Buddhism for Beginners & Non-Buddhists
Discover the best beginner books on Buddhism for non-Buddhists. Explore easy-to-understand guides, teachings, and practices to start your spiritual journey today.
Book
The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
A deluxe edition of Kerouac's 1958 classic Published just one year after On The Road, this is the story of two men enganged in a passionate search for Dharma or truth. Their major adventure is the pursuit of the Zen Way, which takes them climbing into the High Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Book
Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse
One America’s Favorite Books, PBS’s The Great American Read Nobel Prize–winning author: This classic of 20th-century literature chronicles the spiritual evolution of a man living in India at the time of the Buddha—a tale that has inspired generations of readers Here is a fresh translation of the classic Herman Hesse novel, from Sherab Chödzin Kohn—a gifted translator and longtime student of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. Kohn invites readers along Siddhartha’s spiritual journey—experiencing his highs and lows, loves and disappointments along the way. We first meet Siddhartha as a privileged brahmin’s son. Handsome, well-loved, and growing increasingly dissatisfied with the life expected of him, he then sets out on his journey, not realizing that he is fulfilling the prophesies proclaimed at his birth. Siddhartha blends in with the world, showing the reader the beauty and intricacies of the mind, nature, and his experiences on the path to enlightenment. Sherab Chödzin Kohn’s flowing, poetic translation conveys the philosophical and spiritual nuances of Hesse’s text, paying special attention to the qualities of meditative experience. Also included is an extensive introduction by Paul W. Morris that discusses the impact Siddhartha has had on American culture.
