feedback) is a very large predictor of how good people are at skills, including music. Please know that you can become a damn good composer, if you practice, regardless of brain fog (which sucks) or whether you have an innate proclivity. You've got the most important thing, which is a interest that will area you through all those hours of practice.

u/WoOtbeans · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Try "Buddhism plain & simple" http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323


It's really good and the "Religious" element doesn't really exist because Buddhism is not really a religion... well it is, but only to weirdo's who put bells and whistles on something that wasn't supposed to have them.

u/nessman69 · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I've recommended Steve Hagen's "Buddhism Plain and Simple" to a number of folks who have enjoyed and benefited from it https://www.amazon.ca/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Practice-Being/dp/0767903323 very straightforward without a lot of terminology that can be confusing to newcomers.

u/cohesion · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

Highly recommend Buddhism Plain and Simple also. And start meditating now. :)

u/iamacowmoo · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I think those moments you feel in yoga and biking are exactly what you need more of. A meditator is called a yogi. It is about focusing the mind. Yoga is focusing the mind while in many asanas (postures) and meditation is focusing the mind in one asana (usually sitting, though it could be walking or whatever you pick). You can just as easily practice Biking Meditation as well (I like running meditation).

Those brief moments are touching your experience in the present moment. Keeping in touch with the present is what you are practicing with meditation. This is what is extraordinarily simple and natural. Keep reading these difficult ideas, find some more accessible books, and start regularly practicing/sitting and you should be good to go. Happy learning!

Edit: For an accessible book check out The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Or Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple.

u/informedlate · 1 pointr/philosophy

You are experiencing modern angst. If you had lived only 100 years ago these feelings [for the most part] would not have had a chance to have arisen in the form you are expressing [stardust, universe experiencing itself] - be grateful you can do do it at all [I'm not saying people didn't have these feelings, like Camus, Neitzche, Descartes and others but that most average people didn't have the chance to worry like this, in the information laden way you are spitting it, since most people were busy feeding themselves and their families by farming etc]. So, yes, you are alive and it's all so crazy to think about.

Oh and yes, we do actually understand more than a "spec" of reality.

You say that if I am calm about what your saying then I am missing the point and haven't grasped the full implication of it's meaning. I say truth is relative and the truth of what you're saying is one of many perspectives I can tap into and get lost in. You seem to be hyperventilating only one stream of thought - your existential purpose, validity, meaning.

You seem to want someone to validate your feelings with an equal amount of shock and awe. Well you might get it, so what then? I'm not saying the knowledge you are talking about doesn't lead one to existential angst and confusion, but just remember what the Buddha said about the nature of reality. All is change. All is impermanent. This isn't some lofty metaphysical concept that is impossible to apply to everyday life. On the contrary, it is imminently important to understand so as to get a grip on your situation. If all is impermanent, then your feelings, opinions, knowledge etc.. is all impermanent. You are holding onto the feelings of utter confusion and awe. You have made a mistake unconsciously, that everyone does, when they mistake their immediate phenomenal experience as a permanent "thing" in reality. To be consistent with the Buddha's revelation one must relax, quiet the mind and understand the nature of reality - impermanence.

Read - Buddhism: Plain and Simple and also Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Questioning, the kind you seem to be doing, is just spinning your wheels if not tempered with a calm awareness and composure. Do you want to seek contentment and happiness? Do you want to feel resolve? Then shut your mind up for a moment. Listen to the birds chirp. Sit quietly in your room and watch your breathe. Work with your hands and feel reality in all it's textures. Just be aware. Hopefully you will have a long life to ponder these questions you have but for now don't make the mistake that so many neurotics do; mainly the mistake of attaching oneself to a overly anxious perspective while neglecting other modes of thought that are just as easily attachable. You have control over your mind, and your mind is doing all this anxious thinking.

If you want to have these questions turned upside down and be thrown into a different sort of thought then you must read Krishnamurti and his musings about life, love, truth, intelligence, nature.... "A consistent thinker is a thoughtless person, because he conforms to a pattern; he repeats phrases and thinks in a groove." Jiddu Krishnamurti - more quotes here.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers” - Voltaire

Apply this quote to yourself. Spend time with it. What are you really asking and what answers are you really searching for?

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” - Buddha

Good luck.

u/NostromoXIII · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

Buddhism plain and simple by Steve Hagan is a pretty good place to start.

u/lfborjas · 1 pointr/Buddhism

That sounds really cool, the fact that you've had the time to research and now to explore, I wish there were buddhist temples/centers/what-have-you in my area, but I live in latin america so it's highly unlikely (I'll ask around anyway, though :P). And now that you mention that

> Zen tends to lean more towards the belief that we are already enlightened and just have to discover that enlightenment as compared to other schools that hold the view that enlightenment comes after this life

I realize that one of the books on buddhism I have read, "Buddhism plain and simple" is Zen-based! Maybe that, the book by D.T. Suzuki I'm reading right now and the mentions about Zen in "Gödel, Escher, Bach" have biased me towards Zen, I'll definitely look into other schools to see what's there.

u/b_pilgrim · 1 pointr/atheism

If you really have any interest in learning more about it, Buddhism Plain and Simple does a great job in laying everything out. It's a small book but a very dense read because of how deep some of these concepts cut. It's really boils down to "life is suffering" and "here's how you can avoid suffering."

u/Truth_Twister · 1 pointr/Buddhism

Yeah, totally.

Alan Watts, Buddhism: The Religion of No Religion, audio dl

Steve Hagen, Buddhism Plain and Simple (haven't read it, but it's highly recommended)

Also, you can check out the FAQ.

Start with Watts. He's a great writer and the book is really short.

u/notmyname1 · 1 pointr/Meditation

Probably a strange choice because it's more of just an overview book, but Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple got me interested in starting my practice many years ago.

u/MadmanPoet · 1 pointr/Buddhism

Yeah, do some research. We have a pretty solid reading list started over on the right hand side. (It's only two books long, but they are good books.) I don't know your level of knowledge about Buddhist thought and teachings so I would suggest you look up this one or this one.

I am sure there are some less expensive places to find them, half.com is an eBay company and I have found some really great books for like .75, soooo go has a look.

I wouldn't avoid reading Sutras first off. But I wouldn't make that the central part of my study as they are often very difficult to read and can be confusing. I mean, yeah read some Sutras, but read some other material as well.

Also, go to tricycle.com. Pretty solid website.

u/callousedfingers · 1 pointr/INTP

If I might recommend a couple, there are two books I read fairly frequently to help me keep my mind focused.

Buddhism Plain and Simple

The Way of Zen

I'd recommend them to anybody, but perhaps especially INTPs

u/noblesonmusic · 1 pointr/Buddhism

This is the first book on Buddhism I ever read. I loved it. I studied it.