Home Discussions Book Club Top 5 favourite Buddhist books?

This topic contains 6 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Vinnie 7 years, 7 months ago.

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  • #8015

    bengkooi
    Keymaster

    Don’t have much time to read nowadays but these are some of my favs in no particular order:

    • Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chogyam Trungpa by Diana J, Mukpo (the first Tibetan Buddhist book I ever read. It blew my mind. Chogyam Trungpa is neat!)
    • Compassion Conquers All by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche (Bodhicitta in ways that I could understand and relate to)
    • The Awakened One: A Life of the Buddha by Sherab Chödzin (the only time I finished reading Buddha’s life story)
    • Food of Bodhisattvas by Shabkar (I’m now vegetarian, nuff said)
    • Gurus For Hire, Enlightenment For Sale by Tsem Rinpoche (THE BEST! The title says it all!)
  • #8051

    Pastor Jean Ai
    Participant

    I agree with your top five books. Compassion Conquers All is a great book to learn about the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation. These teachings can really shift a person’s life in the right direction!

  • #8638

    Sarah Yap

    I havent read Diane Mukpo’s book and the Awakened one.

    Gurus for hire was the first book I read about Guru devotion, it is simple and easy for those new to Vajrayana to understand the concepts and importance of relying on a Spiritual Guide. I’ve read it a few times again since.

    Other selections of books that I find very helpful are books by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. His book about the Three Principal Paths is very precious. I have been reading this book for a few months now but havent finished it, not because it is not interesting, infact it is the contrary… but because after reading 3-5 pages… you would need to put the book down to contemplate on what you have just read.

  • #8714

    Tomasz

    Read Geshe Rabten’s “The Mind and its Functions” which made a complex topic easier to understand. Also Dzongsar Khyentse’s “What Makes You Not A Buddhist” which is highly recommended if you want a fresh understanding on how well your practice is going. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s book “Introduction to Buddhism” is what got me interested in Buddhism to begin with. Anyway useful thread for book recommendations, my prayers that it grows so there’s a handy list of informative reading for people to refer to.

    • #8722

      Sarah Yap

      ‘Introduction to Buddhism’ by Geshela was the first Tibetan Buddhist book that I bought and read. Honestly speaking, at that time I had no idea about Vajrayana school, I only knew about Theravada and Mahayana (which is very common in Malaysia, especially Theravada because we’re so close to Thailand). The book by Geshela gaves very clear and entry level information for beginners, not too complicated at the same time enough information to drive a want to study and engage in Buddhist practice. Geshela’s books is really incredible.

      Thank you for the recommendation, I haven’t read Geshe Rabten’s book ‘The Mind and it’s Function’, will need to search for it in the bookstore or Amazon hehe.

      • #8753

        Lew

        I agree with Tomasz and Sarah about the book “Introduction to Buddhism” by Geshala. It is an excellent introduction book about Buddhism. It is highly recommended to “newbies”. It has some technical terms, such as “Four Nobel Truth” etc, but it is well structured and well explained. It gives an excellent overview about Buddhism especially Vajrayana Buddhism.

  • #9154

    Vinnie

    Totally agree with Tomasz, Sarah and Lew. “Introduction to Buddhism” is indeed a great book to start off with. From there, we will be able to get the knowledge that is needed to start off our practices and it will be a better guideline as a background on how we can start practising Buddhism.

    Another book that I think is great is “Nothing Changes, Everything Changes” by Tsem Rinpoche. In the book it shows us that very easily when we change our mind and perception, everything else that follows all changes and falls in place. This is very true as when our minds transform, everything else that was in our minds that includes our delusions and all changes with our minds as well. We will be able to see things from a clearer picture and we will be able to do greater things because of that change of heart that we have in our minds that helped us to change. It is considered as a small part of our journey to mind transformation, but it can be considered as a big step to what is going on in our minds. It is shows us that it is a constant battle, but once we conquer that and win the battle, the rest of it will only get easier and not as difficult to when we just started off.

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