Buddhism has a long history of over 2,500 years where it passed through time, countries, and cultures. All the while adapting and picking up pieces of the philosophy and traditions of those cultures it passed through. Any attempt to look into this topic is instantly met with a tsunami of information. You find books available about Buddhism from India, China, Tibet, or Japan. There are books on Hinayana, Mahayana, or Vajrayana Buddhism. Lastly there are books about Theravada, Zen, Pureland, Hua-yen, Yogacara, and Tantric Buddhism. Talk about overwhelming! Where do you begin? When you go from book to book it often seems like the authors are describing something completely different but they all call it Buddhism! If any of this sounds familiar then this book is for you. This book is my attempt at cutting through all of what I refer to as "Trappings" of all these different names, terms, and teachings to get to the "Core" of what Buddhism really is. On the surface all of this can seem very contradictory. Once you are given a just a little knowledge, all of the confusion you feel will dissipate.