Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Initially, I had great skepticism - c'mon a "Complete Idiots" book to get me started down the Buddhist path? Really? It just seemed so...so...*American*. But, I had to start somewhere, and my good friend Ben recommended it to me, so I gave it a shot. Now, having finished the book, I realize I owe both my friend and Gary Gach an immense debt of gratitude - this book is really amazing.

One problem I (and many others) have had with other beginning Buddhism books is that the format isn't one that's easy to soak up; the flow isn't as logical as this one's, or not enough detail or context is given to drive points home to a more understandable place. Gach has done a phenomenal job of keeping things simple enough not to overwhelm a newcomer, yet goes into enough detail to keep things interesting and real.

Gach goes beyond teaching the basic belief system into giving examples of how to apply what we've learned in real life, and where else to look for more information. He offers dozens of anecdotes, many koans, a plethora of historical tales and data points, a glossary, and a multitude of other items. One small criticism I have of this book is that he very often doesn't cite his sources when giving statistics.

Throughout the book, Gach returns to important concepts, but not in a manner which I found to be condescending at all - it was merely helpful to be reminded of X, Y, and Z at certain points throughout the book, because they were important to the current subject. The author gives the reader a very solid foundation to build his or her beliefs upon, should the reader desire, including a rich and detailed historical background of Buddhism throughout the world.

I will be unreservedly suggesting this book to anyone who expresses an interest in this spiritual path.

I've read a number of books on Buddhism, and I can easily say this is one of the best I've encountered for providing a solid background and overview of this religion-slash-philosophy. However, the book suffers from something of an identity crisis, and lacks some critical information.

First off, the title says what this book is really about: *UNDERSTANDING* Buddhism. There is a wealth of information here, ranging from the basics (the story of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, cardinal precepts, etc.) on to explorations of the different branches (Vajrayana, Pure Land, Zen) and places Buddhism can be found in art and culture. This book is fantastic for learning about where Buddhism came from, where it is today, and where it may be going in the future.

However, the caveat is that this book is not so much oriented towards applying Buddhism to your daily life. The cover details really make it sound like you'll be getting lots of info on living in a Buddhist way, but it's just not true. There's a decent section on meditation, but by and large the book offers only vague guidance for putting the ideas you read about into practice. So, don't fall for the publisher and marketing hype - this is a book about understanding Buddhism, and not so much living it.

That said, the book falls flat on its face when it comes to providing some key information. The biggest example would be karma. Karma, a very important idea in Buddhism, is given less than TWO pages of discussion in a 400 page book! Yes, karma is a fairly simple concept, but anyone who has studied Einstein's theory of relativity can tell you that it's the simple things that are the hardest to understand intuitively. I would have gladly traded the section on Buddhism in art if it had meant there would be a truly good exploration of karma and its far-reaching impacts.

The long and the short of it is this: If you know little or nothing about Buddhism, and want a broad introduction, this is an excellent place to start. Gary Gach has a playful and enjoyable writing style. The book is chock full of interesting content. Just don't buy this book with the expectation that it will guide you in leading a more Buddha-y life. For that, I recommend a much more hands-on title, such as the excellent /Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living/.

First, one has to accept what this book's (almost all of the series)
purpose is: overview and a guide/introduction. Also you have to
consider the style of these Idiot books (informal; light; humorous) as well.

Yeah, that's Right View :-)

In that light, this book is a very good (and most of the time funny)
introduction to Buddhism. It covers the basics: 4 Noble Truths,
8fold Noble Path and covers the basics of the major sects. All in
a relatively easy to understand manner in a conversational tone.

Of course, one can quibble about the depth of detail (and I do),
but again, I don't think that was the purpose of the book.

Yes, the books does slow down and gets less
cohesive once the author gets into the impact on other disciplines
(and that's what makes me take one star off), but overall, I would recommend this to anyone curious about Buddhism overall.

My only major quibbles are that it would have been nice if the
author mentioned where to go for more information about the sect in the text.

In Gassho,

Baffled by Buddhism? Well, here you are! Don't let the flippant title deter you. This marvelously complete guide is a bountiful resource not only for the many who are new to the path, but also for those who have made a bit of the journey already. I've identified myself as a Buddhist for almost ten years; yet, not willing to pursue scholarly discourse, my actual knowledge has been sorely lacking. Gach has now provided me with answers to all I wondered about, or didn't even know I wondered about. There is seemingly enough information here to keep my monkey mind chattering away for a good long time. And while swinging around in the pages, I just may learn how to quiet that noisy creature. Gach's extensive work has been amazingly organized into an easy-to-read format. Twenty chapters and 400-plus pages traverse the historical Buddha and his time under the Bodhi tree, how to meditate, food issues, Dharma, Sangha, the different schools, and how to engage the world. I simply don't know why another Buddhist guidebook ever needs to be written! Perhaps The Complete Idiot's Guid is the best format after all; in true Buddhist manner, it is as a complete idiot that one should begin anything new

Thoughtful and amusing. Gach puts a lifetime of thought, research and experience into an "Idiot's Guide." How unexpectedly appropriate, for it's full of "aha's" - those moments when you say "Yes of course, I was an idiot not to have thought of that!" And you almost did think of it, but now you have a word for it, and a broad and thoughtful philosophic underpinning. Erudite and accessible, this book will have value for Buddhist practitioners and curious newcomers alike.

Well, I'm prejudiced: I'm the author of this book. In my book, this is arguably THE book for anyone wishing a simple, direct, and comprehensive survey of Buddhism, balancing theory and practice, the sacred. and the mundane. Told from a typically pragmatic, multicultural American Buddhist perspective, and with frequent drops of humor, emphasis is placed on separate schools (Vipassana, Zen, Pure Land, Tibetan) within Buddhism, as well as Buddhism within the context of Christianity, Judaism, etc.

Informative for the curious, valuable for beginners, and a sturdy reference for those already on the path. Told throughout with loving speech.

As with my previous book, there is a website with additional information, plus hyperlinks. All are accessible from my home page, http://word.to En-joy!

This book is definitely not for idiots, but very nicely written. It is a thoughtful, thorough guide to Buddhism whether one is interested in following a spiritual path or just wanting to know more about the subject....I think it is the book to read!

I wanted to get a basic idea of what Buddhism is about. I read this book with absolutely no prior knowledge of Buddism. It is a good starter book, going through the basic principles. I enjoyed reading it for the most part.

I didn't like the silly jokes, however. They just didn't seem appriopriate to the content. Perhaps that is just how the Idiot's Guides are.. I haven't read too many of them. So I'd give this book 3 stars... it has it's good points and it's bad. I am glad I got it, and will look for some other books which I may like better.

This book is just plain poor. I purchased the Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism because I had previously read the Understanding Hinduism and Understanding Islam book of the same series. I enjoyed those books and felt they were well done. This book fails to live up the other two.

As one of the reviewers below notes, right from the beginning you get a taste of what is to come when the author describes the first Noble Truth as "Life involves dissatisfaction". Please.

I have read several other introduction-to-Buddhism type books and they were all better than this. In fact, I think if one did not already have a basic understanding of the concepts of Buddhism they would not be able to understand anything in this book. Perhaps the author tires to do too much and as a result I felt the book lacks focus.

The `humor' is kind of annoying but that is something I have come to expect in the Idiot's series. What I think is more annoying is the way the author dumbs down the subject matter and jumps around from topic to topic. Also, the author seems to focus more on Buddhist culture than the core Buddhist beliefs and the practice of Buddhism itself. For example, there are chapters on Buddhism and Fine Arts, Buddhism and the Sciences, Buddhism and Popular Culture and so on. All these topics are mentioned but none of them are addressed in any detail. The author barely scratches the surface then moves on.

The book is 409 pages long and only sixteen of them are spent talking about the core principals of the Three Jewels and Four Noble Truths. The Eight Fold Path gets twelve pages. Further, the book does a terrible job of describing the different schools of Buddhism (Mahayana, Theravada, etc.) and explaining their differences.

If you are looking to read an introduction-to-Buddhism type book, I would recommend "Buddhism" from the Teach Yourself series.

Gary Gach does a good job of discussing the basics of Buddhism - the Three Jewels, the Eightfold Path, etc., but once he delves into the various branches of Buddhism and the different ways of meditating, he gets pretty vague and gets very annoying with the silly jokes. A much better book is "Buddhism for Beginners", written by a Tibetan Buddhist nun. It's clear, consise, and doesn't get bogged down in a lot of Sanskrit or Pali terminology that only confuses the beginner. The question and answer format is full of excellent analogies.

As for the other books in the Complete Idiot's series, I read the one on Islam and it is EXCELLENT. Reading this volume after the Islamic book was a big disappointment.