Rebel Buddha: A Journey to Find Freedom Through Dzogchen Ponlop

ML, Chiropractor: In this book, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche goes straight to the root wisdom of Buddhist teachings in a highly accessible & engaging manner opening a window to contemporary Westerners, sans its cultural/religious trappings. That is what makes this book an essential read for curious Westerners.

United States on Oct 02, 2022

TJ: Very informative. Easy read.

Canada on Aug 29, 2021

B. Anderson: I have read a lot about Buddhist principles but this book has been written in such a way to make it easy to understand and apply to normal life. It helped me understand my purpose in my journey to self healing.

United States on Apr 25, 2021

Clawdette: The clarity is good and the application of Buddhist teachings to life in the West by a person with deep roots in both traditions is helpful. I especially liked his personal experiences of reconciling studies in Western philosophy with traditional Tibetan approaches to the same subject. Good as a reminder to those who have practiced for a long time and as an introduction to those entering the path. It seemed to fall apart a little around halfway through. I really think that it's possible to appeal to the heart/mind in both Western and Eastern traditions on the highest level. I often get the feeling, with Tibetan teachers, that they talk down to Westerners a bit when they teach. You can feel it. All the "mindfulness" talk in this book had that quality to it...like, this is what Westerners are familiar with so I'll focus on that. There is a foundation here that began in the 60s. I wonder why there is the feeling of having to start all over again in nursery school.

United States on Sep 17, 2020

Shawn Thompson aka the intimate ape: Buddhism was never meant to be dogmatic, as many commentators have said, and yet inevitably with human beings seems to become dogmatic like any other denomination of spirituality. And yet few write as sensibly in a non-dogmatic way as this teacher. He is classically trained and made the transition to the West in a way that Westerns will listen to him. I have both the paperback and audio version of this book and am slightly disappointed that in the audio version only the induction is spoken in his own voice and suggest that the whole audio version be recorded again in his voice alone. I will buy the Spanish version of the paperback to understand how I might listen differently in a language other than my native English.

Canada on Jun 14, 2020

Marina: Incredible book, very clear writing. The analogy and comparisons the author makes are not overly complex with large uneccesary vocabulary. Easy to understand his perspective on his views, would reccomend this to everyone. Its all about self learning and appriciation of life itself. I am working on reading at a second time.

Canada on Aug 15, 2019

Carol Goodwin: I bought this book for my Dharma discussion group - we all read a book and discuss it as we go. This book has generated a deeper level of discussion than anything else we've done together. It's well written and easily read.

Canada on Nov 17, 2017

tsultrim: Most importantly, the book suggests what a Buddhist should be thinking - Why do I want to be a Buddhist?

It is a very good beginner's book in Buddhism. It is also a good read for any level of Buddhists; however the author or the editor can refine some of the treatments of the discussion. After reading the book, one may feel that he has a split personality. When will this rebel Buddha show up? How do I know when is the Rebel Buddha talking or when is one of the Mara(Devils) talking? If I can tell the difference, then I am no longer in the confused state. The book also shy away from the more technical debate on the meaning of selflessness and emptiness. It covers these two topics very briefly. For the more advanced Buddhism practitioners, they would like to see a more refined treatment on these subjects.

Nonetheless, I still think this is a must read book for all Buddhists. It opens up a lot of vocabulary for further discussions among Buddhists and non-Buddhists.

Canada on Nov 17, 2013

Beta reader 1.0: I read about this book on a blog about Buddhism in western culture, I am very happy I took the chance and decided to purchase it. I am not a person that is very interested in religious dogma and ritual for the sake of tradition. I have Faith. I was raised Baptist, attended Christian School and was very jaded by the hypocrisy spouted by the very people meant to teach me as an impressionable young person. It totally turned me off from Church. This book makes a lot of sense to me. He writes this in such an open minded way, and speaks freely about how traditions and ritual in cultures sometimes hold a person or society back instead of moving forward. I highly recommend this book to all my friends, no matter the religion I think it speaks to you on some level and you will be left with much to think on.

United States on Oct 08, 2012

RichB: As has been true with each book I've read by Ponlop Rinpoche, "Rebel Buddha" adds enormously to my knowledge of Buddhism. I always welcome his understanding of American Culture and how far he has come to bridge the "gap" between Tibet and America in his writings on Buddhism. (Even to the point that he watches Stephen Colbert!).

I always find a great deal of encouragement from his writings for my practice; that I can advance, that awakening may not be millions of lifetimes in the future but, in fact, could be at any time with deepening practice of the six perfections.

Rinpoche's approach is casual, light-hearted and joyful, but, nevertheless conveys the immense importance of undertaking the Path. I've never met him, but through his writings, I've come to regard him as a great spiritual friend.

~~Rich

United States on Apr 11, 2011