Basic Buddhist Concepts: Architecture and Interiors

a history lesson of the roots, its application as a philosophy and the schools of thought are well presented, in a simple, though perhaps thick style. What I mean by that is that the book was a bit slow for me, as it would be for any beginner taking it up for the first time. Nevertheless, as my own practice gained experience, I can refer back to this book and quickly find the definitions and explanations for those occasionally puzzling aspects. History, framework and application, all in one. Very well done, indeed.

This is a good book if you are familiar in some way with 1)religion-myself, raised Catholic, altar boy, lector the whole shebang I understand "doctrine" and "practice" in a community, and it helped to compare the same in the Buddhist community based on the pith concepts presented in the book 2)philosophy-just general philosophy 101 helps quite a bit. 3)Logic, Ethics and Reason-This book is an excerpt from a serial in a newspaper to present Buddhist concepts through applying reason to the modern ethics and morality of the Japanese readers first addressed by the author. Best thing is you will know what sects you might be most interested in researching. I eventually stumbled on beautiful works by Nagarjuna (77 Stanzas of...) and Bodhidharma (translated by Red Pine) that have been quite pleasing to me because of the parlance I became accustomed to because of this book. I highly recommend this book to begin one's research, learning and edification (hopefully). One in the practice should look into the above mentioned ,if anything, that I can recommend that might suit your path.

As the title suggests, this book is about basic Buddhist concepts. It does discuss the concepts it claims to discuss; however, the history behind the different sects' interpretations of things can sometimes make things confusing. Many different sects' views are presented--which is great--but the basic, common-to-all teachings are occasionally mixed in with things that are specific to one particular sect, making things rather unclear...and even if you know what the basic teachings are, it still can be a mildly confusing read. Therefore, I would not reccomend this book to a beginner who does not already have some small knowledge of Buddhism. Don't get me wrong; it is a good book and it is definitely worth your time to read it...but for someone who is seeking to find out what Buddhism is, it might be easier to read something like Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen, before you pick this one up.

This basic book of Buddhist Concepts covers The Seals of the Law, The Four Noble Truths, The Law of Causation, The Twelve Linked Chain Of Dependent Origination, The Three Treasures, The Eightfold Path and the threefold learning - teachings that are common to all sects of Buddhism and foundaitonal to a comprehehsive practice. I am in deep gratitude to this book for its non sectarian approach to the transmition of a framework for the structure of the Dharma that I can use to deepen my insight into an appreciation of and most importantly practical application of a Western tradition of Buddhist practice.It is not the moon it only points, but it points most clearly.