Buddhism For Dummies 2e: Second Edition Paperback – July 15, 2011

This is a surprising collection of Buddhist ideas and History; Better than the usual tired, flat, mystical magic show stuff too often pedaled in books and audio, although some of that has something to offer as a baseline. This is good, real good. Also recommend Zen and the Japanese Culture by Susuki... the second half is what caught my attention on a young Samuri in training suddenly came to the realization that to survive he must give up hope of surviving. Makes sense, begging for mercy, not going to work. This Dummies book is good in that it provides the whole spectrum from, don't step on a worm to what Siddhartha actually might have been saying about Nirvana... a sleep without a dream. All that reincarnation stuff followed after the master [lower case - just like he would want it] who "got it" thenty-five hundred years ago! Lesser beings followed and provided the needed soft cuddle...

I personally don't like the title of the whole "For Dummies" series of books and have found some of them lacking. This book is authored by 3 well informed practitioners in a style that is contemporary and accessible. I was delighted to be surprised by the quality of content and progression of the subject. I found many good reminders. This book is useful to beginners as well as the experienced.

I have read many books on the history of Buddhism in an attempt to understand the origins and practice, but always seemed to fall short. However; Buddhism for Dummies is the very best and most straightforward book on the topic that I have found to date. The book is simple, staright forward, and non-jargony. Bottom line: get this book if you would like a solid understanding of Buddism.

Great overview of all the varieties of Buddhism. If you are just getting started yourself or want to know what a loved one finds appealing in Buddhism, this is a good book for you. It might also be appealing if you are well versed in ONE area of Buddhism, but are wondering what the different variations of Buddhism believe and practice.This is NOT an indepth exploration of any one path or area of Buddhism.

As with all of the other books in the "Dummies" series, this book was written very well for people who have little to no knowledge on Buddhism and its concepts whilst not bogging the reader down in too much technical jargon. It is easy to understand and flows well from topic to topic and has elements of humor, which is always a nice touch in this series. This book would be good for people interested in learning more about Buddhism and steers the reader to further expand their knowledge with many references in the back of the book.

I was recommended to read this book in my quest to learn more of Buddhism. I've begun reading many other books on Buddhism and found it to be overwhelming. This is the first "for DUMMIES" book I've bought. The book is written in simple, layperson's terms so I was immediately drawn to continue reading. I learned so much in a short period of time due to the flow which it is written. Lots of clues given to remind you of important areas. Although I found all of it interesting, thought-provoking, and extremely applicable to daily living.

Above. Loaned it to someone that had been to the mountain and climbed to 17,000 ft. Had no intentions of going to the top. Need to check as to how they enjoyed it. The gentleman is a medical doctor.

Covers all the basics of Buddhism and a list of books you can read to dive in further. Most of the teachings are basically what Jesus said, which is rather humorous to me.

Amazing book. For the main points check out the bullets in this review. This book is a lot of introduction to Buddhism and covers several different styles. The book isn't filled with too much fluff and is simple to read while still engaging. I personally Always wanted to become a Buddhist and after reading this book I can claim myself to be. To actually practice Buddhism you need to find more about specific practices but in order to do that you need to figure out what style of Buddhism you wish to practice which this book does a fantastic job giving overviews to the different styles and some of the core philosophy behind the religion/spiritual practice. This book really helped me get onto the road of my own path and for anyone increased this book explains that as long as its based on love you can practice any other religion freely and still practice Buddhism. For these reasons and more I recommend you check this book out and if this review was helpful please click yes on was this review helpful so I can make more product reviews!!!-Great Price-Nearly 400 pages!!!-alavlaible in kindle or paperback-Conent easy to understand-expansive knowledge on subject-Somewhat inspiringCons-Paper back is somewhat expensive compared to digital versionBook is more for beginnersWould I recommend?Absolutely

Easy to follow

Fascinating book,for the new follower a good first read.

I bought this, and completed reading through it, over a month ago, and would strongly recommend it to those starting to look into Buddhism, whether for school, out of curiosity, or as the start of a long-term interest or journey.The good points: - very clear, well written, understandable language. New terms are introduced gently and the glossary is very helpful. - written by people sympathetic to the subject (although more on this later) - seems to cover all the basics: god / religion / karma / rebirth / meditation etc.What it will do: - give you a decent basic understanding of the key ideas in Buddhism as well as a brief overview of the history and cultures around it. - get you interested to learn more - provide a good base to start from, and some useful suggestions for further reading.What it won't do: - in depth coverage of anything. This is an introduction for the complete beginner or learner looking to get to grips with the basics. If you want to really get into any topic in any depth you will need to read beyond this.The negatives: - the writers are clearly very sympathetic to Buddhism. Personally I think this is a positive overall, but there were one or two points where I felt they glided over valid concerns. - the book does tend to emphasize Tibetan Buddhism. It certainly mentions and discusses others, and overall gives fairly even handed coverage of them, but just be aware that what you are reading may have been written with a slight bias in favour of Tibetan Buddhism.I want to emphasize that these negatives certainly don't prevent the book from being a very, very useful introduction to Buddhism, they are just a couple of points to keep in mind. As with any book, and especially any book on religion, read it with your critical brain engaged.

I loved this book! I really didn’t expect to say this, as I bought this from just a mild curiosity about Buddhism I had (gained after reading a couple of books about meditation and mindfulness), but this really exceeded all expectations. It covers such a broad range of aspects of Buddhism as well as providing details and a balance of viewpoints. It really gets into the ideology of Buddhism, the history, how it links to philosophy, modern interpretations and Buddhist practices. All the information is easily digestible, without being overly simplified and is really engaging! I found this book so interesting and it usefully provides a great list of additional resources to continue further research if you so wish.