What Makes You Not a Buddhist

by KHYENTSE, DZONGSAR JAMYANG

• ISBN13: 9781590304068
• ISBN10: 1590304063
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-05
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Dzongsar Khyentse is one of the most creative and innovative young Tibetan Buddhist lamas teaching today. The director of two feature films with Buddhist themes (the international sensation The Cup and Travelers and Magicians), this provocative teacher, artist, and poet is widely known and admired by Western Buddhists. Moving away from conventional presentations of Buddhist teachings, Khyentse challenges readers to make sure they know what they're talking about before they claim to be Buddhist. With wit and irony, Khyentse urges readers to move beyond the superficial trappings of Buddhismbeyond a romance with beads, incense, and exotic people in robesstraight to the heart of what the Buddha taught. In essence, this book explains what a Buddhist really is, namely, someone who deeply understands the truth of impermanence and how our emotions can trap us in cycles of suffering. Khyentse presents the fundamental tenets of Buddhism in simple language, using examples we can all relate to.

Author Biography

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (Khyentse Norbu) is a Tibetan Buddhist lama who travels and teaches internationally and is also an award-winning filmmaker. He is the abbot of several monasteries in Asia and the spiritual director of meditation centers in Vancouver, San Francisco, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Taipei. He is also head of a Buddhist organization called Siddhartha’s Intent.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(6)
Fabrication and Impermanence	7	(26)
Emotion and Pain	33	(22)
Everything Is Emptiness	55	(28)
Nirvana Is beyond Concepts	83	(24)
Conclusion	107	(20)
Postscript on the Translation of Terms	127	(2)
Acknowledgments	129