If one is wanting to study Buddhism...?

Question

What are some key/essential books one should read in order to get the basic ideas behind and surrounding Buddhism? Any book suggestions would actually be welcomed, but more preference would be toward "beginner" books. Nothing like Buddhism for Dummies though.

Answer 1

I recommend What The Buddha Taught by Dr. Walpola Sri Rahula. It gets good reviews and was used in a course I took on eastern religions.

Answer 2

When I first thought Buddhism might be for me I stumbled upon this great site which really helped me.

http://www.buddhanet.net/

Probably the best site out there, kept me busy for a week.

Good luck!

Here's a sublink to the basic Buddhism guide of the site

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/basic-guide.htm

Answer 3

http://www.buddhanet.net/

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/index.htm

Both are great sites, with lots of information. Buddhanet includes a lot of lectures as well as literature.

As far as print books for the initiate, believe it or not, The Tao of Pooh is a decent explanation of some of the basic principals of Buddhism.

Answer 4

There is this great book by a monk from vietnam who was exiled during the war, his name is Thich Nhat Hanh and he has this excellent book, very easy to understand and with basic concepts of the religion. I Loved it. its called

THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA'S TEACHING

Very easy to get also.

Good luck

Answer 5

Try this site:

www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/teachings.htm

Good luck!

Answer 6

Google is your friend.

Answer 7

Lesson #1 - Please stop using "one" and simply use "I"