The Best Place To Start

[wadey]

Where would the best place for me to start learning about Buddhism? Reading books/essays/websites or from a person?

[Popo]

Where would the best place for me to start learning about Buddhism? Reading books/essays/websites or from a person?

Depends on your means and location.

There are many good online references (including this forum). There are also many good books. If you want an overview of all the streams of Buddhist thought, I'd start with Buddhism for Dummies. For a more Theravadin flavored text, What the Buddha Taught by Bhikkhu Walpola is a good one.

Best of luck

[Ben]

Greetings wadey

Some foundation texts that I recommend include:

- The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... toend.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Buddhism in a nutshell: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... shell.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- What the Buddha Taught: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Gfg ... CDoQ6AEwAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They should give you a good foundation.

Also, http://www.accesstoinsight.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a great reference library and http://www.dhammawheel.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (your current location) is an excellent venue to discuss the Dhamma of the Theravada.
I hope that helps.

Ben

[Individual]

Right here

[Marmalade]

Where would the best place for me to start learning about Buddhism? Reading books/essays/websites or from a person?

If you don't know someone personally who is a Buddhist - as I do not - perhaps the most comfortable entry for you would be books/essays/websites, I'd suspect. You can take things at your own pace tis way, "dip your toes in the water", so to speak, without worrying if you are getting involved in something too deeply.

I'd recommend to take a scoot around Buddhanet, maybe have a read of their free eBook "Buddhism in a Nutshell".

http://www.buddhanet.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, maybe, take a look at:

http://buddhismnow.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you want to expand, there's Tricycle Magazine, and it's website:

http://www.tricycle.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and maybe do a search for "Buddhism" at ipl2 org:

http://www.ipl.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

See...

Introductory Resources
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=148" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Metta,
Retro.