Buddhism Explained

by Laurence Khantipālo Mills

An eminently readable, complete summary of all the essentials of Buddhist teaching and practice, Buddhism Explained is useful both for those wanting an understandable introduction to the subject and experts wishing a comprehensive but brief reference. It covers topics as diverse as meditation methods, the daily life of Buddhist monks, and the meaning of profound concepts such as Nirvana. The use of Thai, Pali, and Sanskrit terms has been kept to a minimum, with clear explanations of those included.

Genres: Religion, Buddhism, Nonfiction, Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Laurence Mills started publishing translations of the Buddhist sutras and teachings as a Theravada monk under the names Phra Khantipālo and Khantipālo Bhikkhu before disrobing in 1991. He has since returned to his birth name, often publishing with his monastic name included, and has moved to Queensland, Australia.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew very little about Buddhism beforehand so have little to compare to but thought this was a good intro to the religion and provides a lot of context / background that goes a long ways towards explaining the cultures of predominantly Buddhist countries (primarily in SE Asia).

My single biggest takeaway was an appreciation for how Buddhism is very different from most other religions (at least from Christianity, Judiasm and Islam) in that it is not a set of beliefs that followers adhere to but rather a framework for self-improvement and path to enlightenment. There are no commandments, no statements of belief, simply teachings from enlightened ones that show the path to enlightenment (although this is rarely expected to be achieved in this life). Given that, it seems that Buddhism is much more complex than other religions in that it cannot be summarized with a statement of beliefs, etc. I know understand why it takes the monks so long to figure it all out :).

Would recommend as a primer on Buddhism and good background info on the cultures of Thailand and Cambodia.

[Babak Fakhamzadeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting bits:

+ Buddhists have faith in "the triple gem", the Buddha, the Dhamma (learnings and teachings) and the Sangha (the "noble order of enlightened followers").
+ The three types of offerings, candles, incense and lotus flowers, represent enlightenment, pervasive virtue and the transience of life. However, an alternative reading is of these three offerings symbolizing the triple gem.
+ "Buddha" is a title. The revered Buddha Gotama was only the most recent individual to reach that stage.
+ The existence of rebirth is propagated through the "wager argument". This basically means that it's smarter to assume rebirth exists because if it does and you assumed it didn't, you might just be in deep shit. Of course, this then becomes a simple act of faith like the existence of god in any other religion and detracts from the credibility of buddhism as a whole.
+ Actions with an unintentional negative result, say accidentally squashing an insect by walking on it, have no bad effect on your karma.
+ "Gods" exist, but are simply beings in a "higher state".
+ Due to incomplete remembering previous lives, individuals (partially) remembering a previous life as a god can be duped into believing in the existence of the One God and, hence, are then fooled into believing in the existence of monotheistic religion.
+ Buddhists await the coming of the future Buddha, who has been waiting in some higher plane of existence, to be reborn in his last life.
+ Deformed or retarded individuals were reborn from lowly states of existence as the result of earlier good karma.
+ Buddhism doesn't make a statement on the beginning of the world / universe / existence. In effect because it's useless to bother.
+ Improving the world is done by improving the self.
+ All conditioned "things" are impermanent and unsatisfactory.
+ Buddhist monks are supposed to observe 227 precepts (rules).

The book's insightful, but I'm left with a few questions:

- Why are women (in Thailand at least) not supposed to touch monks?
- Monks are not supposed to handle money. How do they manage to take taxis?
- Buddhists are not supposed to kill knowingly, as even, say, ants, are beings which may at some point be reborn as human. Further, buddhists are not supposed to take drugs. How then, do buddhists take medicine to beat a virus?

In the end, I don't dislike Buddhism as it turns to the self for improvement of the world: first get yourself in order, then try to help others. As a result, only you are responsible for your own actions and your own destiny.

[Leah Dudley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although packed with good information, this book was either not edited or not edited well. Tons of glaring typos. Also, I found it tough to get through due to the wording.

[Luke Reifenberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author opines quite a bit here. They mention several times the "the evils of communism. With this being published in 1999, you can't really justify such talk as a result of the general ethos of the Red Scare. The author decides to avoid using most Pali terminology in the name of simplicity, but this seems to confuse some things since he then uses a common English word. The exposition isn't particularly clear, the topics are scattered, and the title's claim certainly didn't feel accomplished by the end of the reading (as if a single book could explain a whole religion, or even the specifics of a particular regional version of a religion, here it being Thai Theravada Buddhism).

[Nada Al-Karmi · Rating 2 out of 5]

After travelling to Thailand, I got interested in Buddhism and wanted to learn more about it and understand its teachings. I picked the wrong book to do so.

This book was so confusing and boring that it took me a long time to finish cause it made me sleepy whenever I tried to finish it.

Some ideas and teachings weren't foreign to me and were practised by different religions, while others were new and kinda weird for me.

The thing I didn't like the most was how the author, by trying to explain Buddhism, kept attacking other religions in an underhanded way.

[Bugra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised with some of the comments here (e.g. wrt communism, typos etc) since I haven't noticed these issues. Maybe they were amended in the updated version of the book.

This is a well-written book that gives a good overview on buddhism. I found the level of detail to be fitting for an introduction. It didn't feel dumbed down or particularly catered for a western audience. It was also good to learn about how Buddhism is practiced in Thailand.

[Nomdo · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it probably all is factually correct, due to the extremely dry and formal language being used, this is not a “Buddha for beginners” kind of book. It is extremely tough to digest to the point where I just started flipping pages.

[Jeroen Van de Crommenacker · Rating 2 out of 5]

In hindsight I probably wasn’t sufficiently keen on the subject. It was all a bit too esoteric and theological and serious for me. Hard to get through.

[Schwendigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Shravakayana

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep!