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Buddhism Today: How to Be a Buddhist in the Modern World
Buddhism is an ancient tradition that remains highly relevant in today's world.
" Buddhism Today" provides a comprehensive introduction to Buddhist philosophy, meditation, ethics, and practices - and how to apply them to modern life.
Key topics covered Brief overview of Buddhism - The life of Buddha, traditions, and Buddha's Teachings.Understanding Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, concepts of karma, rebirth, impermanence, and non-self.Applying Buddhism Today - Using Buddhist principles for modern challenges like relationships, work technology, environmentalism.Buddhist Ethics - Practical guidance for mindful, compassionate living.Meditation and Mindfulness - Instructions for building a regular practice.Enlightenment and Buddhist Goals - What is enlightenment and how to work towards Buddhist ideals in daily life."Buddhism Today" goes beyond theory to offer actionable ways to apply Buddhist wisdom to contemporary issues. Learn how Buddhist practices like meditation, ethical living and letting go of ego can positively impact your relationships, work, engagement with technology and approach to the environment.
Written in clear, friendly language, "Buddhism Today" shows how this ancient philosophy remains extremely relevant. It provides tools to reduce anger and anxiety, increase focus and mindfulness, communicate more skilfully, achieve goals rooted in compassion, find inner peace and happiness, and discover greater meaning in the journey of life.
For anyone seeking to understand Buddhism in a modern context and apply its profound wisdom to navigate the complexities of 21st century living, this is an invaluable guide.
" Buddhism Today" provides a comprehensive introduction to Buddhist philosophy, meditation, ethics, and practices - and how to apply them to modern life.
Key topics covered Brief overview of Buddhism - The life of Buddha, traditions, and Buddha's Teachings.Understanding Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, concepts of karma, rebirth, impermanence, and non-self.Applying Buddhism Today - Using Buddhist principles for modern challenges like relationships, work technology, environmentalism.Buddhist Ethics - Practical guidance for mindful, compassionate living.Meditation and Mindfulness - Instructions for building a regular practice.Enlightenment and Buddhist Goals - What is enlightenment and how to work towards Buddhist ideals in daily life."Buddhism Today" goes beyond theory to offer actionable ways to apply Buddhist wisdom to contemporary issues. Learn how Buddhist practices like meditation, ethical living and letting go of ego can positively impact your relationships, work, engagement with technology and approach to the environment.
Written in clear, friendly language, "Buddhism Today" shows how this ancient philosophy remains extremely relevant. It provides tools to reduce anger and anxiety, increase focus and mindfulness, communicate more skilfully, achieve goals rooted in compassion, find inner peace and happiness, and discover greater meaning in the journey of life.
For anyone seeking to understand Buddhism in a modern context and apply its profound wisdom to navigate the complexities of 21st century living, this is an invaluable guide.
- GenresBuddhism
158 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2023
About the author
Olivia Rivers
31 books353 followersOlivia Rivers is an award-winning author of Young Adult fiction. Her works include Tone Deaf, which was awarded a place on the American Library Association's "Quick Picks" list, and In the Hope of Memories, which has been optioned for film. Olivia enjoys experimenting with new publishing technologies, and her online serials have received over 1,000,000 hits on Wattpad.com. She is represented by Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 13, 2024
I started this book enjoying it and thinking that it would be a 4 or 5 star review. But by the end I was feeling a little disappointed. This is a good idea for a book, as it sets out in the first quarter to provide a summary of Buddhism and its key ideas. Then the rest of the book is an application of Buddhism to daily life. That is potentially a very practical and helpful way to explain Buddhism, especially as there were chapters on such a broad range of issues as technology, relationships, environmentalism (etc). But in practice, those chapters didn’t really get to grips with the full range of ethical and moral issues which they raised.
For example, we were told that Buddhism prioritises the avoidance of killing (41%). The book illustrates this with an interesting anecdote about stepping around ants to avoid killing them. Yes, that does illustrate the importance of not-killing. But what about ethical issues like abortion and euthanasia? Or what about organ transplantation when it involves cutting a beating heart out of a body?
Those kinds of issues are often raised in the context of ‘life’ issues, and philosophical and religious discussions often frame them as ethical issues which can involve questions of killing. So, what is a Buddhist perspective on those kinds of issues? Perhaps Buddhism doesn’t view those kinds of issues as issues of killing? Or perhaps it does, and it thinks that people should just make their own mind up? Or perhaps there are some relevant Buddhist texts that can help a reader make up their mind? Having got to the end of the book, a reader will be none the wiser. And that is a serious problem in a book which is focused upon helping readers engage with Buddhism in their daily life.
Another set of issues raised by not-killing are the issues to do with whether soldiers can be Buddhists. This was a very real issue in the historical context of Buddhism, especially when Buddhism became a preferred religion in a state. So there are historical examples which could have been discussed in the text.
There were also a number of philosophical issues raised by Buddhist ideas which were not explained in the book. If our belief in aspects of reality is an illusion, how do we know that our belief that other people exist isn’t also an aspect of that illusion? To put it another way, if we can be deluded about something so personal and so forcibly presenting itself to us, as the fact of our own selfness, how can we be so sure that the appearance of other people isn’t also an illusion that we need to rise above? And if enlightenment means challenging our illusions and rejecting them, how can we be so sure that compassion to others isn’t actually a surrender to the illusion that there are others, so it is a surrender to illusion which is holding back true enlightenment?
In the two thousand years of Buddhist thought, questions like this must have cropped up previously, so there must be ideas which address the issue (?). However, they are not provided in this book.
Overall the book was written in a clear and easily readable way. However there was the occasional expression which was ambiguous. For example we were told that
Buddha likened the concept of dukkha to a roller coaster (15%). Really? Were there roller coasters in Buddha’s day, such that he could actually use that as an image to explain an idea? Or is it the case that Buddha’s metaphor (whatever it actually was) can be better understood today by using the example of a metaphor?
This is a relatively easy and quick read, so it is useful as a brief overview. However it lacks the attention to detail which I would have expected in a book which is going to successfully relate Buddhism to the breadth of issues which can crop up in trying to apply it to daily life.
For example, we were told that Buddhism prioritises the avoidance of killing (41%). The book illustrates this with an interesting anecdote about stepping around ants to avoid killing them. Yes, that does illustrate the importance of not-killing. But what about ethical issues like abortion and euthanasia? Or what about organ transplantation when it involves cutting a beating heart out of a body?
Those kinds of issues are often raised in the context of ‘life’ issues, and philosophical and religious discussions often frame them as ethical issues which can involve questions of killing. So, what is a Buddhist perspective on those kinds of issues? Perhaps Buddhism doesn’t view those kinds of issues as issues of killing? Or perhaps it does, and it thinks that people should just make their own mind up? Or perhaps there are some relevant Buddhist texts that can help a reader make up their mind? Having got to the end of the book, a reader will be none the wiser. And that is a serious problem in a book which is focused upon helping readers engage with Buddhism in their daily life.
Another set of issues raised by not-killing are the issues to do with whether soldiers can be Buddhists. This was a very real issue in the historical context of Buddhism, especially when Buddhism became a preferred religion in a state. So there are historical examples which could have been discussed in the text.
There were also a number of philosophical issues raised by Buddhist ideas which were not explained in the book. If our belief in aspects of reality is an illusion, how do we know that our belief that other people exist isn’t also an aspect of that illusion? To put it another way, if we can be deluded about something so personal and so forcibly presenting itself to us, as the fact of our own selfness, how can we be so sure that the appearance of other people isn’t also an illusion that we need to rise above? And if enlightenment means challenging our illusions and rejecting them, how can we be so sure that compassion to others isn’t actually a surrender to the illusion that there are others, so it is a surrender to illusion which is holding back true enlightenment?
In the two thousand years of Buddhist thought, questions like this must have cropped up previously, so there must be ideas which address the issue (?). However, they are not provided in this book.
Overall the book was written in a clear and easily readable way. However there was the occasional expression which was ambiguous. For example we were told that
Buddha likened the concept of dukkha to a roller coaster (15%). Really? Were there roller coasters in Buddha’s day, such that he could actually use that as an image to explain an idea? Or is it the case that Buddha’s metaphor (whatever it actually was) can be better understood today by using the example of a metaphor?
This is a relatively easy and quick read, so it is useful as a brief overview. However it lacks the attention to detail which I would have expected in a book which is going to successfully relate Buddhism to the breadth of issues which can crop up in trying to apply it to daily life.
April 8, 2025
Really enjoyed this. Started reading it as I’m currently travelling south east Asia and wanted to learn more about Buddhism. Visiting a lot of temples etc and wanted to know more. My big issue with religion is usually it doesn’t adopt modern day challenges but Buddhism can really be applied to 2025 life.
Very interesting, and made me think about adopting some meditation into my daily life as I am an over-stresser / thinker :)
Very interesting, and made me think about adopting some meditation into my daily life as I am an over-stresser / thinker :)
May 17, 2024
Fascinating introduction to practical Buddhism
This book looks at the basic principles of Buddhism and explains how to apply them in practical ways. One of the clearest introduced to the topic I've come across, would recommend it 100%. Easy to read and understand.
This book looks at the basic principles of Buddhism and explains how to apply them in practical ways. One of the clearest introduced to the topic I've come across, would recommend it 100%. Easy to read and understand.
August 25, 2024
Buddhism Today is a beautifully written, easy-to-follow and informative book about the core teachings of Buddhism and how the average person in the modern world can integrate Buddhism into their life. I recommend anyone interested in Buddhism starts here!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews