Thanks for your interest in my mini-book (it’s around 80 pages long). 

What’s the story here?

My analytical thinker clients (ENTPs, INTPs, INTJs, etc.)—often atheist and highly skeptical of organized religion—kept asking me for my best book recommendation for learning about Buddhism. There are a few I like, but none ever felt quite right for this type of audience.

So, I wrote my own.

Importantly, I wanted it to straddle the line between two things:

  1. I wanted to appeal to atheists and people highly skeptical of organized religion. To explain why I believe Buddhism is an excellent spiritual system for rationalists who value accuracy and proof over blind faith.
  2. AND, I wanted to preserve the nuance and spiritual core of true Buddhism. I didn’t want to dilute the teachings, as is often done in the Western world, to present them only in terms of surface-level psychological shifts and tools for calming down or boosting productivity. There’s something deeper available here.

If that sounds intriguing, I humbly invite you to check it out.

How to access it:

If you listened to the audio version, here are the links from the final section:

I’ve created a lot of videos and writing on the subject of meditation. Here are a few places to get started:

  1. My free step-by-step guide: My 7-day guided meditation series—for complete beginners (and intermediates too), Part 1
  2. My YouTube playlist of meditation videos I’ve made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLApFoytTkM&list=PLqBECElv7k9tlW_iRIs11thTgnLA8BSft&pp=gAQB. 
  3. The specific videos I most recommend from that playlist:
    1. How to Actually Start Meditating (for Skeptical Thinkers)
    2. Guided Meditation for Skeptical Overthinkers: Try This 1 Anchor
    3. The #1 Fix That Transformed My Meditation (5 Crucial Posture Tips)
    4. Why High Achievers Struggle with Meditation (and How to Actually Get It)
    5. Analytical Thinkers: Why Meditation Isn’t Working for You & How to Fix It
    6. The Most Crucial Moment in Meditation (And How to Catch It)

I also highly recommend pairing that posture video with buying proper meditation sitting supplies. Having the right cushion or bench makes a huge difference compared to just sitting on your bed or another non-ideal surface. 

  • For traditional sitting (I recommend sitting in either “burmese pose” or “quarter lotus pose”; just Google Image search both): https://amzn.to/48lprWd.
  • Or, a lot of people find it easier to kneel (I often start in quarter or half lotus pose on long meditation retreats but periodically switch to this bench to rest my knees): https://www.meditationbench.com/foldingbench/ (angled legs, not rounded).

Buddhism-related books I like:

Buddhism-related podcasts I like:

Try Buddhism in a more formal learning setting (this made a dramatic difference for me compared to just meditating at home and reading books):

  • Visit a Buddhist center in person. Go on Google Maps and search in your area for “zen center,” “zen temple,” “zen meditation,” or whatever other Buddhist lineage intrigues you, and find a place that’s highly rated, if possible. Visit their website and check if they have a regular weekly meeting (often those look like 1-2 periods of meditation followed by a dharma-talk, meaning an educational talk about Buddhism). Trust me: There’s something magical and very helpful about meditating in a room full of other people instead of alone at home. Going to my temple weekly has dramatically improved my meditation practice after many years of doing it alone at home.
  • If you feel ready to go deeper, find a multi-day meditation retreat to check out (again, I recommend Zen, but it’s up to you what resonates and what’s close to you and affordable). You can check retreat.guru for reviews. I personally recommend starting with either a 1-day retreat or a 3-day one, then progressing to a 5-day or 7-day one. But, if you really want to jump into the deep end (which is what I did, and it was the most important and most challenging experience of my life), try a 10-day Vipassana retreat in the Goenka tradition (which, to be clear, is not Zen).