What Makes You Not a Buddhist Paperback – 3 Oct. 2008

So true to worldly life... hoping the spiritual side will come out in the second half... excellent English... considering the author is Tibetan... I dont know if he uses a ghost writer. Im only half way through it, savouring it, and needing to find the peace and be in the mood to complete it... !!

The book gives a clear concise exposition of buddha's teaching, his life, of buddhism as a wisdom tradition, and most importantly, it explains the FOUR SEALS that makes for a life liberated from mental and emotional anguish. It is, as the author pointed out, a very abbreviated generalisation of the vast depth of buddism, but that compactness is also what makes the so wonderful becuase every word sticks. As if by magic, I found myself daily being nudged to change my usual habits and ways of thinking and seeing. But if like me, you don't share the author's sense of humor and his penchant for being ' hip' and up' to date' with his take on popular culture and the ( possibly tongue in cheek) ' attitude' that verges on arrogance and cynicism, you may find the work somewhat irritating. But hey, that hows oysters grow pearls.

This book didn't quite match up to what I was hoping for. Don't get me wrong. It's probably a good book for some people who are new to Buddhism and want some new ideas to throw around. But for me it wasn't analytical enough or comprehensive enough. And it was too vague. I feel like I'm being mean. Maybe I just don't click with the author's style. So I've given it 4 out of 5 to try to counteract my meanness. My wife loved the book.

Loved this book. It brought a few concepts together for me. I had been struggling with a Kadampa tradition book which spend a lot of time on re-incarnation and brought fear in to play. I'd not really come across this during my time in studying Western Buddhism. A lot of religion is fear based and this is why I turned to Buddhism. This book brought me back to Buddhism with a refreshing view point - thankfully as I was beginning to have doubts.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is not only interested in the philosophy of Buddhism, but in the motivation of applying and practicing it in our daily lives. Thank you Dzongsar Rinpoche for your compassion and great wisdom. May all sentient beings be enlightened!

I loved this book - I've read a lot of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books and this is in a different vein altogether. Very clear, easily read and understood - a must read in my opinion.

I used to have one Chinese version which I left it to my big sister before coming to UK. Then one day I found this English copy on Amazon. It was a very simple but helpful book for those wha

I wouldn't go as far as to say I hate it, but it's not for me. I don't like the way Dzongsar Jamayang Khyentse writes and I found almost every other Buddhism-related book more suited for me. We all know that there are many different ways and styles of teaching Buddhism but the final point remains the same, there is nothing wrong with the information teaching it's just not my style of writing.