Best Book on Buddhism, IMHO

[Rev. RJ Dudemiester]

Greetings fellow Dudes!
New to the Forums, just officially joined the Church today.
But have been on the path to this my whole life.
I was once Catholic, and believed myself to be called to the priesthood.
My parentes prevented me from joining. I then proceeded to teach my self a global religion course. Long story short, I have lived through all possible phases of beliefe- from being in the mother of all churches, to being a full blown Athiest.... i eventially settled on identifying as a secular Buddhist.

May years of looking for the single best source book on Buddhism lead me to discover this gem:
The Way of Zen
by Alan Watts

It's a comprehensive review of Buddhist history and the various cultural varieties that have developed over time.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in really understanding Buddhism.

[Reverend Curb]

I also recommend this book:
The Zen Experience
http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Experience-ebook/dp/B0042X99TY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348807685&sr=8-2&keywords=zen+buddhism

It's ridiculous the amount of time and detail this guy puts in but it's a great read and free for kindle owners.

[Boston Rockbury]

I also recommend this book:
The Zen Experience
http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Experience-ebook/dp/B0042X99TY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348807685&sr=8-2&keywords=zen+buddhism

It's ridiculous the amount of time and detail this guy puts in but it's a great read and free for kindle owners.

Thanks el J I'll check it out. 'Basic Teachings of the Buddha' by Glen Wallis comes straight from the Pali canon so misses out all of the deeply encultured stuff of later versions of Buddhism (no re-incarnation etc' in early buddhism). Religions are like rock groups - their first albums are always their best.