This book blew my mind and made me see things in a whole new way. Amazing.

If 'Buddhism: Plain & Simple' was essential reading, this sequel was superfluous & repetitive.
Although the author drew from various monk's anecdotes, in attempts to ingrain the Buddhist teachings into the reader, the majority of it felt forced & the monotony of the text, not only made this read drag 2 weeks for me, but it in addition, put me in a month long reading slump.
The prequel was very much enough.

A truly inspiring and enlightening book. Boiling down the concepts of Buddhism to their most basic and fundamental.

this book is fantastic. i hit kind of a repetative point so it's taking forever to read.

The book certainly delivers on the promise of its title. Hagen focuses on Zen Buddhism and stays away from any discussion of cosmology or doctrine, emphasizing that Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) himself kept silent about these matters. He focuses instead on the psychological aspect of Zen Buddhism and the change in perception that it seeks for its followers. Hagen is clear and has excellent analogies to help the reader understand the seemingly paradoxical aims of Zen Buddhism. While certain discussions regarding how science corroborates the Buddhist outlook seemed forced, the vast majority of the book was interesting and thought-provoking.

I keep returning to this when life gets busy/stressful

Terrific book. A lot of practical sense and getting to grips with real Buddhism. I like Steve Hagen's books and have a couple of others—they're all worth reading.

I've been studying with Sogyal Rinpoches RIGPA foundation now for two years. This past year in class they introduced us to the notion's of how we use concepts to explain that which is beyond concepts, which kinda makes it hard to write a review with any obvious (concept based) value.
This book really does a beautifully direct teaching of the above. How it makes the point over and over about what reality is and isn't, is the absolute take out from the book for me. I think if I hadn't had 2 years worth of teachings from Rigpa, I'm not sure if I would have been able to get what was being said. Simply an outstanding book to help decode the teachings and apply them.

Honesty and clarity

This is an absolutely beautiful book, written in direct and simple language, that points the reader back to explore the simplicity of what is. In its essence, Buddhism is about reality, and that's what I enjoyed about this book. It's not a book on historical Buddhism, it's about a naked looking at right here right now. I very much recommend this book.

A really interesting book about the tenets of Buddhism. It is difficult to understand some of the concepts because the Buddhist way of thinking is so different from the Western way. It really opens you mind to a new perspective!

3.5

I'm no Buddhist but this was the best book I've read all year. There are so many thoughts and viewpoints explored in this book anyone would be able to walk away with something. My view on life has been changed forever after reading, i can see now lol!