Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy by Jay Garfield

You won't find a better start point for engagement between Buddhism and western philosophy. Garfield brings his expertise in both to convincingly show that western philosophy will be far better off if it engages with Buddhist philosophy.

Garfield's breadth of knowledge is somewhat mind-blowing. Particularly in the western tradition, he is as comfortable talking about the continental greats (Heidegger, Husserl, Nietzsche) as the analytic giants (Wittgenstein, Kripke). Garfield's study under Tibetans has equipped him well for a deep understanding of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophical tradition, although Garfield openly admits Chinese and Japanese Buddhist philosophy isn't his expertise.

Rather than an introductory text to Buddhist philosophy, which usually fail to gain any traction outside area and religious studies departments, Engaging Buddhism outlines an approach to engaging with Buddhist philosophy. You can listen to a discussion of this book during the first and second episodes of the Buddhist Philosophy Podcast.