/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.21058816]

Is pic related a good introduction to Buddhism?

[Anonymous No.21058826]

>>21058816
lol no
you want the suttas, especially the SN ones fro the redpill
https://americanmonk.org/free-pts-sutta-ebooks/
you can read all this in 1 month if you are neet, otherwise jsut do this : take 1h to read that and you'll be up to date and know more than 99% of the alleged buddhists :

>start
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN19.html
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN6_63.html
>middle
https://suttacentral.net/mn148/en/sujato
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN12_51.html
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN11_1.html
>finish
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN54_8.html


speed learning about buddhism with videos
-the redpill which is the ajahn brahm teaching for monks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtnuVoJXWhM&list=PLQ_Y6m62B_MVZVGIzfjqrpoUmszVMcxWV
-then work slowly with the soft pill which is the retreat for lay people, so watch the other ones here (watch the QA too)
https://www.youtube.com/c/AjahnBrahmRetreats2011-15BSWAMedia/playlists

[Anonymous No.21058863]

>>21058816
it's as good as any introduction, most current buddhists are protestant buddhists very influenced by anglos and don't have much relation with original buddhism, including this guy >>21058826

[Anonymous No.21058868]

>>21058816
It was extremely helpful for me, so maybe it will be helpful for you too, yes.

[Anonymous No.21058878]

Yes, it's a good place to start. Be aware it looks mostly at just one current within Buddhism though. Personally I started with a bunch of short texts then moved into popular buddhsim then approached works like this before I ever went primary sources.

[Anonymous No.21058889]

>>21058863
>>21058868
>>21058878
>>21058816
it's a bit autistic and you have to remember that Evola is obsessed about a couple of things like the warrior caste, but it's good, if you want a different approach to an autistic compendium of buddhism from the point of view of a monk read the Visuddhimagga

[Anonymous No.21058892]

>>21058816
You should read it alongside the suttas themselves, as >>21058826 has given you a list. The texts he is referring to are referenced at any given point in the book, so you can refer to them that way. The only thing that anon didn't list is the Dhammapada which is also referenced frequently, I would recommend the Acharya Buddharakkhita translation personally, which also has the original Pali next to the translations if you get a decent copy.

[Anonymous No.21058942]

>>21058826
I think this book is a pretty good summary of the suttas, for a beginner. Evola is able to give context about the culture and religion at the time that the suttas just assume the reader knows. I think Evola adds a little bit of "Evola-ness" to it, but it's still nice to read a book written before McMindfulness took over.
I like this book because it shows Buddhism as a serious religion, rather than the hippie love-fest that I thought it was due to pop culture.

[Anonymous No.21059033]

>>21058942
seventh post best post.

This is the problem with jumping straight into primary sources, especially older ones. You do not have the context to engage with them properly.

[Anonymous No.21059127]

>>21058816
having unfortunately gone through the ordeal of reading from all over the buddhist corpus looking for genuine teachings, it is one of the best introductions out there. even for those that base themselves directly on the suttas, they are not as accurate as evola's book. was a massive influence on the first wave of western buddhists which was a real golden age before the hippie takeover and diluted westernisation of the teaching, people like bhikkhu nanamoli, nyanavimala, and nanavira thera, who lived lives very close to that of the original sangha and based themselves on study of the early pali texts. was also praised heavily by the pali text society at the time

-sticks only to the OG suttas and therefore as close as possible to the original character and style of the buddha's teaching, bypassing later mahayana developments that are often questionable

-introduces historical context of buddhism relating to the spiritual degeneration of the brahmins; evola relates to modern times, which makes many characteristics of buddhism, such as solitude and self-reliance, perfect for certain people of our age.

-much of the 'separateness' of the buddhas teaching is then reintegrated with the primordial tradition by evola through, first of all, the buddha's own acknowledgement of his derivation from the primordial tradition, and then comparisons of parts of the buddha's teaching with other traditions.

-having being written before too much western dilution, avoids trappings of modernist buddhist lexicon and practice such as 'daily meditation practice' and the lovey-dovey interpretation of metta and so on, instead offering a very well realized description of the true gradual training of the buddha with various quotations from the suttas. a lot of the practice described by evola, rather than 'meditation', rather consists in disciplines of moral uprightness and correct endurance and withdrawal from sensuality, leading naturally onto single-pointedness and composure, then used for supramundane realization.

he knows his buddhism rather well - the only critique that I can put forward is that he borrows from the visudhimagga on at least one certain topic he does not understand for himself which are the kasinas, maybe others, but it is a small point of concern...

much more could be said on these points, but it is an important book, and could be a life-saver for certain people looking for spiritual realization - so much so, that today, with the major lines of initiation mostly only open and 'easily' available within islam, buddhism with its spirit of self-reliance and purely initiatory character, freed of exoteric dross, at least in the suttas, may be the one true alternative.

[Anonymous No.21059163]

>>21059127
>only critique that I can put forward is that he borrows from the visudhimagga on at least one certain topic he does not understand for himself which are the kasinas
is it the meditation on colors part? what do he and the visudhimagga get wrong there? i don't remember much from the visudhimagga on that part, remember more the different corpse meditations, the bloated corpse is my favorite, but difficult to find on the streets

[Anonymous No.21059256]

>>21058816
Yes, especially if you actually want to transcend.

>>21058826
This is a bunch of crap.

[Anonymous No.21059409]

>>21059256
t. Glowie

[Anonymous No.21059697]

>>21058816
No
Read the nikkayas and this https://library.dhammasukha.org/uploads/1/2/8/6/12865490/the_path_to_nibbana__d_johnson_f18.pdf

[Anonymous No.21059954]

It’s alright I liked it but I would start with this instead as it is not so particular as Evola. Evola’s book comes from a very particular philosophical view point.

[Anonymous No.21060006]

>>21058826
Now do hinduism plox

[Anonymous No.21060343]

Walpola Rahula - What The Buddha Taught
is this a good one?

[Anonymous No.21060419]

>>21060343
Yes, can recommend it.

[Anonymous No.21060453]

>>21059409
Hi glowie, how new are you?

[S10241875 No.21060559]

>>21058816
No, maybe this is a good introduction to the Evola.
He has too many ideas of his own to be able to fairly convey Buddhism, although he does not actually forge the facts.
I don't like Evola's ideas (I know a little about them, but I don't like what I know), so I didn't get much use out of the book.
It is better to read original Buddhist texts and expositions by qualified Buddhist scholars who at least knew Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, etc.

[Anonymous No.21060580]

>>21060453
thankfully new enough to spot the bullshit of the perennialist retards in this board

[Anonymous No.21060609]

>>21058816
Why don't you read it.

[Anonymous No.21060611]

>>21058816
There's no reason to ever read a book on Buddhism written by a white man. If you want to learn about Buddhism then learn about it from people who were born and raised in Buddhist cultures, preferably ones who have spent the majority of their lives living as Buddhist monks.

I wouldn't read a book about Christianity from an asian for the same reason.

[Anonymous No.21060640]

>>21060580
>Evola
>perennialist
You're the retard here, you don't know how to meme either, lurk more.

>>21060611
>There's no reason to ever read a book on Buddhism written by a white man.
Yes there is, original buddhism is unknown today, white people are the most objective/scientific as well.
>If you want to learn about Buddhism then learn about it from people who were born and raised in Buddhist cultures, preferably ones who have spent the majority of their lives living as Buddhist monks.
Why? they aren't practicing it as it was originally, Evola's book uses the earliest sources and explains it the best from a Westerners perspective.

[Anonymous No.21060651]

>he thinks you can gain enlightenment by reading or doing anything
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha

[Anonymous No.21060655]

>>21060559
Ebola is based

[S10241875 No.21060677]

>>21060611
>If you want to learn about Buddhism then learn about it from people who were born and raised in Buddhist cultures, preferably ones who have spent the majority of their lives living as Buddhist monks.
Most likely, what things that will be noticeable to you will be invisible to him: he has become accustomed to them since childhood.
>I wouldn't read a book about Christianity from an asian for the same reason.
I would. (well, if I was interested).
I once read an article by an Orthodox priest. He is generally an Indonesian from Sumatra, very unusual. By the way, he is more Orthodox than most of the "born", for us it is just a family tradition, a custom, for him a difficult moral choice.

[Anonymous No.21061273]

>>21060640
>original buddhism is unknown today
>they aren't practicing it as it was originally
You have no idea what you're talking about. Like any religion, there are always people who just pay lip service but there are many people in Buddhist nations living as monastics in a way no different than the Buddha did, and basing their lives on those same "earliest sources" you refer to.

If you need Eastern religion filtered through a Western lens for you to understand it then you're a brainlet, simple as. This is not even getting into the weird shit Evola claims/misunderstands when it comes to Buddhism.


>>21060677
Getting a different perspective on a religion you're already familiar with from a cultural outsider is different than being introduced to it via one.

[Anonymous No.21061314]

Atheists try to cope that their religion is nihilism with 2 way.s First with Nietzsche retarded idea to create and fight for your own values. The other cope by atheists is ''traditionalism'', ie ''everyday I want a bureaucratic daddy to tell me what do to in his fascist republic while I am pretending to be wicca witch doing magic in my sparetime like Evola''

Whoever takes Nietzsche or Evola seriously is completely lobotomized by atheism will never ever understand buddhism

[Anonymous No.21061325]

>>21061314
>noooo you can’t create your own values you need to adopt some other guy’s values

[Anonymous No.21061402]

>>21058816
it's a good intro
keep in mind that he's mainly coming from a theravada POV though

[Anonymous No.21061500]

>>21061314
>Evola
>atheist
u wot?

[Anonymous No.21061535]

>>21059127
>with the major lines of initiation mostly only open and 'easily' available within islam
>What is Vajrayana Buddhism

[Anonymous No.21061550]

>>21058816
Not really. One of the fans of the book who shilled it very hard later said it's not that good.

[Anonymous No.21061574]

>>21059954
This is the only introduction worth reading

[Anonymous No.21061578]

>>21061574
Sorry I meant assuming you're looking for an academic introduction
If you want a religious introduction other introductions are probably worth reading

[Anonymous No.21062025]

>>21058816
Absolutely not

[Anonymous No.21062613]

>>21062025
Why not?

[Anonymous No.21062657]

>>21061574
>>21061578
people in universities do not understand anything about buddhism, they do not even need to, since they only care about genealogy

[Anonymous No.21063204]

>>21058816
He doesn't talk about Vajrayana at all

[Anonymous No.21063346]

Yes, it's one of the best. Especially if you read it side-by-side with Coomaraswamy's The living thoughts of Gautama Buddha

[Anonymous No.21063690]

>>21063204
isn't that this book though?

[Anonymous No.21063740]

>>21063690
No that's hinduism

[Anonymous No.21063999]

>>21062613
Evola was a racist white supremist.

[Anonymous No.21065224]

>>21063999
And?

[Anonymous No.21065900]

>>21061314
>t. saw Evola on neofash reading lists and skimmed the first paragraph of his wiki page
It really wouldn't hurt you to just read one of his books, literally any of them, and realize you are talking out your ass.
Based take on Nietzsche though, that guy sucked (and Evola agrees, mostly).

[Anonymous No.21066006]

Start with the Jeets. Evola is more interested in upholding his pet version of the based/cringe dichotomy than anything else, although he credits Buddhism with helping him avoid suicide.

[Anonymous No.21066736]

kek

[Anonymous No.21066744]

>>21063999
let the twitter jannies know plz

[Anonymous No.21066762]

>>21061325
Your values are usually contrived. You can only go from asceticism to gluttony.