Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices

by Jack Maguire

Book Overview

Four hundred million people call themselves Buddhists today. Yet most Westerners know little about this powerful, Eastern-spawned faith. How did it begin? What do its adherents believe? Why are so many Westerners drawn to it? Essential Buddhism responds to these questions and many more, offering an accessible, global perspective on the religion's past, present, and future. It identifies how the principal concepts and practices originated and evolved...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671041886
• ISBN13: 9780671041885
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.1" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Very good for Beginners

Very good for Beginners I read this book a year ago and I still think of things I read in it, a year ago. It does not lead you down a path of never ending comparisons on how to relate Buddhism theory in every day life, it is very good at explaining the 3 different kinds of Buddhism, a digested version of the history and origin of Buddhism. I recommend it to any one who wants to learn but knows little about Buddhism. John

Very accessible

"Essential Buddhism" is a good, well-written, accessible book on the basics of Buddhism. While Maguire's not as thorough as he could be on some topics, he manages to make them very accessible and understandable to a Western audience (which to me seems more important in an introductory text - if you understand the basics, you can learn more from there; if you don't, all the detail in the world won't help you). Another thing I liked about this book was that he treated the different schools of Buddhism pretty even-handedly. Some authors I've read write with a bias towards "their" school, but Maguire doesn't come off that way. And his book has a little bit of everything - theory, history, Q & As, interesting stories, etc. Now, this book isn't going to tell you quite as much as it promises, but if you want an easy-to-understand book about the basics, I think this is a good choice.

Buddhism 101

This is a simple, easy-to-read book that I would highly reccommend to anyone interested in learning the basics of Buddhism. This is a great place to start if you are interested in learning about what the Buddha taught, but want it all in plain, straightforward English.