Customer Reviews

Mapping the Dharma: A Concise Guide to the Middle Way of the Buddha

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I've been reading Buddhist writings for about three years, but I've struggled with the endless lists... Eightfold Path, Five Precepts, Four Noble Truths, Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Five Hindrances etc.

I have struggled keeping all of these things straight at times. This fantastic book maps it all out.

I've been working my way through some great books, web sites and some of the original (Pali) Suttas, but I've felt there needed to be a great reference source to kind of step back from it all and see how it's connected... this book provides exactly that. I'm really impressed with the hard work.

If I could only keep a handful of books on the Dharma this would be one of the first I grabbed... I really recommend it to people just starting out in their interest in Buddhism, and I think that those who've been studying the Dharma for a while would benefit as well.

Mapping the Dharma is an engaging reference for those of us with an active practice and an articulate description for those beginning to explore it.
It is also a perfect book to loan to family and friends who have questions about your practice. The format makes it easy to follow and the clarity of Mr. Gerhards' explanations make it easy to understand.
Mapping the Dharma is a welcome and useful addition to my library.

Mapping the Dharma: A Concise Guide to the Middle Way of the Buddha is an easy-to-use atlas of nearly one hundred key concepts of Buddhism. Accessible to Buddhist practitioners and curious lay readers alike, Mapping the Dharma offers straightforward explanations of concepts such as "The Eightfold Path", "The Ten Perfections", "The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination", and much more. Simple diagrams and page cross-references further enhance the ease with which Mapping the Dharma can quickly be internalized. An invaluable "Cliff's Notes"-style primer enthusiastically recommended for novice students, scholars, and practitioners of the Middle Way.

Mapping the Dharma is a wonderful guide for those just beginning the path of Buddhism, as well as for those who have been traveling for a while. The book is at once simplistic and rich, easy to read and thought provoking.

Often times, followers become frustrated and confused at the many layers that make up Buddhism, and find that the lists - The Ten Perfections, The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and The Eight Fold Path, to name three - are just too daunting. Happily, those issues end here.

Mr. Gerheard has done a marvelous job in structuring Mapping the Dharma so that learning about Buddhism is easy, referencing is a breeze and, in short, the vast body of information is instantly accessible.

Highly recommended.

I've assigned this indispensable, easy-to-follow, and well-designed primer for the university class I teach on the history and philosophy of Buddhism. It's all right there in the book -- all the lists and concepts, cross-referenced and presented in a VERY reader-friendly format. Of all the books I've used for this class, I think this will be of the most immediate usefulness to my students as they work through the (ultimately infinitely rewarding) thicket of concepts that the Buddha laid out for our benefit.

Just a wonderful job, Mr. Gerhards. I wish all my texts could be such an easy decision!

I found this book to be very readable and easy to follow. I really appreciated how it was set up to explain Buddhism in a very approachable manner, with clear and concise explanations of what Buddhism is about. While I'm already familiar with Buddhism, the author's way of explaining the core concepts and different components of it really helped me understand a lot more about Buddhism. I came away with a much more solid understanding of Buddhism, its practices and how I could incorporate it into my life.

This is a great "cliff notes" guide to the Dharma. I recommend it for the curious who want a high level understanding. May be a good reference for the experienced too.