Buddhist Book Reviews

Buddhist Book Reviews and Recommendations

The Accidental Buddhist

Written by Buddhist Books

The Accidental Buddhist by Dinty W. Moore is one of those Buddhist books that you read in bed at your peril because you really won’t want to put it down once you’ve started it. The subtitle of the book is Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Sitting Still, American Style and it is a personal account of the author’s journey as he sets out to explore Buddhism in America.

Moore was born and raised in a Catholic environment, and as a child he had thought about becoming a Catholic priest. As things turned out, he lost his faith, and a couple of decades later he found himself standing at the door of a Zen Buddhist monastery. Not because he particularly wanted to become a Buddhist, let alone a Buddhist monk, but because he was curious about Buddhism and had a journalistic desire to figure out why it was suddenly becoming so popular in the USA.

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Reading this book is much like being a passenger on Moore’s personal road-trip of discovery, so non-Buddhists will appreciate it just as much as Buddhist readers. The writing is brisk, conversational and packed with observations that are humorous, honest and insightful. By following Moore on his journey, we get to appreciate the diverse ways in which Buddhism has not only taken root in America, but has already started influencing the popular culture.

And what a journey it is. Moore learns to sit and count his breaths whilst wrestling with his Monkey Mind at a Zen retreat, sets up a Buddhist altar in his home, tries meditating in the bathtub, visits a Tibetan Buddhist community, meets a Jesuit priest who teaches Zen, goes hiking with a woman who runs a business that makes meditation cushions, studies a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English at a Theravada retreat led by its author, liberates refrigerated Ladybugs, meets His Holiness the Dalai Lama and learns that baseball can be Buddhist. Those are just a few of the highlights, and along the way Moore gradually experiences something of a personal transformation, coming to embrace Buddhism almost by accident.

1 – Buddha 101: Stumbling Up Monkey Mind Mountain
2 – One Bright Idea: My American Buddhist Project
3 – Just Sitting: I Obsess a Lot, and Then I Get Distracted
4 – Zen Gardening: Me and My Green-Thumbed Monkey
5 – Why Do Tibetans Have Such Trouble with Their Vacuum Cleaners? They Lack Attachments
6 – Catholic Boy Zen: Was Jesus a Bodhisattva?
7 – You Can Change Your Mind: And Your Karma, Too
8 – The Work Koan: Life Without a Cushion
9 – The Plain-spoken Theravadan: A High Seat from a Low Seat
10 – Buddha Bug, Buddha Being: You Are What You Eat
11 – Destroy Your Neighbour, Destroy Yourself: The Dalai Lama and the Action Hero
12 – Trying to Hit the Ball: Fruitless Searching on the Fruited Plan
13 – Eat Your Rice, Wash Your Bowl, and Just Sit: Studying with the Seven-Year-Old Master
14 – What Kind of Buddhist Am I? A Lousy One, Thank You

The Accidental Buddhist is as entertaining as it is informative, and we highly recommend it. Just be prepared to stay awake for a while longer than usual if you decide to read it in bed!

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Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?

Written by Buddhist Books

Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? by Ajahn Brahm is also available under the title Opening the Door of Your Heart, but because we’re the kind of reviewers who prefer the gritty realism of manure to the notion of skipping lightly through emerald forests, we’re sticking with the original title. The subtitle to the original is Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life’s Difficulties, and we can tell you that there are 108 of the beauties just waiting to be discovered here.

Before we continue, we should state that we are heavily biased towards Ajahn Brahm. Here at Buddhist Book Reviews we only write reviews of books that we have found to be genuinely helpful, but in this case we are even more biased than usual.

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Anyone who picks up this book will soon understand why. Ajahn Brahm, who comes from London and has a working class background, is the kind of guy who doesn’t pull any punches. Yes, he’s a Buddhist monk of long-standing – he studied under Ajahn Chah and is now the Abbott of Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery as well as being the Spiritual Director of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia – but he’s also very much in touch with the lives, concerns and problems of regular folk. Furthermore, he isn’t afraid to speak in terms that laymen and women can understand and relate to, most often packing his wisdom in stories that are as entertaining as they are practically helpful.

Flick through the titles of the 108 stories in Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? and you will see just what you have to look forward to. The Idiot’s Guide to Peace of Mind, Being a Dustbin, A Truckload of Dung, Opening the Door of Your Heart, The Chicken and the Duck, The Exorcist, Hare Krishna, Blind Faith and The Worm and His Lovely Pile of Dung are just some of the stories that you will find here.

Many of the stories in this book are based on the author’s true-life experiences before, during and after his period of study under Ajahn Chah, and whilst most of these stories will make you laugh out loud, their humour doesn’t detract at all from their usefulness. On the contrary, every story here contains at least one real gem of wisdom that will help you to view life a little differently. Read the whole book and the impact that these nuggets of good sense will have on your day-to-day experience will be substantial.

Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? will obviously delight anyone who is already familiar with Ajahn Brahm or the Thai forest tradition, but really this book is for absolutely everyone. Buddhist, non-Buddhist, old, young, tall, short – if you’re the kind of person who can read whilst breathing in and out at the same time you should grab this book without delay. In fact, grab two copies and give one away.

Or, if you really would prefer a gentler cover, grab a copy of Opening the Door of Your Heart instead – and please feel free to skip through the emerald forests to your heart’s content.

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Awakening the Buddha Within

Written by Buddhist Books

Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das was a game-changer when it was first published in 1997 and its ability to help people transform their lives hasn’t faded in the slightest. The book brings the wisdom of the Tibetan tradition to Western readers in a way that makes sense even if you are brand new to Buddhism. The fact that Lama Surya Das was born and raised in New York means that he has a down-to-earth style and practical approach that all Western readers will appreciate.

The subtitle of this book is Eight Steps to Enlightenment, and of course that refers to the Noble Eight-Fold Path. Part One of the book provides a broad introduction to Buddhism as the author describes his own journey from the streets of New York to becoming the most highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition. Although this part of the book makes up less than a fifth of the whole, Lama Surya Das is careful to make sure that he provides practical instruction from the get-go, and he ends this section with over a dozen snippets of advice on Mingling Dharma with Your Daily Life.

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Part Two of the book largely adopts the Noble Eight-Fold Path as its structure. It begins with a chapter on the Four Noble Truths and then progresses logically with sections on Right View, Right Intentions, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

As you might expect, the sections listed a moment ago provide a detailed explanation of each step of the Noble Eight-Fold Path, but they don’t stop there. Instead, Lama Surya Das tells us exactly how we can apply these principles to our lives. Metaphors and anecdotes are employed to illustrate what the teachings mean in practical terms, and every section provides meditations and/or exercises that can help to turn your journey through this book into a personal journey of genuine transformation.

Whether you read this book as a general introduction to Buddhism, as a fascinating autobiography of Lama Surya Das or as detailed instruction on how to personally take the Eight Steps to Enlightenment, Awakening the Buddha Within will be a title you come back to again and again.

Special note: The reviewer would like to personally thank Lama Surya Das for writing this book because it was the one that introduced him to Buddhism in 2001, and if there had been no Awakening the Buddha Within then it is perfectly possible that there wouldn’t have been a Buddhist Book Reviews site either. _/|\_

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Buddhism Without Beliefs

Written by Buddhist Books

Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening by Stephen Batchelor is a relatively slim volume, but it packs a mighty punch. The author (who has been a monk in the traditions of both Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism) strips away much of the religiosity that has been added to the teachings of the Buddha and presents a clean, straightforward and refreshingly practical guide to applying those teaching to our lives.

First published in 1997, it is fair to say that Buddhism Without Beliefs is a key work in what has come to be known as Secular Buddhism, and because it has no particular tradition to promote, it is one that can be appreciated by anyone. That said, the people who will get the most out of it are probably those who are keen on Buddhism (or at least interested in the subject) but are not so keen on religiosity.

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The first section of this book, Ground, opens with a quote taken from the Kalama Sutta, where the Buddha warned his followers against accepting things purely because of hearsay, tradition or scriptures. The first chapter then discusses the Awakening of the Buddha and explains that it has taken on mystical connotations that weren’t originally there. Batchelor stresses that the four noble truths were – and still are – truths to be acted on rather than simply believed in. By reclaiming this practical perspective we can get back to pursuing awakening rather than simply believing in it as a remote possibility.

In the second chapter of this book the author looks at the important topic of Agnosticism. He explains that agnosticism isn’t a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude but a perfectly honest ‘I don’t know’ attitude that can serve us much better than blind faith. Of course, this agnostic stance also makes the Buddhist path much more appealing to modern seekers who quiver at the very thought of ‘getting some religion’, and it is good to remember that the Buddha himself refused to be drawn by questions that called for any kind of pointless speculation. If silence on such questions was good enough for the Buddha, it should certainly be good enough for us.

The next few chapters discuss Anguish, Death and Rebirth – all very big subjects that the author is happy to address head-on. Rather than argue for or against rebirth, Batchelor points out that there is also a middle way that allows you to admit ‘I don’t know’. This agnostic position is liberating because it enables us to continue on the path without wasting time pondering questions that are unanswerable. The fact is that Buddhism can benefit us in this life regardless of whether or not there is any kind of continuation after death, and that should be sufficient reason to practice.

Resolve, Integrity and Friendship are the titles of the next three chapters, and these discuss the resolve to awaken, having the integrity not to hurt anyone in the process and the cultivation of friendships.

This takes us nicely into the second main section of the book, where the author discusses the Path. This section comprises four chapters on Awareness, Becoming, Emptiness and Compassion, and we won’t summarise any of them because they are written to be experienced, not simply read. Each chapter contains at least one exercise that will enable you to make your own discoveries as you consider the topics concerned, and for many readers this will be a part of the book that they will return to again and again.

The third section of the book, Fruition, talks about Freedom, Imagination and Culture. Here the author shows us where the Path leads, not in terms of religious fairy stories but in terms of real-world benefits for both individuals and society at large. At this point the jigsaw pieces are snapped together and we see how a Buddhism Without Beliefs can positively shape the world we live in as well as deliver personal liberation from suffering.

In conclusion, Buddhism Without Beliefs is a book that everyone should read at least once. Approach it with sincerity and you will get a great deal from it, regardless of whether you belong to a particular tradition or to no tradition at all.

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Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

Written by Buddhist Books

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa is one of our favourite books of all time, and it is one that is as popular today as it was when it was first published in 1984. That said, we aren’t quite sure whether we should actually define it as a Buddhist book. As the Editor’s Preface states: ‘Although the author acknowledges the relationship of the Shambhala teachings to Buddhist principles and although he discusses at some length the practice of sitting meditation – which is virtually identical to Buddhist meditation practice – nevertheless, this book presents an unmistakably secular rather than religious outlook.’

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However you want to define it in terms of genre, this book presents readers with plenty of wisdom from the Shambhala teachings, but very little Buddhist terminology is used, so literally anyone can pick it up, understand what is being said and apply the principles to their lives.

Part One of this book is about How to Be a Warrior, and the author is quick to point out that the word warrior as used here has nothing to do with violence, but stems from the Tibetan word pawo, which means ‘one who is brave’. The Sacred Path of the Warrior is therefore a path to developing bravery so that you aren’t afraid of being yourself. To rise up and live life as a heroic being, facing problems and challenges with kindness and compassion rather than cowardice and selfishness.

After that important introduction to the notion of warriorship as defined in the Shambhala teachings, the author explains how to use sitting meditation as a way of Discovering Your Basic Goodness. Through this meditation practice you will awaken what the author calls your Genuine Heart of Sadness and come to understand in Fear and Fearlessness how being willing to experience fear is the only way to become fearless.

And so the path continues, with chapters on Synchronizing Body and Mind, The Dawn of the Great Eastern Sun, The Cocoon, Renunciation and Daring, Celebrating the Journey and Letting Go. By the time you reach the end of this first part of the book (assuming that you put the principles into action rather than simply read about them) you will have established yourself on the path of the warrior and will have started living a life of kindness, fearlessness and elegance.

Part Two of the book focuses on The Warrior’s World and describes life from the perspective of the warrior, who is now able to start discovering magic and thereby transform his or her life into an expression of the sacred. There are eight chapters in this section of the book, including discussions on Nowness, Discovering Magic, How to Invoke Magic, Overcoming Arrogance, Overcoming Habitual Patterns and How to Rule.

Part Three of this classic guide is titled Authentic Presence, and here the author explains how mundane reference points can – and must – be appreciated in order for them to be transcended, and for the warrior to become The Universal Monarch – a king or queen, ruler of their world. In the penultimate chapter, Authentic Presence, the author discusses how the journey continues by ‘resting in the state of warriorship’. Finally, the last chapter discusses The Shambhala Lineage and ‘the qualities of the master warrior and how they are transmitted’.

As you can see, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior is much more than the sum of its parts. For anyone who cares to spend time with the book, it is an enthralling read, but for those who actually apply the principles as they are presented, it also serves as a powerful guide to a brand new way of life.

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