[alenbarbaf]

lol, well that quote from the sleeve of your translation is delightful in a perverse way. It's not saying anything more complicated than the blurbs you find dressing most other books, it's just couched in philosophical jargon. Basically: "Garfield's version will make you see how brilliant Nagarjuna's explanation of a good life is and how brilliant his arguments are."

I like Gary's point that Buddhism can be as simple or complicated as you need it to be. I think many people attracted to philosophy (particularly Western philosophy from about the 18th century onwards; the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers were comparatively down-to-earth) and academia tend to become caught up in very complicated webs of concepts and ideas. You need to talk to them in the language of their complexity before you can "talk them down" to the present-moment level at which the Buddha's path unfolds as Ajahn Chah so beautifully describes. Otherwise, such people will tend to look at you with suspicion and not really appreciate the truly life-changing implications of the Buddha's message.