Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

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Alobha
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Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

Post by Alobha »

Hey everyone,

it's a bit of a strange story: There is this Thai restaurant I go to now and then and one of the workers there is a young thai guy about my age. Last Saturday I was there with another buddhist friend and we were both wearing malas around our necks and we got into a short discussion with this young guy who works there since he noticed the malas. He told me he just became a buddhist too and was an atheist before that.
Though he just started to find out about buddhism and doesn't know which "school" to go in deeper etc.

We greet each other friendly and I don't have to pay for my meals upfront (unlike other customers) but we're not exactly close friends (I don't even know his name). I thought it would be nice of me to give him a book about the Dhamma as a present to encourage his inquiry, but don't know which. Do you think that would be okay or could it come across as too pushy? What book would be a good idea?

From my point of view it would be a nice chance for some Dhammaduta, since he already made clear that he wants to find out more about buddhism. Advice appreciated! :smile:

Best wishes,
Alobha
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Hanzze
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Re: Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

Post by Hanzze »

:thumbsup:
Do you think that would be okay or could it come across as too pushy?
Not at all if it is not seen as need to return the costless meal. (that would minder his Dana)
What book would be a good idea?
One which is near and at best your most beloved and desired. After that change the restaurant as he would think to need to give something back.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Cittasanto
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Re: Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

Post by Cittasanto »

Ajahn Chah books may be good?
he was quite open to other schools and techneques so from a Theravadan angly you couldn't go too wrong there.
and maybe suggest he also looks at MASTER HSU YUN'S DISCOURSE AND DHARMA WORDS found here http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhi ... nmain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which isn't to dissimilar except for words. and is of the Chan tradition.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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Caraka
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Re: Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

Post by Caraka »

I would highly recommend Buddhism Explained by Laurence-Khantipalo Mills. I bought it my self out of curiosity, it is small and in plain english it describe buddhism in an easy way. I read it tree times before I could put it away, and are looking forward to read it again.

I'm forever grateful to Laurence-Khantipalo Mills for teaching me through his book. It was my first real understanding about buddhism.
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Buddhistboy
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Re: Offering dhammabooks to new buddhists

Post by Buddhistboy »

I know this query was initiated 3 years ago but I feel that I have a good response to this.

'What Buddhists Believe' by Ven K Sri Dhammananda seems a good choice as it covers Buddhist topics over a wide variety of domains.
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf

I used to download pdf and other types of ebooks on Buddhism from Buddhist websites. I have saved them all in my hard drive. Since the past recent months I have been attending a Buddhist Centre in my region. There are some Buddhists and non-Buddhists who are interested in Buddhism who visit this centre on a monthly basis. Most of them do ask questions about Buddhism and are willing to learn more. Therefore what I did was, I purchased some USB pendrives (4 GB) and copy pasted the Buddhist documents in English which were stored on my hard drive. Then I gave them to those who attended the Buddhist centre on one of its monthly meetings.

I do not know how many actually made use out of the Buddhist ebooks but I felt that this was one of the many good ways of making a lot of information on Buddhism available to a lot of people in a portable format.
'Buddhistboy' is my username, even though I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not a boy. I am an adult.
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