What are the best books on Buddhism?

Siddhartha in 3,2,1

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>>2979090

I read a book called The foundations of Buddhism by rubert gethin which was very interesting.
A mixture of beliefs and history which is pretty easy to read though I don't know how accurate/comprehensive it is since I'm only a buddhist by tradition.

>>2979090
Tripitaka, probably?

>>2979126
Yeah the Digha and Majjihima Nikaya are probably the core of Buddhist teaching with a lot of early teachings in the Khuddaka Nikaya also.

>>2979090
Get started OP
https://youtu.be/ilMCTfl715Q

>>2979126
>read 40 volumes consisting of nearly 40,000 pages
lol

>>2979090
>>2979126
>>2979143
To add on these OP, Bhikkhu Bodhi has written a very good introduction to the Pāli canon called "In the Buddha's Words".

It gives a good overview of the Nikayas and explains the terminology you'll encounter in them. Bhikkhu Bodhi has also translated all of the Nikayas if I'm not mistaken (except for the Digha Nikaya, which Maurice Walsh has translated equally well), so In the Buddha's Words is a great companion piece.

>>2979126
This, or my library.

>>2979148
Kangyur's bigger.
In either case, you can get synopses of the more important materials from the same people offering the 40 volume collections.

>>2979165
This pastebin which was posted on here once has links to videos of Bhikku Bodhi.
https://pastebin.com/UpP9QBZJ

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Dhammapada for starters.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD6TCxizFjs

>>2979579
Dhammapada is a bunch of meme quotes that make people think "wow, so deep".

OP read Gombrich's "Theravada Buddhism" and "What the Buddha thought" to give you a foundation for not only the philosophy of Buddha but the philosophical context in which he emerged.

If you can also try and find Hajime Nakamura's biography of Buddha.

>>2979933
I thought so along with the Lotus Sutra. It is still one of the early texts though.

S E C U L A R B U D D H I S M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd1rCCWX0bo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KU-sSsSVow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOQiZbAPtW4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v-iNe1wVZ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi0V3Pycru0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2kuztpY9hA

Supernormal Eightfold Way by Bhante Punnaji 19-June-2017
Ven. Dr. M. Punnaji Mahathera giving lesson on the Supernormal Eightfold Way at the Buddhist Maha Vihara, Kuala Lumpur on 19th June 2017. Download Bhante Punnaji's Eightfold Way chart: http://tiny
.cc/punnaji8foldway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZNxbEKf6LA

>>2979987
I hate this kind of liberalism.

1. Because it cynically plunders another culture for an ideology that it can streamline and repackage into another version of their own (i.e. liberal humanism)

2. Because it clearly has no respect for Buddhism as an independent philosophical canon that can be just as, if not more complex than figures such as Plato or Aristotle. That's not to say that people like Nagarjuna can't be incorporated into modern philosophies - only that I suspect Buddhism is merely being used as a window dressing for their own ideology.

>>2980097

If it helps people, whatever. Buddha didn't encourage dogmatism. I agree with you though.

Nagarjuna is too hardcore for these people anyway i would think. A true understanding of him would force them to abandon whatever conceptual frameworks they were working with.

>>2979120
can confirm , this is a solid academic intro. Also, check out Paul Williams History of Indian Buddhism, and Harvey's Introduction to Buddhism.

for a shorter read, the 2 OUP short intros to Buddha and Buddhism are worthwhile.

>>2979090
The Teaching of Buddha is pretty legit, although it mainly focuses on Pure Land beliefs as they are taught in Japan (very little info on Zen, Theravada, etc.)

Another recommendation of mine would be Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's rather short, but the audiobook is on youtube and it's definitely worth a listen if you have 2 hours to kill.

>>2980233
*5 hours. FUCK.