Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 6/29/2009

Question
Hello and thank you for offering your time and assistance.  I have 2 questions:  1) Do you have any book recommendations for people who are new to Buddhism and want to learn about it or adopt it but don't know how, where to start, or personally know anyone who is Buddhist?  2) I am reading a book "Awakening The Buddah Within" by Lama Surya Das. It is very good but, even as it aims to help a beginner like me, I still feel over my head reading it.  A friend recommended "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle as book that might be easier for me to digest.  My question is, do Buddhists recognize this work as Buddhist? Is it worth reading for someone who is trying to understand Buddhism?  I confess that, although Lama Surya Das' book is difficult for me, it resonates with authenticity and I trust it.  Scanning Eckhart Tolle's book made me suspicious that it is more or less pop cultural self-help, which is fine, but not what I'm looking for.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Thank you for letting me answer your question, Kate.

I am very glad you are looking at Buddhism as a spiritual path. I have been practicing Tibetan Mahayana Gelugpa Buddhism for about nine years.

As you probably know, Buddha Shakyamuni taught eighty-four thousand teachings. He taught so many because he tailored each teaching to the specific audience he was addressing. The Buddha stated that the dharma was like medicine and just as no one medicine can cure all illneses, no one dharma teaching can bring all people to enlightenment.

Therefore, many various Buddhist practices evolved. One of which is Dzogchen, which is practiced by Lama Surya Das.

Although Lama Das' teachings resonante with a lot of people, they do not resonate for everyone. As you said, they do not completely resonate with you. That may be either because the Dzogchen teachings themselves don't resonante with you, or that you simply do not have karma with Lama Surya Das and therefore, the way he teaches does not resonate with you.

Since you do feel though that the information about Buddhism that Lama Das teaches does resonate, you may want to explore other Buddhist schools until you find one that works for you.

Your first choice in choosing a Buddhist path that works for you would be to see if you feel more comfortable with pursuing the path of individual liberation, of which the most prominent are the teachings of the Theraveda schools or instead if the path of Mahayana schools resonate more with you.

Theravadens believe in reaching Nirvana or individual liberation from samsara.(cyclic existence in the six realms of suffering)

Mahayanan's believe in reaching Enlightenment for the purpose of liberating not just self but helping to liberate all sentient beings from samsara.

As I mentioned, if you choose individual liberation, the most prominent of that school are the Theravadens.   With the Mahayanists, you have many other choices.

Since I practice Mahayana Buddhism, I am most familiar with those teachings. The Mahayana teachers I suggest you read which for me were pretty easy to understand are any books by the great Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tibetan teachers such as, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, "The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living" , Lama Thubten Yeshe, "The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism" and Robert Thurman, "Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness."  or Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo's "Stabilizing the Mind". Although she has not written a book, Venerable Robina Courtin has many of her teachings on tape online and is also wonderful. You may also want to visit their websites in order to see if any of these seem to feel right to you.

For Theravaden or Vipassana teachers, I suggest you check out Jack Kornfield, "A Path With Heart", Sylvia Boorstein, "It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness" or any talks online by Ajahn Amaro. These teachers for me were easy to understand and insightful.

As for Eckhart Tolle, what he teaches has its basis in Buddhism in many ways. He teaches a great deal about being in the moment.  Buddhists call this mindfulness. However, his teachings are not strictly Buddhist because he does not completely understand (at least as far as I can tell) the finer points of Buddhist teachings and therefore his teachings are not completely accurate from a Buddhist point of view. Nonetheless, his teachings are quite helpful to many people and that is wonderful.  Again, not all teachers will resonate with all students.

So now you know someone who is Buddhist. So, please don't hesitate to contact me with any further questions or thoughts you might have.

I wish you much success and happiness as you travel on your spiritual path