Tag Archives: books

Daily Buddhism, Ethics

Raising Buddhist Children

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A reader recently wrote:

Hi Brian,

Glad to see the blog posts are back up. I’m eagerly awaiting new podcasts. Wished your book was an audio book.

I’m emailing today to ask: how do you raise my 5 year old buddhist? I think he’ll benefit tremendously from meditation and his mind hasn’t been packed with my family’s Catholic tradition. When do you get a kid started? How do I start him?

Thanks again for all your work on the website.

My Response:

First, I should point out that The Five-Minute Buddhist’s Buddhism Quick Start Guide is available as an audio book, as well as paperback or eBook for all major platforms. The big books may be coming someday, but there’s no schedule for that yet.

Now on to your real question. I don’t have any children, but have taken a bit of time to think through this. Hopefully, we’ll get some advice from someone with experience in the comments below the post.

I don’t know if there is an especially good time to “start” a child on Buddhism other than right now, as soon as you decide that you want your child to learn about it. The best way to “get into” any religion is to simply live with it from day to day. Let your child see you meditate, and hopefully, they’ll want to join in if they see mommy or daddy doing it.

I remember at that age, my grandparents gave me at least one big book of Bible stories, and I know I really enjoyed that book, not realizing that I was being indoctrinated as well. It’s not subtle, but storybooks not only help teach your child to read, but also instill whatever values and lessons are inside those stories. After a quick search on Amazon, here are a few that I found that look promising:

All four of those are very highly rated, but there are dozens of similar titles available.

Another thing to consider is whether or not you want to indoctrinate (that’s an ugly word) your child into Buddhism, or allow them to make their own choices like you did. I don’t know what your path to choosing/accepting Buddhism was, but if you’re like most Westerners, you came here from some other religious background. You may want to simply live your life as a Buddhist and be a good example for your children without pushing them either way. That’s up to you, but it’s a point to be considered.

There are a lot of opinions on this. The topic has come up before here {LINK} in relation to discipline, but the comments after the post are definitely worth reading.

If you have an opinion or advice on children and Buddhist parenting, please post it in the comments or email me.

 

Announcements, Daily Buddhism

The Five-Minute Buddhist Returns

The Five-Minute Buddhist Returns

Apply Buddhist Principles to Your Life

 

ISBN: 1507601573

ISBN-13: 978-1507601570

 

Buy now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords or Apple

A jargon-free, plain-language introduction to the foundational ideas of Buddhism and real-world tips for practicing Buddhism while balancing life in the real, modern world.

This follow-up to the immensely-popular “Five-Minute Buddhist” continues the tradition of easily-understood application of Buddhist principles and ideas to your everyday life.

After a brief “Buddhism Refresher,” this book presents approximately 150 short topics, mostly reader-submitted questions and answers. How do you use Buddhism in your life? Find out how we do it in short, five-minute chunks

Daily Buddhism

Buddhist Tattoos and Books

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Question:

Hello Brian, Which podcast discusses books that you and others have read? Best of luck with the new job! I miss getting semi daily tweets.

PS- what is a Buddhist opinion on tattoos? Are tattoos considered desecrating to the human body and isn’t the body considered a temple?

Art-Tat-01Answer:

Thank you, the new job is going well, and I’ve finally managed to shuffle things around to hopefully make time for everything. I may not be Tweeting as much anymore, but at least the blogs and emails are going out regularly again.

The post about books was called “Beginner’s Buddhism Books,” and you can find it here: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1186 , or listen to the podcast version here: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1191

If you or anyone else has recently found a book that you recommend, feel free to add it to the post in a comment.

Tattoos? Hmmm. I don’t know of anything Buddha himself said about tattoos. I think that the whole idea of “Your body is a temple” is more of a Christian idea than Buddhist. Remember, Buddhists believe that the body is just a temporary shell, to be discarded when we are doe with it.

Tattoos and how they are looked upon is more related to culture than religion in my experience. In Japan, for example, no “civilized person” shows tattoos publicly. Americans who have tattoos and visit Japan are advised to cover them up, as only the “Japanese Mafia” wear tattoos openly. I’m not going to say there aren’t exceptions to that, but it seemed pretty accurate as far as I could see. I don’t have a tattoo, but my roommate did, and he absolutely got a negative reaction out of it. On the other hand, it’s not that unusual for children to have tattoos in America; they’re simply everywhere.

In countries where tattooing is socially acceptable, there is a huge variety of very beautiful tattoos of Buddhist imagery. A quick Google of “Buddhist Tattoos” will show many examples.

Daily Buddhism, Reviews

Beginners Buddhism Books

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Beginner’s Books

Last week I mentioned that sometimes I get two of the same question at the same time. Well it happened again, this time regarding reading material:

Question:

Hi, I wanted to know if we are new to Buddhism what reading material would you suggest to start out. Thank you,

and also

I’ve been interested in Buddhism for quite some time and have done a bit of reading/meditation/study here and there. However, I was wondering if there are any books you can recommend on the basic foundations: the four noble truths, the eight-fold path, the five precepts. I’d really prefer something that’s easily understandable to someone new to Buddhism–something in layman’s terms, if you will.

Answer:

My first recommendation is, of course, to read and subscribe to the Daily Buddhism. I did a series from February 2nd to Feb 6th called the “Foundations of Buddhism.” Go back and find the posts and read them, or listen to Podcast episode 43, the audio version of the same material. These are free and available to you immediately, so I see no reason not to start there. You can also purchase it in printable pdf format, and here are links:

Foundations of Buddhism by Brian Schell
Podcast/ MP3 Audio Show (Free): http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1156
Buy the eBook ($4.95): http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1158

Beyond that, here are a few good beginner books that I recommend:

Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1573226564/?tag=askdrarca-20
This is the book that “converted” me when it first came out. It explains all the basics of Buddhism without relying on mysticism and religion. I have long since given my copy away and it’s been years since I read it, but I’ll recommend it just for the impact it had on me.

Buddhist Scriptures by Edward Conze
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140440887/?tag=askdrarca-20
This one has excerpts from all the major “scriptures” of Buddhism and will give a good overview of what all has been written in the past 2500 years. There are lots of stories, doctrines, and so forth here, but this is not a “What is Buddhism about” kind of book. This is a good book for when you have a grasp of the basics, but don’t buy this as a first book.

Meditation for Dummies by Stephan Bodian
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471777749/?tag=askdrarca-20
I like this one because it’s not actually about Buddhism. It focuses on many different forms of meditation, allowing you to try various ways of meditating without “preaching” to you about which one is best for your sect of Buddhism. I think it is best to learn Buddhism and Meditation separately and then find a way to make the two mesh with each other in your own mind.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings by Thich Nhat Hanh
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1570753709/?tag=askdrarca-20
Thich Nhat Hanh is easily my favorite Buddhist author living today. You just have to like the guy, he’s warm, honest, gentle in the extreme, and possibly the biggest pacifist ever. Nominated by Martin Luther King Jr. for a Nobel prize, he’s written a gazillion books, and I’d recommend just about any of them. This one is a good starting point.

The Five-Minute Buddhist by Brian Schell
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0G1QH4/?tag=askdrarca-20
MY Book. Of course I’m going to recommend it here. It’s got all the best posts from the Daily Buddhism, as well as new material. If you like reading this web site, you should absolutely pick this one up.

I’ve also reviewed quite a few books here on the Daily Buddhism site, and I recommend most of them (I don’t like to write about the books I disliked).

Podcasts

Words of Advice For The Beginning Buddhist

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Podcast Episode 46: Words of Advice For The Beginning Buddhist

Welcome back, this is Daily Buddhism audio show number forty-six. My name is Brian Schell, and I am the your host for the show. You can find the text as well as all links mentioned in this program and all past episodes on the website at www.dailybuddhism.com.

I love answering your questions, so please send in yours by email or voicemail to brian@dailybuddhism.com or 937-660-4949.

Announcements:

Nothing major to report this week as far as announcements go. The pledge-drive I announced last week has been doing really well, and we’re more than halfway to the goal. I’ll explain it again just this once, but beyond that I won’t bring it up again until the goal is reached.

Basically, I’m in the need for a new laptop. I need to go with as inexpensive a replacement as possible, so I’ve decided on one of the little $300-ish netbooks. I’m pretty much decided on an Acer Aspire One (link in show notes). As always, money is tight, and the job situation here in Dayton isn’t getting any better. I hesitated to ask for help, but it seems to have gone well so far. With your help, hopefully, we can wrap this up before next weekend.

If you’ve donated in the past, please don’t think I’m asking for more from you; thanks for your past support. If you are one of the folks who said they might send something in someday, or have otherwise intended to send something but put it off, then now would be a really good time.

As always, a donation of $50 or more will get you a free year of the Weekly Buddhism PDF Magazine. Of course, anything will help. You can donate at

Donate at: http://dailybuddhism.com/donate

Or check the status and totals of how things are going in the top-right hand corner of www.dailybuddhism.com or at http://www.dailybuddhism.com/pledge-drive

[Play iPhone iMantra software review request]

Well, I don’t have an iPhone, but it sounds like an interesting application. If anyone out there has an iPhone and the iMantra app, or any other app that might be of interest to the Daily Buddhism audience, I’d love to see you write a guest post with a review. Send me an email at brian@dailybuddhism.com if you’d like to write up a review. Of course, guest posts on most any topic are welcome.

Oh- I did cover Mala beads a while back. You can do a search on the site for the term ‘Mala’ and it’ll come right up with the article, or you can find the same information by listening to Podcast Episode 27,

And now let’s get on with this week’s show!

[Read the past five blog posts or emails for contents of the show]

This Week’s Links:

New Computer Pledge-Drive:
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/pledge-drive
The Goal:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EYVBE0/?tag=askdrarca-20

Rebirth and Karma
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1182

A Buddhist Diet
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1184

Beginners Buddhism Books
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1186

Koan: Trading Dialogue for Lodging
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1188

Words of Advice for the New Buddhist
http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1189

Free Newsletter: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/sign

Voice Mail Number: 937-660-4949
Email: Dailybuddhism@gmail.com
Donate: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/donate
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