History, myth, and teachings.
What books have you read pertaining to Buddhism?
I have read many books, but I noticed
I would actually recommend a few videos before you read any books, because it will be hard to find really introductory stuff, and these will go much deeper right away.
1.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kRrDlmZfKAM
This is the first video I would recommend, although it has many mistakes in it.
A) The Buddha’s father was the ruler of a republic, not just some big mud hut lol
B) Buddha never calls the consciousness real and special, I’ll give more videos to address this.
C) Nirvana isn’t the snuffing of the ego, it’s more like waking from a dream and is outside time, but isn’t talked about much. Only an enlightened being can understand nirvana.
D) Mahayana didn’t invent sunyata (emptiness), the concept goes back to Buddha
E) That’s not how Buddhist meditation works
But despite these mistakes and a few more, this is a good introduction to get a start.
2.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZojLLWmpI
This is an important topic in Buddhism, so I added it here for you. It’s pretty much how the mind works according to Buddhism.
3.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3iVOXicy2T8
This is a video about the most philosopher in Buddhism who lived almost 700 years after the Buddha. The Buddha’s teachings were a lot more pragmatic, but people like Nagarjuna started turning it into a philosophy and connecting things together. This is not what the Buddha wanted, but it was inevitable.
4. A really good talk on how a person is told to see the world.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vs2L2Wd3nc&t=242s
5.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3FCo-xQj2Lc
This will be the final philosophical video I’ll share and I think you’ll get the gist of Buddhism. Also by Nagarjuna.
6.https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/scrndhamma.pdf
Just start from chapter 1, and these are actual teachings from the Buddha’s mouth himself. It’s a compilation of verses over his lifespan that’s called the dhammapada. There are also stories associated with each verse, and checking the first few might make you really understand the context of the verses and how these come to be. I would highly recommend. These are stories from the Buddha’s life and people around him, and makes the whole thing much more relatable
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lZZiE-EofAE&list=PLF755B81CBBCA7B59&index=1&t=57s
If you were interested in this stuff, I can send you more history videos such. Just tell me, but I think this will be more than enough for a thorough introduction that will let you know about Buddhism more than even most Buddhists.