The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism, 2E
by Gach, GaryEdition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2004-10-05
Publisher(s): DK Publishing, Inc.
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Summary
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism, Second Edition is an updated and fresh guide to understanding the teachings and schools of Buddhism, including tips on incorporating the tenets of Buddhism into everyday life. New content includes: bull; Expanded information on the practice of Buddhism in the United States and the West. bull; Greater focus on the relationship between Buddhism and Islam, and the effect Buddhism has had on Christianity and Judaism. bull; Expanded appendices featuring a timeline showing the evolution of Buddhism through history.
Author Biography
Gary Gach has been a student of Buddhism for more than 40 years and is a consultant to the Buddhist Film Society as well as the Unified Buddhist Church. He is co-translator of Ko Un, Korea-'s greatest living Zen poet, and has worked as the arts and religion editor for AsianWeek and as a contributing editor to the San Francisco Review of Books. He is the editor of What Book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to HipHop.
Table of Contents
| Buddha, Showing the Way | p. 1 |
| Why Is This Person Smiling?: The Life of the Buddha | p. 3 |
| Are You Ready?: Waking Up to Yourself, Waking Up to Buddha | p. 4 |
| The Birth of a Sage, Siddhartha Gautama | p. 5 |
| Going Forth, the Buddha | p. 8 |
| After Enlightenment: Teach! | p. 13 |
| Tales Heard Around Buddha's Campfire | p. 15 |
| Different Flavors, One Taste: The Teachings Travel to Different Lands | p. 19 |
| Mother India | p. 20 |
| Original Buddhism: The Wisdom of the Elders | p. 25 |
| Before the Internet: The Spice and Silk Routes | p. 26 |
| The Middle Kingdom: China | p. 28 |
| Blossoms in Other Gardens | p. 30 |
| At the Roof of the World: Tibet, Land of Snows | p. 32 |
| Continuing Buddha's Way in Asia Today | p. 33 |
| What Might an Italian Buddha Look Like?: Western Buddhism | p. 35 |
| Preparing the Ground: Mulching the Cultural Soil | p. 36 |
| Seasons and Lunar Phases Conducive to Growth | p. 36 |
| Gardeners in the Fields of the Buddha | p. 38 |
| Stay Tuned: Topics to Watch in Years to Come | p. 44 |
| Different Travel Agents, Same Destination?: Interfaith | p. 51 |
| Beyond Exclusivity: Oneness | p. 52 |
| Roots: Buddha Was Born a Hindu | p. 54 |
| China's Version 1.0: Buddhism + Taoism | p. 57 |
| Benedictine Buddhists, Zen Judaists, Sufi Yogis | p. 59 |
| Dharma: Truth, and the Way to Truth | p. 67 |
| The Treasure and the Teachings: Jewels of Refuge and Ennobling Truths | p. 69 |
| The Triple Gem | p. 70 |
| Safe Harbor: Taking Refuge | p. 71 |
| The Teaching: Four Noble Truths | p. 75 |
| Theme and Variations | p. 81 |
| Buddha's Way: The Eightfold Path | p. 85 |
| The Path | p. 86 |
| Conscious Conduct: Precepts for a Path with a Heart | p. 99 |
| To Not Kill: Reverence for Life | p. 100 |
| To Not Steal: Trustworthiness and Generosity | p. 103 |
| Sexual Restraint: Respect, Intimacy, Trust, and Responsibility | p. 105 |
| To Not Lie: Deep Listening and Loving Speech | p. 106 |
| Mindful Consumption: Proper Diet for Transformation | p. 109 |
| Practicing the Precepts | p. 111 |
| Take Karma, Make Dharma: Key Concepts | p. 115 |
| One Thing Leads to Another: Karma | p. 116 |
| This Depends on That: Interbeing | p. 117 |
| The Stamp of Reality: The Three Dharma Seals | p. 120 |
| You're IT: Nirvana Now | p. 124 |
| It Is and It Isn't: Emptiness (Infinite Openness) | p. 125 |
| Living It: Meditations in a Floating World | p. 129 |
| Sangha: Joining the Path | p. 133 |
| How's Your Practice?: Getting Set | p. 135 |
| Getting Started: Beginner's Mind | p. 136 |
| There's No Time Like the Right Time, and the Right Time Is: Now | p. 138 |
| Buddha's in the House | p. 140 |
| Stocking Up on Gear: Clean Socks, and What Else? | p. 142 |
| Joining in Community of Practice: Friends Along the Path | p. 143 |
| As Much or as Little as You Like: The Choices Are Yours | p. 144 |
| Viewless View and Effortless Effort | p. 147 |
| Meditation: Base Camp | p. 151 |
| Be a Buddha and Sit Like a Buddha: Posture | p. 152 |
| Doing No Thing: How Relaxing! | p. 155 |
| Why Not Breathe: You're Alive! | p. 157 |
| Turning Off the Radio: Quieting the Mind | p. 162 |
| Meditation in Action: Mindful Walking | p. 165 |
| First-Aid Kit for Beginners' Problems | p. 167 |
| Look Within, and Know: Insight Meditation | p. 169 |
| Stopping and Seeing Deeply: Tranquil Concentration and Insight | p. 170 |
| Noting the Itch, Without Scratching | p. 172 |
| Material Meditations: The Wisdom of the Body | p. 176 |
| Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Impermanence Meditation | p. 179 |
| Medicine for a Healthy Heart: Loving Kindness (Metta) | p. 180 |
| Stop: In the Name of Love | p. 184 |
| See? Words Cannot Express: Zen | p. 187 |
| Look, Where's Buddha? | p. 188 |
| A Few Drops of Zen | p. 189 |
| Just Do It! | p. 190 |
| Lineage: Direct from the Buddha to You, with Love | p. 191 |
| Now Why Not You? | p. 195 |
| Universal Participation: The Bodhisattva Vow | p. 196 |
| Without a Trace Along an Untrod Trail | p. 198 |
| Expressing the Inexpressible Without Words | p. 200 |
| True Devotion: Pure Land | p. 205 |
| The Story of Pure Land | p. 206 |
| The Primal Vow Is Universal Compassion | p. 210 |
| Three Keys: Faith, Vows, and Practice | p. 211 |
| Saint Shinran | p. 212 |
| The Story of Deities: Room for Interpretation | p. 215 |
| A Simple, Universal Method, Alone or in Combination | p. 217 |
| Pure Land in Daily Life | p. 218 |
| Other Schools | p. 221 |
| Diamond Way: Tibetan Buddhism | p. 223 |
| Tibetan Buddhism in 500 Words or Less | p. 224 |
| Vajrayana Is Mahayana with a Tantric Twist | p. 226 |
| Lamrim: Step-by-Step Stages Along the Path | p. 227 |
| Connecting with a Teacher | p. 228 |
| Empowerment: Initiation into Tantra | p. 230 |
| Body, Speech, and Mind as One: Some Essential Tantric Practices | p. 231 |
| Skillful Means of Ritual and Symbol | p. 237 |
| The End of the Road | p. 238 |
| Buddhism in Action: Applications in Everyday Life | p. 241 |
| Bringing It All Back Home: Mutual Relations | p. 243 |
| The Way of Relation: Interrelation | p. 244 |
| Cultural Relatives | p. 246 |
| Happily Ever After? How About "Happily Ever Here"? (Love) | p. 246 |
| Would You Promise to Be Mindful of the Present Moment with Your Beloved? (Marriage) | p. 248 |
| Nobody Does It Better | p. 249 |
| Mama Buddha, Papa Buddha, and Baby Buddha (Parenting) | p. 251 |
| Welcome to the Club: Rites of Passage | p. 253 |
| Learning How to Learn: Buddhist Education | p. 254 |
| Good Life: Good Death | p. 256 |
| Food for the Heart: The Meal of Life | p. 259 |
| Food as Food for Thought | p. 260 |
| You Are How You Eat: Heart Nourishment | p. 260 |
| Do You Hunger and Thirst?: Food Issues | p. 267 |
| Take Tea and See: The Tea Ceremony | p. 269 |
| Working as if You Didn't Need the Money: Right Livelihood | p. 273 |
| The Middle Way Between the Greatest Good and the Greatest Goods | p. 274 |
| Inter-Office Memo: "Less Stress!" | p. 275 |
| The Practice: Right Livelihood | p. 276 |
| Price or Value: How Do You Measure Wealth? | p. 278 |
| Dharma at Work: Zentrepreneurs and Tantrapreneurs | p. 280 |
| Everybody's Doing It: Buddhism and Popular Culture | p. 285 |
| A Gift from a Flower to a Garden | p. 286 |
| Physical Culture Is Culture | p. 290 |
| Play It Again, Samadhi!-Musical Meditation | p. 294 |
| Mind Mirror: Buddha at the Movies | p. 297 |
| New Ways of Seeing and Being: Buddhism and Fine Arts | p. 303 |
| But ... Is It Art? And ... Is It Buddhist? | p. 304 |
| Words for the Wordless: Buddhist Literature | p. 307 |
| The Eye in the Heart of the Heart | p. 311 |
| Art as Life: Life Is Art | p. 315 |
| Within and Without: Buddhism and the Sciences | p. 321 |
| New Physics and Ancient Eastern Thought | p. 322 |
| Infinite Healing: Dr. Buddha | p. 329 |
| Do Feelings Have a Mind of Their Own?: Buddhist Psychology | p. 331 |
| No Matter, Never Mind: Mind/Body Connections | p. 333 |
| Imagine, Just Imagine: Mind to Mind (Heart to Heart) | p. 334 |
| Happiness Is Not an Individual Matter: Engaged Buddhism | p. 339 |
| What Is Engaged Buddhism? | p. 340 |
| Historical Engagement | p. 341 |
| Service: One Big Circle of Giving | p. 343 |
| Seeing Like a River, Thinking Like a Tree: Deep Ecology | p. 348 |
| Wide Horizons: Humanity Is Our Sangha | p. 349 |
| Peace! | p. 353 |
| Appendixes | |
| The Unfolding of the Lotus: A Chronology of the Timeless | p. 355 |
| Buddhism in a Nutshell: A Quick Reference | p. 363 |
| The Vocabulary of Silence: A Glossary | p. 367 |
| Index | p. 373 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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