Customer Reviews
Not the best - By: GlynCaeMawr, 29 Aug 2008 
Rather simplistic even bigottedin parts.
There are many better introductions to be had.
Again?! Same old, same old - By: Charles A. Miller, 07 Aug 2008 After reading this book, I picked up Transform Your Life (by the same author), & lo & behold, over 50% of this book is repeated verbatim within its contents. Also of note is the fact that much of the material here is repeating yet againin Gyatso's New Meditation Handbook & How To Solve Our Human Problems.
It would appear the author has very little to say on the subject of Buddhism as is evidenced by all this regurgitation. If you want to read a Gyatso book, you really only need one... this title or one of the ones mentionedin the previous paragraph as all pretty much say the same thing. Zzzzzzz.
The most comprehensive introduction to Buddhism out there? Buddhismin 100 pages? To perceive this thick pamphlet as such is to turn a blind eye to the true nature of the Buddha's teachings since they could never be summed upin a mere 100 pages.
Don't sell yourself short. Readers interestedin basic Buddhism would be far better served by turning away from these claustrophobic, repetitive & preachy volumes, which feature no support or sources beyond references to the other books by the same author. If you can accept one author as the only source on the subject, this might work for you, but again, you would be selling yourself short.
Seek out mainstream sources of the Dharma to really learn about basic Buddhism. The plethora of books by the best living representive of this tradition, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, immediately come to mind, (most of which are available from Amazon). Books published by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) & those by Snow Lion & Wisdom also feature excellent titles on basic Buddhism.
Maybe I missed the point, but I felt Gyatso was missing the point - By: Greshon, 07 May 2008 I've seen some very positive reviews of this book, so maybe it gets better (or at least explains its bizarre & genuinely disturbing opening). I'm used to reading this kind of thing & I'm affriad I didn't get very far with this one before putting it down. Gyatso seems to be entirely missing the point, going off on a lengthy tangent about how he is convinced that he knows the exact personin which his mother has been reborn. He comes across as a man obsessed - not very Buddhist, I'd say.
Not consistent with the basic idea of Buddhism - By: S. Singh, 09 Feb 2008 
My understanding of Buddhism is that it is about rejecting theorising & conceptualising & more about seeing what is before you & livingin the moment (although this may be a more accurate description of Zen Buddhism). This book unfortunately is largely about the kinds of theories, ceremonial practices & idol worship that Buddhism is supposed to reject. You do not need to utter mantras & chants & read prayers to see what is before you & attain enlightenment. The book also claims that there are such things as reincarnation & clairvoyance, but these cannot be directly observed & may well cause suffering because such concepts are not necessarily consistent with what we see. There are some good ideasin the book however & a lot of thingsin it which make perfect sense, but I do not think it encapsulates the core of what Buddhism is about.
A very interesting read but perhaps a little cryptic. - By: M. Linnard, 07 May 2007 
I found this a very interesting read & difficult to put down. Definately worth reading if you are interestedin the basic ideas of Buddhism.
Some of the ideas might have been easier to grasp quickly if explained more directly but I think this may have been intentional to encourage thought on the topics.
