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suggest books for a novice

dyanaprajna2011

Dharmapala
-Buddhism as a Religion, by Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda
-Fundamentals of Buddhism, by Peter D. Santina
-Good Question, Good Answer, 4th ed., by Ven. S. Dhammika
-Buddhism in a Nutshell, by Ven. Narada, Thera
-The Tree of Enlightenment, by Peter D. Santina (this is actually an expanded version of Fundamentals of Buddhism)
-Handbook for Mankind, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

These are some great books for beginners. And, they are all downloadable for free in pdf format at Buddhanet.net.
 
I have to suggest a little bit of patience with What the Buddha taught. I have read through most of it, and it can be very hard to understand, and doesn't really go out of its way to explain a lot of things. I don't feel its a good book for a novice at all. When he starts covering the Five Aggregates it goes into a detail I havn't seen since my school biology textbooks. That section alone caused me to take a several month break from the book.

Just my 2 cents.
 

DreadFish

Cosmic Vagabond
I suppose Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki would be good too . It even has the word "beginner" in it, and we all know that novices are like beginners :D So it must be appropriate :)
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Might I suggest Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching by Ajahn Succito. It is a very clear and straight forward book on the Four Noble Truths.
 

wmjbyatt

Lunatic from birth
Having just finished it yesterday, I second the recommendation for Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

If a Zen education is what you seek, I also recommend Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner, and any of the old Zen classics. I read a very excellent edition of The Gateless Gate by Mumon that had a master's commentary following each koan. It was quite edifying. The Blue Cliff Record is another very important koan collection, and Shobogenzo by Dogen is in many ways the founding document of Soto Zen. I have not read it, but every Soto writer I have read (including Warner and Suzuki) think very highly of it.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
books to be read for a novice.....please list.

Just instruction on how to do meditation/sitting firstmost is recommended. Shunryu Suzuki, Brad Warner, and Alan Watts all have written books easily digested for the novice unfamiliar to Buddhism and introduces sitting techniques early on.

Online Buddhist Studies at Buddhanet provides a good literary overview that crosses disciplines.

Here:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...yvyXBA&usg=AFQjCNGdg5eQsxZZ--bGB_VuMvRnJ69jXw
 
Wouldn't really recommend Alan Watts. I found him interesting early on in my studies, but it's clear that he's more Hindu than Buddhist. As for Suzuki, he's notoriously a bad translator. There are modern Zen teachers like Steve Hagen which are much better
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Wouldn't really recommend Alan Watts. I found him interesting early on in my studies, but it's clear that he's more Hindu than Buddhist. As for Suzuki, he's notoriously a bad translator. There are modern Zen teachers like Steve Hagen which are much better

Watt's formal Zen training under Sokei-an Sigetsu Sasaki Roshi legitimises my own personal recommendation. Watt's by contrast has been known to have stated himself that he's not even a Zen Buddhist which IMO, makes him even more recommended then before. Wonders be had us, it seems some Sanatan Dharma practitioners are less Hindu than they are Buddhists.

Also guess Shunryu Suzuki barely translated something right enough to convey beginners mind as one that is less constricted and more free than the "experts". Right at the beginning of his book to boot.

Time for a good Suzuki yodel in the mountain range. :)
 
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