Weshalb Sie kein Buddhist sind

The phrase that sticks out in my mind from this book is “naked babies missing their sex organs” (he's talking about cherubs in Christian art).

So: hilarious! This is a fresh, witty book that challenges (and even gently mocks) the certain, um, less aware forms of western Buddhism that have developed. Where by “less aware”, I mean “Orientalist” and maybe even “ignorant” - but Rinpoche is much too kind to say something so mean. Nonetheless, he DOES provide a very readable, informative guide to help a questioning western Buddhist decide whether Buddhism IS, indeed, for them. Or whether they just like the sounds of prayer bowls (who doesn't?!) and how cool the Tibetan script looks.

Despite Rinpoche's Tantric lineage (a school of Buddhism that I've always found more obfuscating than clarifying), he does a great, almost ribald-Zen-teacher-esque job of boiling Buddhism down to its essentials. Very fun.