Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World

This is a kind of book to be read on and off, spread out over time and giving time to absorb what's in it. And that's what I did. It is a thoughtful blend of inspiring stories from the history of Buddhism (Dzogchen lineage in particular) along with the author's own experience on the path towards enlightenment, as well as basic concepts of Buddhism, and very detailed practical meditation advice (quite doable!). Meditation is a way of life, the author says: "... think of daily meditation as a mental hygiene, a form of mental floss that retards truth decay". He warns against "instant-coffee mind" that most of us tend to have; he stresses the concept of "allowing": "The universe is beyond our control anyway. Trying to control things creates show more more stress, struggle, and irritating friction in the greater system". Practically all aspects of everyday life are touched upon in this book (no renunciation required), with the central idea being - "Living a mindful life is a sacred way of being in this world". I found it most appealing. I know I would be returning to this book over and over again: to re-enforce some of the things that I am already doing and to learn new notions. show less

I listened to the abridged version of this book read by the author. He had quite and interesting journey as a Jewish boy from Long Island, to the Tibet during the wild sixties.

Although Tibetan Buddhism sounds to me like a fundamentalist type of religion, the overall principles resonated with me completely. The awareness that we are only a small part of a great divine whole is a beautiful idea, and explains the diversity of human journeys some of which are extreme in their difficulty while others are cut short and seem to lack any value for the person living them.

I always thought that life is precious, more precious than eternity, simply because of its transient and fleeting nature, so the principle of living in the moment is paramount show more for a peaceful existence.
This book is a landmark for me in my spiritual journey and I think I will read it again in its printed and unabridged form. show less

It probably took me longer to read this book than any other — over 2 years. But I like to think that I read it in a very Buddhist manner, that is, I savored and absorbed small chunks of it as I needed and could understand them. Written from a Western point of view, this book provides a thorough grounding in Buddhist principles and practices. I know I’ll be exploring more, and also returning to this book time and again for inspiration and grounding.

It is not often I can say that a book changed my life, but I can with this one. I just loved "Awakening the Buddha Within" and it helped me so enormously in my life that words fail me. If you have any desire to read about Buddhism and how it can help you (and in turn, the people and world around you), this is about the best place to start that I can think of. The funny thing is, this book was sitting on my shelves for about 10 years and I guess now was the right time for me to pick it up. Highly recommended for anyone either interested in learning about the practice, or even furthering it. Lama Surya Das is a wonderful storyteller, guide and just all around nice, interesting guy who easily spreads the joy (and yes, work) of being a show more better human being. show less

I have a fundamentalist Christian background, and this was my first intro to Buddhism. Because the author is American and has a Judaeo-Christian perspective, the book was pretty accessible -- as far as any book on religion is accessible anyway. Gave me a new view of some of my Christian beliefs and opened me up to some psychological avenues of better managing my life.

This is a decent introduction to some core Buddhist beliefs from a Western perspective. I think Lama Das could have spent a little less time talking about himself. About half the book was on meditation and there's so much more to discuss like Dharma and noble choices but, overall, not bad.

With the dizzying array of books on spritual enlightenment in general, and Buddhism in particular, I found this book superior to most. Lama Surya Das explains Buddhist terms and concepts in ways that are not confusing or koan-like.