Reddit reviews The Science of Enlightenment

I highly recommend Shinzen Young's The Science of Enlightenment audio series. It's very instructive and pragmatic and has some really good guided meditations. No beliefs required at all. The mp3 version through Amazon is significantly less expensive than the cd version.

You can search for Shinzen Young on youtube if you like before purchasing any of his material. See if you like the cut of his jib.

Rinzai is known for it's rigor and discipline. Rinzai and Seon Buddhism have reputations for being the hard-asses of Buddhism. That being said, Ven. Eshu comes off as really nice. I'd really like to make a pilgrimage out to BC someday and do a retreat with them.

As a beginner, on your own, with limited experience I wouldn't really recommend these series of talks. What I would recommend is that you look into the Western Vipassana tradition. Zen schools and their practices aren't systematized like the Theravada tradition (Western Vipassana is an emerging tradition in the west that falls under the Theravadan tradition). If you were learning a language the Theravada tradition would be like Rosetta stone, slowly building up your knowledge of basic vocabulary and syntax, with some meta-analysis thrown in as to why things are being presented this way. Zen would be like learning a language via total immersion. It's effective, but it's hard, you need a real commitment and a community to support you in your progress.

One resource I always recommend to beginners is The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young. It's probably one of my favorite Buddhist related works.

For more entry level dharma talks I hope you take a look at the following links:

Audio Dharma - Recommended Talks

Dharma Seed (Great for searching through to find a talk on a particular subject.)

Dharma Talks given by the San Francisco Zen Center

The Buddhist Geeks Podcast

The Buddhist Geeks Podcasts are really interesting discussions about all aspects of Buddhism. It's not about teaching Buddhism. They're normally discussions with senior practitioners from all different sects about Buddhism. Talks cover topics such as rarified mental states (i.e. jhanas), adapting Buddhism to the west and the 21st century, meditation and the brain... really interesting stuff. If you have any real interest in Buddhism and how deep the rabbit hole goes, their best talks will really spark the fire of intrigue and get you serious about practice.

Cheaper MP3 Edition

The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young.

PLEASE start with The Science of Enlightenment. I would recommend this regardless but ESPECIALLY if you are feeling overwhelmed. It is the best naturalistic deconstruction of Buddhism's blueprint I have come across.

Please excuse the bold, all caps but...

GIVEN THAT YOU'RE COMING FROM A CHRISTIAN BACKGROUND AND ARE FEELING OVERWHELMED THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE BEST RESOURCE TO START WITH!!!

Shinzen will enable you to explain Buddhism so you can relate it to your Christian relatives via Catholicism's own contemplative tradition, which you are probably unaware of.

Also, NewBuddhist.com is a very good forum. You may get recommended Dharma Overground. Save it in your bookmarks, but I wouldn't recommend going there as a beginner.