Reddit mentions of Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

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

I just stumbled across the following page on googling "tibetan buddhist introduction".

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/understand/ It includes 3 short sections of John Powers' book Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. (He also wrote a "concise" version but I haven't read it.)

There are 4 (or 6) main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Gelukpa, Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma (and the two His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also recognized officially, the Jonang, and the Bon schools). "Buddhism across the Himalayas" (BuddhaNet.net is a great resource, too.) Which school you end up following (should you so decide) is usually more dependent on which school has a center near you. The FPMT, a Gelukpa organization organized by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, has free courses and a great book shop as do all the other schools.

MY favorite book is by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment, which can only be found in book form. If you prefer to listen to him (and others) explain the Middle Way, you can also try this older site of audio teachings, LamRim.com. "Lam-Rim" is Tibetan for "Graded Path to Enlightenment", a linear style of presenting the teachings that all Tibetan Buddhism have (although each school has a different name and teaching style for it. Example: the Sakya school has the Lam-Dre teachings, which are nearly the same.)

There are so many great books and videos (YouTube is ridiculous with Buddhist stuff, not all of it worthy.) on Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. May your journey bring you Liberation and Enlightenment! Then come back and get the rest of us! :) Enjoy!