Customer Reviews

The Naked Buddha: A Practical Guide to the Buddha's Life and Teachings

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since reading HHDL's "The Art of Happiness" over a year ago, I have been going through various books on Buddhism at my local library. For whatever reason ~ be it I'm just not the philosophical type, or I am just too new to Buddhism ~ much of what I read either confused me or bored me to death. I was greatly inspired by my early introduction to the Buddhist approach and was looking for practical ways to apply patience, kindness and compassion to my life. What I instead found were subjects way over the typical beginner's head and/or loooong explanations (man, can they beat a dead horse!) minus every day application.

I was about to give up when I found this author. This book is the book I wish I had found a year ago, as it is informative as well as concise. Partner this book up with Franz Metcalf's enjoyable books on adding a little Buddhism to your life, and you'll have a great background plus some down-to-earth advice on how to start cultivating your Buddha Nature.

So if you dig long, drawn out philosophical discussions on such matters, by all means...there are many respected authors out there. However, if you're like me and wish to hit the ground running with as little fanfare as possible, Adrienne and Franz's books are for you. Namaste! :o)

I listened to this book on CD on a long drive. Perhaps the combination of the narrator's British (?) accent with the author's straightforward approach did more for me than simply reading the book would have. The book lays out the essence of buddhism very well. I was fascinated to learn that a lot of the religious elements--the things one must accept on faith, like reincarnation--are pre-buddhist elements that one need not accept to benefit from the Buddha's teachings. She has certainly made me want to learn more.

There were two helpful question and answer sections and a short but good list of further readings. I would have liked to hear a more down-to-earth and revealing explanation as to how the author came to buddhism and why she stuck with it.

Her unreflective comments on Christianity bothered me. I find it interesting that, in a book whose main message is "I am responsible for my thoughts and reactions," the author blames the lack of knowledgeable teachers for her own rejection of Catholicism. A second flaw is the false dichotomy between the buddhist version of faith and the Christian: according to Howley, Buddhists have faith because they have tried buddhism out. It is a faith based on experience. On the other hand, Christian faith (Howley would include Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu faith in this charge) is blind and based on no experience at all. Like most dichotomies, this is an oversimplification. To be fair, Howley did not come up with this dichotomy: it has appeared in several other books about buddhism that I have read.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to learn the basic tenets of buddhism from an interesting and honest teacher.

Buddha is the level/position of understanding engliment, not a person.Siddartha Gautam never said i am god, never talked about reincarnation or karma. These all have been introduced in buddhism later, buddhism is a philoshopy people made into religion as a respect to gautama buddha. KARMA in this book is defined with a sentence "If I move a grain of sand, I change the universe." which is define as if I change a grain of sand as a result other grain moves and then because of it the whole universe shifts little. Karma is not something that you do good right now and something good will happen to you as a result of it ten years later, but karma is the thing you are right now because of the conciquences of your past action. I have read many books in buddhism but none of them have define buddhism as practicle as by Adruenne Howley. Excillent work!!!. after i read this book i had different prospective of buddhism

I have read several books on the Buddhist philosophy and found most to be more than I could understand or not what I was looking for. Ms. Howley writes with style and puts the teachings into words that one can easily understand. What a pleasure to read, I recommend it to anyone that is just beginning to explore this wonderful philosophy.

Adrienne Howley started late in life -- Buddhism, that is. And she took to it like a kid to ice cream. There's no doubt that she was accomplished before she began a sitting practice. It may have changed her life, but before that she was no slouch. She quickly attained a masterful understanding of the art, and what's most important for us is that she was able to explain it in such down-to-earth, lean, readable prose. It's not a hugely long book, but it's well worth reading. Reading about Buddhism is the tip of the iceberg; the rest is sitting, sitting, sitting. Howley's book will clarify things and provide a good practical understanding for the novice and the experienced Buddhist as well.

What's most refreshing about this book is what's not in it: layers. Oddly, a few reviewers have given it marginal ratings as a consequence. I'm wondering if they read the title. The Naked Buddha is clean, precise, and poignantly written. Take the core of Buddhism, carve away the stratta of insubstantial and possibly distracting tradition, and here's what you get: the real thing. The Buddha's teachings were meant to be accessible, easy, and life changing. Here the author captures that intent in a language that I found rather pleasant and enjoyable. I've gone through my share of Buddhist teachings and this one stands out as the richest, the one I'll come back to time and time again (in addition to Mindfulness in Plain English).

It was nice to finally find a book on Buddhism basics that is clear,concise and to the point. Easy to understand and even better if you get it in the audio format.

I found this book to be very interesting and extremely informative regarding Buddhist philosophy. I'm not sure that it matters whether a person is new to, or somewhat familiar with, Buddhist thought; I think it will depend on individual acceptance of the extreme pragmatism of Buddhism. Those who wish to be mystified by magic and fantasy will probably not have much interest in core Buddhist philosophy. After all, Buddhism is not concerned with speculation and future-telling, its purpose is to improve one's life here and now, in this present moment. I thought that Ms. Howley did a superb job of getting that message across.

I found Adrienne Howley's style very down to earth. This book is a good one for someone just beginning to learn about buddhism. Her knowledge of Buddhist history and philosophy made this one a winner for me.

This book is an essential guide for those people who are beginning their journey into buddhism. It offers straightforward answers to questions about this religion. As a buddhist, I found this book to be a helpful meditation starting point when stuck on topics to ponder. Adrienne gives a brief background into the life of siddhartha so that the reader can understand how buddhism came about. Then she explores the buddha's teachings. I especially enjoyed the last two sections where she answers the readers questions about buddhism. I would definately recommend this book.