This book is a distillation of Buddhist thought and tradition stripped down to its basics for Americans. There are few foreign and strange terms, no incense or chanting, nor monks in orange robes. This book breaks down how at its beginnings Buddhism was a philosophy and a way of life, not a religion. Much has been added over the years as it spread, but the core thoughts are very simple. If you read this book with an open mind you may well discover a new way of looking at life, and find a new richness and contentment in your mind and spirit.