I wanted to share with you a book I’ve been reading called Buddhism A Concise Introduction written by Houston Smith and Philip Novak. I’ve read a number of books on Buddhism, but this is by far and away my favorite. The book provides many of the basics about Buddhism such as how the Buddha began his journey, some of his fundamental teachings like the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and some other concepts including nirvana. I have read the first 6 chapters several times to help reinforce my knowledge and help center me from time to time.

The book is extremely well written, and goes into depth about what the Four Noble Truths really are and what it means to follow the Eightfold Path. After you have absorbed the first 6 chapters the authors begin a journey on how Buddhism split into different factions include Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. Finally in the second section of the book the authors discuss how Buddhism came to America and the impact it had there.

If you are looking for a book to introduce you to Buddhism that thoroughly explains the concepts and types, this book is a great place to start. I like this book so much that I have taken a highlighter to it several times, so that I could focus on certain aspects of it. The authors are scholars who make no judgement about Buddhism, but instead provide insights and research that bring the life of the Buddha and his teachings to the reader in a way that is both easy to understand and yet very detailed. I have the hard copy version which is 239 pages, with a what looks like 12 pitch type, and is an excellent example of how you should print a book. The book is also available in soft cover and Kindle versions.

You can click on the link below and find it at Amazon at very reasonable prices.

http://amzn.to/2b9OWNq