Looking to Learn More about Buddhism

[Gunslinger]

Recently I've been doing some soul searching, trying to discover who exactly I am as a person. I have read over the basic tenaments of Buddhism, and some of the concepts caught my eye. As of now I only have a very rudimentary understanding of such things as the Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths, and the search for enlightenment but I would like to learn more. I'm looking for a good intro sort of book that can explain the ideas more completely, but do so in as near to plain english as possible. Also, any suggestions on ways to learn more about Buddhism through methods other than books are welcome too.

 

[WmRAllen67]

A quick Amazon search gave me Buddhism Plain and Simple and The Art of Happiness as the first two items...

Years ago I took a seminar in college on Buddhism-- while I didn't learn a lot about the current religion, I did get a greater understanding of the tenets of the philosophy... check the Religious Studies Department over at Penn or Temple and see if there's anything there that interests you...

I think there's a Buddhist group/ monastery/ community center or some such in the area as well-- that would probably be the best place to meet Buddhists and get an idea of what their lives are like...

 

[Menexenus]

I took a class on Buddhism in college, and we used What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula as our main text. It's been a long time, so I can't guarantee that it's in "plain English" as you requested. But I remember it being pretty informative. And it's very inexpensive in paperback, so you're not risking much money if you do end up buying it. Can't guarantee it's still in print, though...

(Oops, I almost started talking about what I thought of Buddhism until I remembered the 'no religion' policy on ENWorld. Moderators, please note that my contribution was only a source citation.)

 

[Gunslinger]

Thank you both for the suggestions. I think I'm going to check the books you suggested out from one of the local libraries, as well as a few other books.

Also Menexenus, if it's no inconvenience would you mind emailing me your thoughts on buddhism? My email address is agrajag42@gmail.com

 

[freebfrost]

http://www.buddhanet.net