Introduction to Buddhism: An Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life by Kelsang Gyatso

Introduction to Buddhism: An Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life Reviews

• 
  PERI

  So this flavor of Buddhism is wild. I know there are other sects of the religion, but here's what I got from this version.
  🔸Have compassion for all beings 👍
  🔸Nonsensical supernatural stories told as facts.
  🔸Rejection of the things that make us human because they cause suffering.
  🔸 Unscientific assessments of the mind stated as facts. How is the mind separated from the body if drugs and harm to the brain can effect it???
  🔸 Reincarnation is real because you might meet someone who reminds you of a loved one.
  🔸 Also you can transfer your mind to other bodies like Ino from Naruto. But I guess the host body has to be dead or something.
  🔸 Karma. Your illnesses are all your own fault from your previous life because you had negative karma. If you try to be a good person but you're failing in life, it's because you had bad karma. Too bad. You can purify yourself tho.
  🔸 Animals have lesser value than you because they can't think like humans. But you should respect their lives. But being reborn as one means you were bad.
  🔸 Becoming a Buddha or Bodhisattva is supposed to benefit people who are suffering, because they can now spread Dharma. Sure.
  🔸 Reject all pleasures of the flesh--but if you have good karma these things will come to you anyways.
  🔸 Love everyone like your mother. Uh, that's assuming your mother wasn't a vile person who hurt you.
  🔸 If you reach Bodhisattva status, nothing you do is bad.
  🔸 You will be punished for bad karma, but your actions aren't really your own fault--it's your deluded mind.
  🔸 Turn the other cheek if someone hurts you. It's bad if you make them atone for their wrongdoings. But if you're a Bodhisattva and foresee that someone is plotting harm, it's okay to take action because you'll be preventing them from creating bad karma.
  🔸 Wack philosophy about the "I," mind, and body. Nothing actually exists except as concepts!!
• 
  Mohita

  Sometime few months ago, i was intensely passionate about Buddhism, the reason: The wheel of karma, and meditation, I believed in both these arts.
  My father is an avid fan of yoga and meditation, having done almost few forms of yoga and meditation such as Art of Living, a 10 day course of complete silence and solitary meditating , i went on to do the same thing and realized that all of those are a form of Buddhism, though I am not a Buddhist, I prefer following Buddhism, because of the peace it brings.
  The Book, is a basic understanding of Buddhism, and power of meditation, a brief story about the first Buddha, and his power. Over all, I'd recommend you to read the book if you believe what I did :)
• 
  ✨ kathryn ✨

  Quite an in-depth (and occasionally not particularly accessible) introduction, to be honest, but definitely worth a read. A book that can be returned to time after time for clarification on Buddhism.
• 
  Tim

  This was an important book for me, because I eventually became a student and member of this tradition, the New Kadampa Tradition of Buddhism. The author of this is the founder of this organization, adn he is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who moved to England, split from the main Gelugpa tradition, and began his own. On first encountering this dharma, I was struck by its analysis of the endless struggle of ordinary human life, and this conformed with my views. It went deeper than other religious teachings I have experienced, to some essential truths about the human condition. At the same time, there are aspects of this dharma that I have not had an easy time accepting, such as some of the ideas concerning karma.
  
  Through meditation and study, I have come to be aware of the existence within myself of a soul (called the "very subtle mind" by Gyatso) that is primary to and independent of the body and ordinary mind. I now believe that reincarnation of this soul is a very distinct possibility. Gyatso does wonderful job of outlining the basics of his Tibetan Buddhist teachings in this wonderful book. Since Buddhism has grown in popularity in the West, there are many introductory books out there, but this was the one that had the biggest impact on me.
• 
  Ana Andrade

  Worst book I’ve ever read. This was my first approach to Buddhists texts and I’m unsure how much of the ideologies are from the Kadampa’s tradition or Buddhism itself.
  
  But, this book gives you the feeling as if you are joining a cult: you are only allowed to study and read texts from the same author, which surprisingly (not really) is the founder of the Kadampa’s tradition, he has some “super powers” of identifying reincarnated souls in different bodies and, the most shocking statement, once you become a Bodhisattva, all of your actions are considered good (including killing because you are so “enlightened” that your intentions are always for the best interests of society). But that’s not the worst part, for the rest of us (the suffering kind) if we kill an insect or a little mosquito even if it’s by accident or without a negative intention, chances are we will reincarnate in the animal realm, from which it is almost impossible and it might take hundreds of years to escalate back to the human realm.
  
  According to the author, the body does not matter at all, in fact, nothing matters because the existence of the I is not real. We are only minds reincarnating from body to body and we can actually take other peoples bodies in this life if we experience problems with the current one (whattttt??).
  
  And can we talk about KARMA?! So apparently, everything that happens to me (regardless if in this life I’m a great caring, empathetic person) it’s because of my past lives karma. So let’s suppose that I was born in a country in Africa where my basic needs are not being fulfilled, I live in extremely poverty and have to deal with deadly deseases such as malaria.. well guess what? All of that is my fault, or let’s call it properly, it’s my karma. Having such a “negative karma” it’s because in my pasts lives I was probably greedy and was involved in sexual misconduct. So I won’t be able to change those circumstances in this life, and my job is to accept it fully because even having negative thoughts about that situation such as injustice, anger, etc will continue adding BAD KARMA to my future lives.
  
  There are just so many statements of the book that makes no sense but the author states them as if they are the only truth. I would advise you to be mindful and careful if you decide to read it and please question every single word of this book.
• 
  Nico

  I read this book because I was tired of secular, bastardized mindfulness practices masquerading as Buddhism and wanted to learn a bit more about Buddhist traditions. This book describes pretty modern traditions, but it was still beautiful, and a quick read. It opened a window of understanding for me.
  
  I do not recommend this book to folks who are "religion-hunting" for a form of Buddhism that fits beliefs that they already have. I DO recommend it to folks who enjoy considering new perspectives and anyone seeking info on modern Buddhist cosmology.
  
  When you pick this one up, you need to know that the author is a monk and scholar of the New Kadampa Tradition (a very new Buddhist order that claims lineage through the Gelugpa tradition). There are a LOT of different orders, and they are all distinct.
  
  Like all theology, Buddhism contains real pragmatic wisdom but also divine imagery and superstition, so this book discusses deities, cosmology, lucid dreaming, and reincarnation. These elements may sound wild to Westerners, but the reason they have been passed down through the lineage is that they serve purposes and hold truth for millions of people. If you keep ask questions, sit with the ideas in meditation, and remain open-minded, you may find some benefit in them too.
• 
  Jane

  I enjoyed this book very much, it gave me a much better insight into who buddah was as well as their thoughts about what it means to be a buddhist. In this explanation of the Buddhists way I was able to understand past and future lives, along with receiving a clear idea about karma and clarity on meditation... which by the way is why I bought the book in the first place. During this read I learned about the path to enlightenment, thankfuly this also made sense to me.
  
  This wonderful intoduction to Buddah, turned into a clear, consise intro into what I gradually discovered to be a whole new world. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, has a most gentle, encouraging way in which he describes the buddhist theory, practice and its lifestyle.
• 
  Andrea

  This book presents Buddhism as a religion where you pray to Buddhas (yes, multiple) and risk being reincarnated as a hungry spirit if you so much as slap and kill a mosquito in anger. Kind of creepy. It is a rather misleading introduction to Buddhism in my humble opinion.
• 
  Gemma

  Interesting read. I enjoy learning about other cultures and religions but near the end of this book it became quite hard going for someone who isn't Buddhist or religious. Glad I read it though. My past idea of Buddhism is much different to the reality from reading this.
• 
  retnolaras

  very brief introduction I think. a lot of mentioned of other books to go into detail for most of the part, which left the reader hanging. I got the same information from wikipedia Buddhism page, but wikipedia provided me additional link instead of tell me to buy other books.
• 
  Sarah Isabella

  A simple easy to read rendition, insightful as an introduction can be
• 
  Benoit Marinoff

  It was an ok book. I understand it was an introduction and it was not meant to go in depth on the subject necessarily, but after the first half of the book I found the content was a snooze. There were lots of mention about other books from that author to find out more about this and that which is ok, but at the same time I found very annoying to not just go more in depth a bit in that actual book. It was a small book, so quick to read but didn’t find the writing very engaging to keep you into it. So overall very average in my opinion.
• 
  Joseph Brant

  I found this book to be very interesting. At times, it was a little too complex for my understanding of the subject. I’m not sure it was the best introductory book, but it was definitely informational. The writing wasn’t breathtaking, but many of the messages were. I’m excited to dig deeper into this topic now that I have a foundational understanding of it.
• 
  Víctor

  Una guía básica para entender los conceptos y prácticas esenciales del budismo. Interesante si se planea conocer más acerca de esta religión, pero no recomendado si se busca seguir un movimiento más detallado como el budismo zen.
• 
  Tony Thomas

  a nice clear and concise introduction to Buddhism
• 
  Valdir Malanche Junior

  It´s just ok. It presents some principles but has to much teology.
• 
  Gerard Tobin

  good
• 
  Kate Lý Johnston

  Easy read and very informative
• 
  Thomas Jones

  Clear and precise overview of the key points of Buddhism
• 
  Sophie Heron

  Quite tricky to understand at times, despite being an “introduction”. Felt like a text book. But ultimately a concise description of the fundamental teachings of buddhism.
• 
  JC

  Quelques principes intéressant, mais mon esprit analytique n’a pas du tout accroché.