The Heart of Buddhism: A Simple Introduction to Buddhist Practice. Guy Claxton

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      THE HEART OF BUDDHISM

      A Simple Introduction to Buddhist Practice

      

      Guy Claxton

      

       Dedication

      For the whanau, who help me to live it.

Epigraph

      Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep –

       He hath awakened from the dream of life – ’Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep With phantoms an unprofitable strife, And in mad trance, strike with our spirit’s knife Invulnerable nothings. – We decay Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief Convulse us and consume us day by day, And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.

      

      

      He hath outsoared the shadow of our night;

       Envy and calumny and hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again; From the contagion of the world’s slow stain He is secure …

      

      

      He lives, he wakes – ’tis Death is dead, not he;

       Mourn not for Adonais.

      

      

      — Percy Bysshe Shelley: Adonais

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Dedication

Epigraph

      Preface

      

      1 - Why Buddhism?

Who is the book for?

Who is it not for?

Two things Buddhism is not

The fruits

What draws people to Buddhism?

Why now?

The plan of the book

      2 - A Peace Missing

The programme of research

The game plan

Pain and death

      3 - No Hard Feelings

Fear

       Guilt and shame

       Anger

       Jealousy

       Sadness and grief

       Meanness

       Loneliness

       Tension

       Happiness, peace and love

      4 - Trouble In Mind

       Unconsciousness

       Thinking

       Karma

       Sub-selves and impulsiveness

      5 - The Ground Flaw

       Self-image

       Anatta: the bottom line

      6 - Attention, Attention, Attention

       Believing is seeing

       The Wise Lady from Philadelphia

       Watching the fruit machine

       Types of meditation

      7 - Buddhist Support Systems

       The Noble Eightfold Path

       Buddha

       Puja

      8 - The Fruit of the Path

       Daily life practice

      9 - Becoming a Buddhist

       Do I need a teacher?

       How do I choose a teacher?

       Which brand of Buddhism is for me?

       What difference will it make to my life?

       What if I want to give it up?

       When is the best time to start?

      Glossary