Gain Clarity and Insight: A Practical Guide to the Principles of Buddhism

Amazon Customer: Great book.

United Kingdom on Dec 05, 2023

Victor J Cruz: A simple way to learn about Buddhism.

United States on Sep 04, 2023

Chas: Something to do waiting for flight

United States on Aug 02, 2023

Tara Briggs: I really enjoyed this book. It’s a quick read that really reminds that we are often suffering because we are trying to control things that aren’t in our control.

United States on Jul 16, 2023

Richard Nash: I enjoyed reading this book and it will be one I will definitely reread at some juncture. It was stimulating, thought provoking and indeed challenging to easily accepted presumptions. The somewhat tragic human condition, the four noble truths and the eightfold pathway to enlightenment were well explored and I think helped me gain a new insight and perspective on life’s day to day problems. Where I had difficulty was towards the end of the book. I understand the bit about suffering arising from our lack of awareness of impermanence and our insatiable desires, clinging and aversion. It is one thing though to say there is flux, motion and fluidity in everything but Steve seems to take it further and says therefore there is no beginning or end, no birth and no death. He disputes what seems to me the obvious fact that there is very real continuity between me at aged 70 and the photo I am looking at of me aged 7. Yes, atoms and molecules have all changed but I have an indisputable sense of a continued presence and sense of identity with shared memories etc, I cannot view my bodily death when brain activity ceases and becomes disconnected to my consciousness as just another moment of...

United Kingdom on Apr 25, 2023

client: Se lit facilement. Pourrait avoir plus de profondeur ('simply by seeing'...), mais assez intéressant pour être relu. J'avais hésité avec '' The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching écrit '' par Thich Nhat Hanh, avant de connaître ce maître bouddhisme et de m'intéresser à ses livres.
Shipping avec Amazon, neuf?

Canada on Sep 16, 2022

Sam Woodward: This thin volume is an excellent book on Buddhism for those who are approaching the subject for the first time or who have been meditating for years. That's because Hagen outlines the 4 Noble Truths - the central concepts behind all forms of Buddhism - & shows later in the book how deeply those profoundly simple ideas can be taken. I also liked that his approach was very down-to-earth & westernized. A lot of books are written about Japanese (Zen) Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism - even  Vietnamese Buddhism . But sometimes the values specific to those particular cultures & very different approaches can be mistaken for the original message. Yet while Hagen's roots are in Zen, he has a Western voice. This is Buddhism explained by an American for Americans & Europeans, resonating with clarity.

There aren't really 'beginners' books or 'more advanced books' on Buddhism. Some are more complex than others but this is largely down to the authors straying too far from the central message (after all,  Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness ) or merely because describing a state of being is difficult to put into words. Because Buddhism itself is profoundly simple -...

United Kingdom on Jan 06, 2014

M: (Revised 02Jan2014 to remove the one con since fixed in the latest printing.) I bought this book as part of a personal research project. I'm studying the Toyota Production System (TPS) - a series of counterintuitive manufacturing techniques - and knew little, if anything, about Buddhism. Apparently, Buddhism is a belief system (like vegetarianism) and it isn't really a religion. If it helps the uninitiated digest my point, you could be Catholic Buddhism Vegetarian. These belief systems can harmoniously coexist with one another.

I came to this topic and book, totally by chance, and I have been richly rewarded beyond any hope or dream I could have ever had imagined. Below I offer some pro and con points - some may not apply to those seeking wisdom from a different direction than which I arrived, but hope you can at least appreciate some of the other points.

Pro:
+ Plain and simple as promised. Author did not try to run on and on, nor dress up concepts
+ Part of simplicity is brevity. This book is relatively short and points are made and then the author moves on
+ Clearly states what Buddhism is... and is not - good contrast made!
+ Book was not dull. It was...

United States on Feb 09, 2013

Jim Martin: As soon as I noticed this book on Amazon, I had a feeling that I would enjoy it. I think I ran through this book in a week; I couldn't help myself... Meanwhile if you want, you can read one chapter a day and absorb the material slowly. I'm sure I will go back to this little gem and reread it. This is definitely a good book to have with you no matter where you go. Any chapter you turn to - has an array of wonderful lessons that somehow, we all forget from time to time.

I am not a Buddhist, but I have to admit, I cannot imagine a better place to start your journey: whether that journey is becoming a Buddha, reaching enlightenment or just an average layman looking for some encouraging words to help him realize each day for what it's worth. This book is packed with magnificent words to live by. This is one of those rare treasures that really makes you think how beautiful the world could be --- IF --- everyone thought differently, even for a day...

This short read is comprehensible to anyone, and yet it covers a lot of ground. My favorite chapter was the one on Morality. It discusses many valuable lessons that we should pay attention to:

1. Right speech, how to...

United States on Jul 23, 2011

S. J. Hulbert: Whether you're a Buddhist or not, matters not. The philosophy and wisdom of this text is way beyond categorization.
Your outlook on life will be positively changed by reading this simply written but profound little "gem" of a book. Why am I so sure of this? Simply the fact that many people, like myself, are desparately searching to find something meaningful, answers to real questions, and going about it logically (or worse still simply believing what you are told to believe). This book is a testimony to the fact that our whole way of seeking truth is inappropriate to the task.
Whatever religion you are (or even if you have lost faith in God altogether) forget your preconceptions of Buddhism and see things in a radical, but infinately natural, new way. Steve Hagen shows, decisively, that our whole way of thinking about spirituality, religion and ourselves is damaging and counter-productive. His simple yet penetrating way of looking at the world is, at first, shockingly inverted. Yet once past the initial "surprise" you will find, as I did, that many things that once seemed impossible to resolve fall naturally into place.
I am not a Buddhist, but I have learned a great deal...

United Kingdom on Feb 25, 2006