Customer Reviews

Buddha A Beginners Guide

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For all those who want a general idea on Buddhism:

This book is a MUST. If you are interested in Buddhism, this book gives all the beginning information you need. It tells the life and history of Siddhartha, making it easier to understand his actions by providing a general outline of the religions followed at the time. Even for old hands, this book provides an interesting crash course in what Buddhism was meant to mean.

Stephen, in this remarkable book, is able to portray both Buddha and his message with great beauty and vividness. While it is extremely suited for a beginner, anyone interested in Buddha will find this slim book a pleasure to read. Despite the author's "absolutist" presentation of Nagarjuna's views (perhaps Stephen is a fan of the likes of Prof. Murti and Ed. Conze) and a rather unsatisfactory treatment of the other prevailing philosophies of the land (now I am nitpicking), it is an outstanding book for its intended readers and an excellent one for everyone.

Mr. Asma treats his subject matter with a wit and irreverance that makes for very entertaining reading. However, he shows his respect for the teachings of Buddhism by referring to the writing of Siddhartha himself, rather than rely on many of the myths and misinformation that have been disseminated about the life and teachings of the "historical" Buddha.

On the West Coast (US), it's not hard to find many new and used books about Buddhism, but this one stood out as being particularly accessible, lighthearted, and earnest. After reading half of it while browsing some weeks ago, I found it in another bookstore and bought it. The author spent a little time in particular on the role of women, which I appreciated.

*Highly* recommended for anyone interested in a crash course on Buddhism and its many schools.

This book is concise, accurate and funny. It's distinguished from other books on Buddhism by not bogging down in terminology or taking itself too seriously. I found the summaries of the various schools to be right on and well balanced.

Over 2,500 years ago in northern India, a nobleman named Siddhartha Gautama approached the question of suffering not so much as a religionist, but rather as a psychologist, seeking in the mind the cause and effect of our existential discomfort. He brushed aside the question of diety as unknowable, and placed the responsibility for transcendence squarely in the hands of the individual. It was perhaps unfortunate but inevitable that he would attract disciples who would formulate a canon of teachings, a canon which would gather accretions, accompanying rituals, and a bewildering metaphysical heirarchy of divinities and high spiritual realms. As Buddhism, the teachings of Gautama Buddha (the "awakened one") spread, it took on the baggage of local beliefs, from Daoist magical practices in China to the highly ritualised and diety-heavy aspects of Bon Lamaism in Tibet.

Stephen Astma's Buddha for Beginners does, indeed, start from the beginning, retelling the story of Gautama after carefully placing it in the context of the Indian religious philosophies from which it arose. Asma plays it pretty close, sticking with the Hinayana/Theravada tradition which takes its inspiration from the Pali Canon, the collection of texts compiled some centuries after the death of the Buddha. Admirably, in a book published by a press with a deep investment in New Age metaphysics, he points out the discontinuities between early Buddhism and later sects such as Tibetan Buddhism and the "Pure Land" and Zen sects of Japan (not to disparage these sects, which have their own advantages and disadvantages) as well as the ill conceived co-option of Buddhism by flakey New Age types as window dressing for their conspicuous spirituality.

Reading Asma's book, one must bear in mind that it is intended as a primer, and while it hits most of the high points in the early development of Buddhism, it gives few new insights to anyone with a decent background in the subject. It is a quick and easy read, and my only real complaint has to do with the illustrations. The book is conceived in the general form of a graphic novel, and most of the illustrations, in a comic vein, were too cartoonish for my taste. An edition with more serious illustrations and diagrams would, for me, be an improvement over the present work.

Asma has created a great introduction to not only the historical Buddha, but also to his teachings. It's written in easily understandable language and he covers as much as he can, as throuroughly as he can, and in as small amout of space as he can. The illustrations do not distract, detract, nor make fun of Buddha. I highly recommend this book, not just to those interested in Buddhism or Buddha, but to anyone with an interest in philosophy, theology, or spirituality.

I came across this book by accident and I'm impressed by its clarity and wit. Not only is this book funny but the basic ideas of Buddhism started to make sense to me when I saw them in their historical context. Stephen Asma includes some important arguments that help distinguish the Buddha's original ideas from the New Age junk that fills the bookstore shelves. A must have primer!

I think this book is wonderfully written. Although a "comic book" Stephen Asma does an incredible job at keeping things in line with the needs of the intellectual reader. After reading this book I was able to better understand the difficult concepts of "no self" and "Kharma." I noticed that a few people dissagreed with Asma's view of modern Buddhism. I do not claim to be an expert in this field but I can say that from my experience, some of the new sects of Buddhism have deviated greatly from the original intent of the Buddha's teachings. I personally have found the most comfort in Zen Buddhism, although some schools of Zen Buddhism tend to deviate a bit from the original teachings as well. Over all I think the book is worth a read for anyone who has interest in learning more about this topic.

First, I just want to say that Asma does an admirable job of explaining complex ideas in accessible language.

I just want to amplify the concerns of a previous reviewer who noted Asma's mischaracterizations of the later evolutions of Buddhism. Asma subscribes to a view that is no longer prevalent among Buddhist scholars that Mahayana Buddhism is a perversion of the Buddha's intent, and that the doctrine of emptiness is mystical mumbo jumbo about the ineffable nature of the absolute.

While there may be some Buddhists out there who teach emptiness in this way, it is not representative of traditional Mahayana teachings. In fact, the reliance on reason and investigation are essential to the Mahayana path, and emptiness is a doctrine that expresses Buddhist selflessness in a more systematic and far-reaching way.

The portrayal of the Buddha as a kind of transhistorical figure, with mystical elements in his life story, is also not unique to the Mahayana. The Pali scriptures that Asma primarily relies on are full of such references. Thus, his description of the Buddha's teachings, while intelligent and fun to read, is nonetheless partial and biased.

For a more complete picture of the teachings of the Buddha in the Pali scriptures, you should check out "In the Buddha's Words," edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi.