What is a Nightstand Buddhist?
A number of people do not claim a particular religious faith, but when pressed on the issue will respond that Buddhism describes their spiritual belief structure better than anything else. Christian author Thomas Tweed called such a casual adherent to Buddhism a nightstand Buddhist, largely because of the number of books on Buddhist philosophy such a person would keep on his or her nightstand for bedtime reading. A nightstand Buddhist is more of a dabbler in the surface philosophy of Buddhism rather than a traditional convert or an ethnic Buddhist raised in the philosophy since birth. This is not to suggest a nightstand Buddhist is not sincere in his or her spiritual beliefs, but critics of the practice suggest there is a significant difference between reading entry-level books on Buddhism and actually embracing the entire culture and tradition of what many ethnic Buddhists view as a religion more than a philosophy. There are a number of people who would describe themselves as spiritua
