For anyone who is interested in the basic/fundamentals of Buddhism, this is the book for you. It is written in lay man terms and easy to understand. THis book lays out all the fundamentals of practice in a clear and concise manner, adding to it a sense of humor. It takes the precepts of Buddhism and places them in our modern day world and teaches one how to begin and stay on the path.

In the beginning I did not like Lama Surya Das’ style nor the structure of the book. But he won me over. Das writes in a poetic, simple style with the intent of distilling Buddhism down to its core components thereby making it accessible to westerners while preserving the innate beauty of the philosophy/religion/ethical code. Sometimes it feels like you are reading an author who is the guy you hate in your high school English class that uses words like ephemeral, duality, and esoteric, but other times pure wisdom shines through. Definitely worth the read for a broad understanding and for thinking more deeply about the question of “Who am I”.

Awesome Book! It took me a few months to read, absorbed, and try to practice some of the principles explain here. At the time I was pursuing Yoga and Meditation wholeheartedly. I stopped doing both for a long time, now; I should get back to it.
This book is autobiographical and also explains the fundamentals of one of Buddhism's branches. Yet, although it is an informative book, it is not a book you read all the way through as an historical book. It requires pausing and taking time to think the material you read and let it sink in.

This book enlightens one on Buddha ways without having to become a buddhist/monk. Helped me focus on the present and developing from within for myself and the community. An easy read, easy to implement and am now reading Awakening the Buddhist Heart

I really enjoyed this book. It has taught me so much on meditation and has made me understand that their is no right or wrong just what is when it comes to being enlightened. It also go into great deal of mindfulness. All around great book!

I not only read this over 20 years ago, I also attended some weekend retreats with Surya Das. I go back to it at times when I start feeling overwhelmed. This was my first beginners book in regards to Tibetan Buddhism. It was a gamechanger for me. I love how he brings Tibetan tradition to the West.

This book took me forever to get through. I think it took over a year. It's dense and has a lot of content that you could probably spend the rest of your life meditating on. I could only take chunks of it at a time to truly be able to absorb it all. That being said, there were parts that were beautiful and really enlightening and profound (meditation on death and the metta prayer, which I sue with some regularity now). I would recommend it if you really want something to chew on.

Although this book was quite lengthy and took me awhile to get through and absorb, I think that it covered many of the essential concepts of Buddhism, i.e the noble truths and going in depth on the eight fold path. I thorougly enjoyed how as a person brought up in the Western society, he was able to relate to someone who may be viewing Buddhism from that perspective. Thus, there was a feeling of kinship or understanding, where he too admitted to feeling doubt at times over his meditation practices, questioning the purpose of things and beliefs. This therefore successfully emphasised the idea that even the Buddha did not say to have blind faith over things that are taught to you by spiritual leaders or in books. Instead we must analyse for ourselves what applies to our lives and can better our own spiritual path.

I also enjoyed the mini anecdotes that he would use about people's common life in order to stress how these practices can be used in daily life, not just by the monastics who live in serene settings where it can be easy to not be faltered by the stresses of the modern world.

I have to admit that I did glaze over some of the descriptions of certain specific meditations, but these may be descriptions that I return to in the future, if I feel like I can put them into practice. As a beginner, for now I'll have to stick to observing my breath or basic metta meditation haha.

A few of the quotes or ideas that I have noted down from this book include:

- Renunciation means to let of holding back... the relief of finally dropping and getting rid of excess baggage through an inner certainty about the illusory nature of created things.

- "There are antidotes to suffering... by resisting less, grasping less, and identifying with things less." "NOTHING IS HALF IMPORTANT AS WE USUALLY THINK IT IS."

- "Have a nice day, unless you've made other plans"
- "Always maintain a joyful mind"
- "All activities should be done with one intention."

- "Reflect on the kindness of everyone you meet" Give thanks to many beings. You can learn something from everyone. Practice humility.
- Clinging to the ego is a self centred notion. Sets the stage for our own difficulties.

- Help me turn from seeking happiness from outer experiences toward more lasting happiness, peace.

- Turn inwards to find happiness. "Meditate on the difficulties. Be present with the difficulty. Face doubt rather than try to avoid or suppress it."
- Even in meditation if you have moments of restlessness and boredom. Meditate on why you feel this way. "I'm in the perfect place doing perfect things, why am I feeling restless?"
"Why am I never satisfied?"

- "Small doubt, small enlightenment; big doubt, big enlightenment."

- "With Buddha Dharma there is nothing to believe and everything to discover. The Buddha encouraged seekers to investigate and inquire for themselves."

- "Beware of tendency to give up too early if there are road bumps in your spiritual path. This may be caused by things that you are ignoring in yourself."

- "Only our search for happiness prevents us from seeing it."

I didn’t read this book until the very end, I read 3/4, because I felt as though I got what I needed out of the book by that time. I’m not even sure where to start with this book review as this book was so profound. Everything that was said brought me so much comfort and validation to my feelings and experiences. I learned SO much from this book that I will take with me forever. I truly live my life according to what I learned from Lama Surya Das. These teachings are timeless. I will re-read from time to time and keep close to me to look at what I highlighted as reminders.

Written by an American who became a Tibetan Lama, this book gives readers a solid course in Buddhist concepts. Giving clear step-by-step explanations, the author uses an engaging and even humorous tone that makes him as much of a friend as he is an expert in this field. His stories are wonderful and very instructive.

The steps mentioned above are actually the Buddhist Eightfold Noble Path to enlightenment but greatly expanded upon. Lama Surya Das continues to enlarge his explanations with the following 3 important sections that are valuable "how to" guides:

Wisdom Training
Ethics Training
Meditation Training

These chapter titles are examples of how the author continually points out to the reader that they already have the knowledge he is telling them about: “Seeing Things as They Are”, “Plumbing Your Wise Buddha-Nature”, and “Keeping Your Eyes Open”. Surya Das is, he says, simply helping people to unveil the "Buddha within."

I have already read this book twice on my Kindle, so you know I value the wisdom and light shown on the history of Western Buddhism. If you want to better understand how Buddhism came to the US and its ongoing evolution in our culture, this is a very readable description of how that is coming about. If you want to better understand the tenets of Butddhism, the eightfold path, and the three enlightenment trainings present in all types of Buddhism, this book will painlessly heighten your understanding. If you want some practices to help you settle into meditation, you will find them here. This book Is a bit more structured in its approach than the simpler presentations from the heart of the books of Thich Nhat Hahn but no less valuable.

A fantastic book about the basics of Buddhist thought and philosophy. It's not a watered-down "how to meditate," or a memoir. It's a simple, Western-focused introduction to the fundamentals of what the Buddha taught, which is exactly what I was looking for. If you are interested in a beginning book on the entirety of Buddhism, not just meditation, this is a great place to start!