Theravada; step 1 and step 2

I've written elsewhere about what to read if starting/exploring Buddhism.

In this post, I want to specifically touch on two awesome resources for Theravada Buddhism. Both are free to download.

Step 1: 

The Buddha's teachings, an introduction

https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/TheBuddhasTeachings_181215.pdf

This booklet (about 30 pages) covers the main tools an ideas with enough breadth and variation that it isn't reductionist. Other intros will focus too much only on the 8fold path or only on suffering or only on metta.

A reader of this introduction should get the impression: "Buddhism has a lot of different aspects that point toward calming the mind. And the mind is tricky, so there are a lot of skills to learn."

If the reader has innate curiosity, this can inspire a good sense of adventure, and a desire to explore.

Other intros (some of which have been very useful to me) can have too much of a "feed me" orientation. Buddhism is ultimately very active and methodical, not passive/check the boxes.

Step 2: 

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/thate/stepsalong.html

This short booklet, by Ajahn Thate, covers 11 points about meditation and how to start. It was "co-written" by a Jewish man who spent 6 months with Ajahn Thate learning to meditate.

Why I love it? It's very pragmatic without getting too far into jargon. And, unlike other manuals, it doesn't stop at concentration. It makes the subtle point that:

* Concentration, when developed, can be used for many different purposes.

* Using concentration solely for pleasure is not the path. At some point, it needs to be a tool to develop insight and wisdom.

(Another book I think is excellent, Bhante G's manual(s) on meditation.)

What is Step 3? Go and try it out.

How many steps are there?

Somewhere between 3 and 100000000001. (Wink, grin)