In a very un-Buddha-like way, my wife manipulated me into reading this. She also talked bribed me into accompanying her to a meditation center. I promised her I wouldn't ask the meditation instructor about tantric sex. I didn't keep my promise. To avoid incurring negative karma, I gave this book an extra star.

Amazing Insights

Do not read the book just to learn about Buddhism. This is a book towards righteousness, a book that will take you towards peace and happiness both as a receiver and as a giver. There may be eight steps but the results are two : Lasting PEACE and HAPPINESS

An Excellent Guide to Meditation

The author writes in a simple, direct manner, filled with personal experiences. I identify with him as a westerner who sought and found enlightenment, and who has a gift for using simple language on how to meditate.

This book has very good advice overall, and some helpful insights. But if you are an agnostic buddhist like me you will have to ignore a lot of supernatural content herein. For scientific and agnostic types, Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism without Beliefs" is a better place to start.

Delicate, simple, applicable.

Lama Surya Das cuts all the fat and provides a schema for the modern day Buddhist. This was my second time reading this book (the first in 2020 post college). The second reading confirmed that this text was a formative experience in learning how to carry myself in the “adult world.” Adopting vegetarianism, incorporating meditation into daily practice, and adhering to nonviolence are some of the major principles I learned from this text. Highly, highly, highly recommend!

This was not only a wonderful primer for anyone new to or reengaging with Buddhist practice, but a clear explication of obscure-to-me Tibetan practices that I had heard of only in passing. His warm, open-minded approach to ngondro, lamrim, and dream yoga made these practices seem much more sensible and approachable. I'm sure I will return to this book anytime I need to reinspire my practice.

Written in a very lucid and comprehensible manner. The book will take you to a journey about finding yourself rather than preaching what to do and what not to do. It will force you to think about things that you have done in past or currently doing. There are few parts of the book which do not resonate with my thinking but that is acceptable, I think this books depends a lot upon the age and experience you already have had in life. Things that don't make sense today might make sense one day or never at all. I am sure there is something to learn for everybody from this book.

Detailed review will follow soon on my personal website.

This is a book that will remain with me throughout my life. I have read it a couple of times and listened to it as well. It is a definite must read for anyone seeking growth and spiritual awakening.

I have learned how to live... and breathe.

A great introduction to Buddhism and its application to daily life. This book saved me and allowed me to cope and then thrive during a very hard time. He is a very accessible writer and compassionate human being.

I have read this three times, at least. I find myself reaching for it a chapter or a segment at a time, over and over. It is very grounding and resonates so well with me.

if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

201122: prescriptive, descriptive, not analytic. more religion than philosophy. more ‘way’. more heart than head. perhaps this is the true way to know buddhist thoughts, probably should have started here if i had been primarily interested in enlightenment rather than understanding arguments etc as is i have read a lot of both buddhism and philosophy so while this is very good it is familiar, formal, does not encourage me to read bibliography... but very good in its way...