Naked Buddha

Book excerpt: A timely, charmingly written, highly accessible beginner's guide to Buddhism by an Australian who was ordained in 1982 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Buddhism is the fastest-growing religion in Australia. For the many people who are interested in learning more about it, here is a primer on Buddhism and Buddhist practice written in a deceptively simple manner, with an engaging, gentle humour and flavour. Adrienne Howley's purpose is to demystify Buddhism, stripping away the layers of ritual and iconography that have grown up around it over the centuries, and to present the original, basic tenets and practices in a way that will be appealing to Western, and especially Australian readers. THE NAKED BUDDHA includes sections on who Buddha was and how he came to formulate his philosophy; descriptions of the three main Buddhist traditions; what ordinary Buddhists believe and practise today; and meditation: how and why? There are also answers to questions most commonly asked by non-Buddhists. The Venerable Adrienne Howley was ordained in 1982 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 1993 she took the highest ordination vows possible from a Vietnamese Buddhist master, thus becoming one ofthe very few Western women in the world to have done so. A former nurse and the mother of two sons, she has sailed around the world in an old 36-foot gaff-rigger, survived a life-threatening cancer, and is the author of a biography of the noted Australian poet, Dorothea Mackellar. Now in her early seventies, she lives in a small rural town north of Sydney, where she devotes her time to Buddhist practice and teaching, as well as doing volunteer work in a local hospice.