The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism

This is my second read-through of this book, and it stands up well. Gach does a good job of explaining Buddhism to people who aren't Buddhists and thus harbor misconceptions about what Buddhism is. The general material is the best. He gets a bit shaky when tackling the respective Buddhist schools; one gets the feeling he practices some form of Vipassana, and is a bit uncomfortable with the other schools, especially the far Eastern ones. Unfortunately, the final 1/3 of the book, with its tenuous attempts to relate Buddhism to pop psychology, pop culture, and scientific disciplines Gach knows precious little about, is quite poor compared to the earlier material. And it shows, judging by the fact that said sections are riddled with show more grammatical and typographical errors, whilst the first two are not. Also interesting to note--the Buddha on the cover is the Kamakura Daibutsu, not the Nara Daibutsu, as the book claims. show less

Some might complain about it not being thorough enough and shy from the "Idiot" label, but as an introduction to Buddhism, I found it a good springboard to jump in with, especially with little to no formal knowledge. Of course there are more in-depth, traditional and widely accepted Buddhist texts to study from, but this fits its intended purpose very well, and left me delightfully thirsty for the deeper knowledge an understanding that I am seeking in the more formal books.

The best book about into to buddhism in a while. Do the exercises in the book. They help broaden the scope of what you are reading.

all the basics and more