Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Interesting book, if not admonishing to practitioners of Buddhism
Interesting view of Sidartha's teachings, if not admonishing to those that practice the religion. I am not a Buddhist but he title alone is of it self admonishing of Buddhist yet, that is of itself is not Buddhist. So this makes the book somewhat oxymoronic. Still an okay read.
Interesting view of Sidartha's teachings, if not admonishing to those that practice the religion. I am not a Buddhist but he title alone is of it self admonishing of Buddhist yet, that is of itself is not Buddhist. So this makes the book somewhat oxymoronic. Still an okay read.
That's one wonderful book. The greatest introduction to buddhism. Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse analyses almoust every aspect of our world from the buddhist point of view: shows how crazy our interest became, how stupidly, sometimes, the world works and, most of all, how stupid we are. This book is really inspiring, and its not inspires you to be a buddhist or some kind of fanatic, its inspires you to be a good man.
"If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a Buddha yet." - Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.
In this book, Rinpoche did an excellent job in explaining the four dharma seals and the concept of emptiness, which was also thoroughly explained via various examples. This is a book suitable for beginners seeking to understand the basic concepts of Buddhism and also a book that helps to solidify some of the concepts for many practicing Buddhists. While it may be a book talking about Buddhist concepts, it remains very readable for non-Buddhists as well, as Rinpoche wrote it objectively with great clarity free of any bias.
The downside to the book is that its way too short for those seeking to understand more about Buddhist concepts through the lens of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. But, at the same time, it may also be a simple and easy read for others to breeze through with ease.
In this book, Rinpoche did an excellent job in explaining the four dharma seals and the concept of emptiness, which was also thoroughly explained via various examples. This is a book suitable for beginners seeking to understand the basic concepts of Buddhism and also a book that helps to solidify some of the concepts for many practicing Buddhists. While it may be a book talking about Buddhist concepts, it remains very readable for non-Buddhists as well, as Rinpoche wrote it objectively with great clarity free of any bias.
The downside to the book is that its way too short for those seeking to understand more about Buddhist concepts through the lens of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. But, at the same time, it may also be a simple and easy read for others to breeze through with ease.
I really liked this book. It offers a pretty concise and easy to understand view of Buddhism, tailored for the college-aged Western cynic. There are a lot of things in this book that I will take with me. At times, he did seem to get off-topic and make points that don't necessarily fit the subsection headings, but overall, it was very good.
If you want to learn about the fundamentals of Buddhism and how it fits into our modern Western lives in a truly down-to-earth way, this little book is a really great starting point.
I like the "for now" principle: Everything appears to exist, for now. Everything exists only for the moment.
I like the "for now" principle: Everything appears to exist, for now. Everything exists only for the moment.
I would say more like 3.5 stars. Really interesting read. Very straight forward. I've been curious about Buddhism and gaining more insight into the religion. This book was a great place to start!
It's an interesting book so far. It's certainly thought provoking.
Very accessible intro to the heart of the Buddhist understanding of (non)existence. The author does a good job of explaining the Four Seals and what they really mean, as opposed to the outer trappings that people who aren't familiar with Buddhism may associate with it. He does tend to throw in a LOT of off-hand contemporary examples, which can be a bit distracting and will date this work in the long run, but are useful and pointed nonetheless. Overall this really helped me re-focus on the basics, which, really, is the whole point.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I found this book marred by poor writing and endless cynical generalizations. What an ugly world this writer inhabits in which he so comfortably makes these sneering generalizations. There are good teachings here, I personally just did not care for how they were presented. He seems like a bitter person. Nobody wants bitter pie. Also he repeats the myth that Hitler was a vegetarian, which is lazy and irresponsible.