A book
What Makes You Not a Buddhist — Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, 2007.
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche's 2007 book is the most-accessible introduction to Vajrayana-Buddhist thought written by a contemporary Bhutanese lama. Built around the Four Seals — the doctrinal framework that defines what a Buddhist position actually is — the book is short (~150 pages) and entirely unhurried. It is read by serious Buddhist students and by curious non-Buddhists alike; it remains the best single starting point for visitors who want to understand the religious tradition they are about to encounter.
Book · Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche · 2007 · 144 pages · English
Why we picked it
If a visitor reads one book on Buddhism before a Bhutan trip, this is the one. Rinpoche (see [[dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse|the full entry]]) writes for the contemporary reader without diluting the tradition. The book's four-chapter structure — built on the Four Seals — gives the visitor a working vocabulary for what they will encounter in the dzongs and lhakhangs without dressing it up. It is also funny, which most introductory Buddhist books are not.
Editorial note
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (also known as Khyentse Norbu in his filmmaking work — see The Cup and Travellers and Magicians in this collection) is one of the more-distinctive contemporary Bhutanese religious teachers internationally. He directs the Khyentse Foundation and the 84000 translation project (translating the Tibetan Buddhist canon into English) alongside his teaching schedule. What Makes You Not a Buddhist is the book of his that has reached the broadest international audience; his later books (Not for Happiness, The Guru Drinks Bourbon?, Living is Dying) develop the framework further but require the foundation that this book lays. The book has been translated into more than 20 languages. Recommended for visitors with any serious Vajrayana-Buddhist interest; useful even for visitors with no prior interest who simply want vocabulary for the dzong-and-lhakhang register they are about to encounter.
“If you cannot accept that all compounded things are impermanent, you are not a Buddhist.”
— Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2007)
Where to find it
More from Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzongsar_Jamyang_Khyentse_Rinpoche
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