The Naked Buddha: A Practical Guide to the Buddha's Life and Teachings

I have read several books on the Buddhist philosophy and found most to be more than I could understand or not what I was looking for. Ms. Howley writes with style and puts the teachings into words that one can easily understand. What a pleasure to read, I recommend it to anyone that is just beginning to explore this wonderful philosophy.

Buddha is the level/position of understanding engliment, not a person.Siddartha Gautam never said i am god, never talked about reincarnation or karma. These all have been introduced in buddhism later, buddhism is a philoshopy people made into religion as a respect to gautama buddha. KARMA in this book is defined with a sentence "If I move a grain of sand, I change the universe." which is define as if I change a grain of sand as a result other grain moves and then because of it the whole universe shifts little. Karma is not something that you do good right now and something good will happen to you as a result of it ten years later, but karma is the thing you are right now because of the conciquences of your past action. I have read many books in buddhism but none of them have define buddhism as practicle as by Adruenne Howley. Excillent work!!!. after i read this book i had different prospective of buddhism

Since reading HHDL's "The Art of Happiness" over a year ago, I have been going through various books on Buddhism at my local library. For whatever reason ~ be it I'm just not the philosophical type, or I am just too new to Buddhism ~ much of what I read either confused me or bored me to death. I was greatly inspired by my early introduction to the Buddhist approach and was looking for practical ways to apply patience, kindness and compassion to my life. What I instead found were subjects way over the typical beginner's head and/or loooong explanations (man, can they beat a dead horse!) minus every day application. I was about to give up when I found this author. This book is the book I wish I had found a year ago, as it is informative as well as concise. Partner this book up with Franz Metcalf's enjoyable books on adding a little Buddhism to your life, and you'll have a great background plus some down-to-earth advice on how to start cultivating your Buddha Nature. So if you dig long, drawn out philosophical discussions on such matters, by all means...there are many respected authors out there. However, if you're like me and wish to hit the ground running with as little fanfare as possible, Adrienne and Franz's books are for you. Namaste! :o)

I found Adrienne Howley's style very down to earth. This book is a good one for someone just beginning to learn about buddhism. Her knowledge of Buddhist history and philosophy made this one a winner for me.

This book is an essential guide for those people who are beginning their journey into buddhism. It offers straightforward answers to questions about this religion. As a buddhist, I found this book to be a helpful meditation starting point when stuck on topics to ponder. Adrienne gives a brief background into the life of siddhartha so that the reader can understand how buddhism came about. Then she explores the buddha's teachings. I especially enjoyed the last two sections where she answers the readers questions about buddhism. I would definately recommend this book.