Book Review "Unmasking Buddhism" by Bernard Faure

Lucidly accomplishes its stated aim.

Bernard Faure is a renowned Buddhist scholar and the author of a number of excellent Buddhist studies, including the landmark, "Chan Insights and Oversights."

This book sets out to present the basic elements of Buddhist history, doctrines, beliefs, and practices. In this slim volume (159 pages), Professor Faure lucidly and succinctly provides readers with a remarkably extensive overview of the fundamental characteristics of Buddhism in plain English (where Buddhist "jargon" is unavoidable, Faure offers succinct, straightforward explanations).

While furnishing the average reader with an excellent grasp of Buddhist basics, Bernard Faure also applys his sword to some of the common, widespread misunderstandings concerning Buddhism.

The book is divided into three parts: I - Buddhism in History - II Buddhism in Local Cultures - III Buddhism and Society.

Some of the issues dealt with in Part I include: the diversity of Buddhist schools (or sects), the "human" nature of the Buddha, Buddhism and "nothingness", Karma, and the teaching of reincarnation. Part II includes discussions on: Buddhism as atheistic, Buddhism as "spiritual", the role of the Dalai Lama, and the place of "Zen" in the Buddhist realm. Part III discusses, among other topics: Buddhism and tolerance, Buddhist violence, Buddhism's relation to science, Buddhism and vegetarianism.

The book is rounded off with a thought provoking and insightful "Conclusion." It also includes a great little Glossary, a Biblography, and a very good index. Bottom Line: A great book for beginners that want to get a solid grasp of Buddhist basics.

Recommended for every Buddhist who has ever been asked by their non Buddhist friends, "What does Buddhism teach anyway?"

BOOK REVIEW “KINDNESS”

Reposted from: Succession of Insights

BOOK REVIEW “KINDNESS”

I picked this one up from Amazon as it was suggested for children.
It did not specify age…

The subtitle says “A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents”

There are many wonderful stories in this book. Quite a few come from Jataka tales and many are similar to ones you may have read in “Zen Flesh, Zen Bones” but there were a few that I could not readily identify the source.

While I enjoyed the message of the stories and value the content I do have some gripes with it. I had selected this book for reading at bed time to the kids, and there lies the problem. In the presentation of the stories a lot of difficult vocabulary was used. And in many of the stories I had to either think fast and use a word that fit the situation or stop to explain a complex word. While this may have been good for helping my children build their vocabulary, I fear that the message of the stories themselves often got lost in jargon. Which is in my mind a shame. So I would recommend this book for older kids and may give it to them as they begin to read more themselves, but I would not recommend it for reading to smaller children.

A note to people who write “Children’s Books”: never use a $64.00 word when a .25¢ word will do.

Hope that helps somebody!

Book Review Soto Zen in Medieval Japan - William M. Bodiford

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan (Studies in East Asian Buddhism)by William M. Bodiford
The most extensive and informative English language book on the formation and development of Soto Zen to date.

William Bodiford’s “Soto Zen in Medieval Japan” (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) paints an extraordinarily clear picture of the history of Soto Zen in Japan.

No matter what view you may have of the transmission of Zen (any school, not just Soto) from China to Japan, reading this book is bound to alter that view dramatically! If you believe a more accurate understanding is an improvement, then the your “altered” view will be a grand improvement.

One of the more “unorthodox” discoveries that William Bodiford uncovered in his massive study was the role of Zen Koan literature in the earliest years of Soto Zen. While the role of koans in the Soto sect has often been characterized as minimal, or even non-essential, “Soto Zen in Medieval Japan” affirms that nothing could be further from the truth. While the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, Dogen, has often been portrayed as unconcerned with the Zen Koan literature, Bodiford bluntly reports different, stating:

“…there is no doubt that Dogen himself trained in and taught his students systematic methods of koan investigation. His teachings cannot be comprehended without intimate knowledge of Chinese koan…”

Not only does this remarkable scholar recognize that for Dogen a thorough grasp of the classic Zen koans was considered essential, he raises the purpose of Zen koans to a whole new level. Defined by uncomprehending scholars and pseudo-Zen adherents simply as “devices” or “riddles” aimed at some kind of “experience” brought on by psychological frustration, koans have been widely misunderstood. In his masterful study Bodiford resurrects many of the true, multifaceted and profoundly versatile uses and meanings of these unique literary expressions of enlightened wisdom. For instance, Bodiford states:

“Medieval Soto monks and nuns mastered the depths of Zen enlighten­ment, the trivial moments of daily life, and the routine activities of monastic training through the language of the Chinese Ch’an patriarchs as recorded in koan texts. This specialized idiom allowed Zen teachers and students to describe different approaches to practice, various states of meditation, and fine distinctions between points of view or levels of understanding. More important, koan study–like ordination rituals and funeral ceremonies–encapsulated Zen transcendence in tangible forms, expressed it in concrete performances, and allowed it to be communi­cated easily to monks, nuns, and laypersons. For clerics and villagers alike this body of Zen praxis fused together the symbolic transmission of the Buddha’s enlightenment, its embodiment in the words and actions of the Zen master, with the worlds lived and imagined, both inside and out­side the monastery. While koan training, ordination rituals, and funeral ceremonies comprise only three of the Zen practices performed by medieval Soto monks, each proved indispensable for the rapid growth of Soto institutions and the religious efficacy of these institutions within rural society.”

Exploring the masterful ingenuity of Soto Zen’s brilliant and charismatic founder (Eihei Dogen) and his relatively few, but dedicated disciples through the early and extremely challenging decades of Japan’s 13th century, Bodiford reveals the unique forces that catapulted Soto Zen into Japan. It is no wonder that Soto Zen Buddhism is easily the most powerful force of Buddhism in Japan to this very day.

Not only is this book easily the most extensive and informative English language book on the formation and development of Soto Zen to date, its illumination of the lives and teachings of Japan’s early Zen master’s (including Eihei Dogen) is astonishingly rich. Moreover, Bodiford’s revelations concerning the early Japanese history of both Rinzai Zen and Darumashu Zen are profoundly intriguing.

William Bodiford’s “Soto Zen in Medieval Japan” destined to stand as essential reading for serious Zen students/practitioners for many decades to come.

For more Buddhist and Zen Book reviews go to: Biringer's Book Reviews