Tag Archives: Buddhism

BOOK REVIEW: Buddha by Karen Armstrong

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BuddhaBuddha by Karen Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Karen Armstrong’s book is a biography of Siddhatta Gotama (a.k.a. Siddhartha Gautama), the man who became the Buddha. However, in the process of telling this man’s life story, she introduces the reader to the basic tenets of the religion he inspired.

Siddhatta’s story is an interesting one that many non-Buddhists know the gist of from the Herman Hesse novel entitled Siddhartha. As a boy, the Buddha-to-be was the son of a wealthy, high-caste man who attempted to shelter his child from all the ugliness of the world, e.g. poverty, disease, and death. Despite these attempts, the young man eventually sees the true world and realizes that he has been living an illusory life. Ultimately, the young man abandons his comfortable life in search of an enlightened view-point.

The Buddha’s life is what one might call “novel-shaped.” That is, the arc of Siddhatta’s life as we know it is ideally suited to being conveyed as a story. It’s a warrior’s quest tale, but one of the mind rather than physical adventure. Armstrong’s book takes advantage of this arc and is arranged accordingly. The six chapters of the book are:1.) Renunciation; 2.) Quest; 3.) Enlightenment; 4.) Dhamma (the doctrines or teachings); 5.) Mission; 6.) Parinibbana (the final rest.)

Renunciation refers to Siddhatta’s abandonment of the world he knew. The quest describes his life as he strikes out in an attempt to become enlightened. The third chapter outlines how he came upon enlightenment. This might have been the conclusion of the story of the man, but that’s when the story of the Buddhist religion becomes entwined with the story of the Buddha. Chapters 4 and 5 deal largely with how the religion spread.

If one is looking for a good overview of Buddhism, Armstrong’s book is a good place to start. It’s readable, and, by tying teaching into the Buddha’s life story, interesting as well.

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DAILY PHOTO: Buddhist Shops Outside the Lama Temple

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Taken in the Summer of 2008 in Beijing, China

Taken in the Summer of 2008 in Beijing, China

BOOK REVIEW: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

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Zen Mind, Beginner's MindZen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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This thin volume packs a great deal of knowledge about the Zen approach to the mind. It’s divided into three parts: right practice, right attitude, and right understanding. The first section is technical (e.g. posture, breathing, etc.); the second section is inspirational; and the third section is philosophical. This is consistent with the Zen priority of putting practice first and being cautious about philosophizing.

The core concept is captured by the book’s topic sentence, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” This sentence contains a valuable truth, but I can’t help but think that the related title probably hurt the book’s sales. Sadly, many people would rather read a book entitled “How to be a Zen Master in 90 Days.” Everybody wants to be an expert, and few are open to the lesson that they must look at the world through the eyes of a novice. I’ve noticed this in the martial arts. Most individuals seem to be much happier as mediocre black belts with only a few years of practice than they would be as a highly competent white belt. This, of course, is the lure of external validation, which is a weak salve for one’s private demons.

At any rate, the value of cultivating shoshin (i.e. beginner’s mind)is to avoid have one’s experience jaded or tarnished by one’s past. It’s about avoiding attachment to what one believes one knows, such that one is incapable of learning something new. It’s like that old, but popular, tale that is told in both the Zen Buddhist and Taoist traditions about a cocky, young student who comes to learn from a master and proceeds to tell the master all he has already learned. The master pours tea for the youth, and when the cup is full he continues to pour until the scalding liquid spills over into the kid’s lap. When the student angrily asks why the teacher did that, he is told, “Your cup is already full. In order to take in more you must first empty your cup.”

I enjoyed this book. It’s very readable. The chapters are concise and not the least bit arcane. The bits on practice are not bogged down in minutiae. As I indicated, this book covers a lot of ground. I would dare say that if you are only going to read one book on Zen in your lifetime, this is a suitable candidate.

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DAILY PHOTO: A Rare Burst of Color at Banteay Kdei

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Prayer flags in the ruins

Prayer flags in the ruins

Traveling through the old earth-tone and mossy green temple building, one comes upon a festival of color.

DAILY PHOTO: Cambodian National Museum in Phnom Penh

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In the courtyard of the National Museum of Cambodia

In the courtyard of the National Museum of Cambodia

The National Museum of Cambodia is picturesque. The collection is small and simple, but impressive in quality. For those of us who run out of “ooh” and “ahh” stamina after a few hundred artifacts, it’s just the right size.  It’s also not stuffy in the usual way of museums– large barred windows are unshuttered while the museum is open. (This is probably less than ideal from both the perspective of security and artifact preservation, but it gives the place a certain ambiance, and maybe helped the exodus of the bats that took up residence during the museum’s dormant period)

It’s great to see what they’ve done with the place considering the state of disrepair it was said to be in after the Khmer Rouge period. With respect to my comment about it not being a large collection, it’s a wonder that any collection exists at all after the wave of lootings from the French through Vietnamese soldiers that took place in the country.

Be forewarned, once one is inside, one will be confronted by Buddhists from a monument preservation society seeking donations at about half a dozen different Buddhas around the museum. If you aren’t a Buddhist, this can be a bit of an annoyance. If you are a Buddhist, you may find their approach disconcertingly unBuddhist. They will try to press incense into one’s palm in order to corner one into paying homage to the Buddha so they can make some dough for their cause. However, they don’t follow one around once refused (as similar individuals have been known to do at Angkor.) It may be a great cause, but they’d probably do better if they restricted it to one per museum and not one per gallery, and just let people drop cash rather than insisting on the idol worship first. I’m nondenominationally happy-go-lucky myself, but I can imagine this being troublesome for some visitors. At any rate, it’s symptomatic of the country’s  poverty and their inability to support their deity at the level to which he has apparently become accustomed.

BOOK REVIEW: Bones of the Master by George Crane

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Bones of the Master: A Journey to Secret MongoliaBones of the Master: A Journey to Secret Mongolia by George Crane

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a sucker for a tale of the sage next door. In an unwise world, it’s nice to believe that the wise exist, and that they walk among us. That they are not relegated to secluded retreats, but live in suburban subdivisions. In Bones of the Master a quirky Asian man drops in on his neighbor. The neighbor turns out to be the author of this book, poet George Crane. The visitor is Tsung Tsai, a Cha’an monk who trekked from Inner Mongolia to Hong Kong in 1959 in order to ensure the teachings of his monastery would survive.

The two men strike up a friendship, collaborating on poetry translation and eventually making a journey together back to Tsung Tsai’s home. The first part of the book tells of their meeting and describes Tsung Tsai’s 1959 journey to freedom. The second part deals with the two men’s mid-1990’s return trip. The monk’s ambitious plan is to find the bones of his master, cremate them, and relocate them in accord with the dictates of his religious tradition. He also wants to rebuild the temple that was razed by the Red Guard during the cultural revolution. As this is nonfiction, it’s not all happy endings. Not everything works out as they’d like it to. A brief third part tells of their return to the states with an interesting stopover in Hong Kong.

Much of the appeal of the book stems from how the monk’s worldview rubs off on the author. The monk assumes matter-of-factly that they will be able to sell the book for a sufficient advance to pay for the trip and a monument to his teacher. As one can imagine– particularly anyone who knows a bit about publishing– Crane is suitably skeptical, but ultimately buys into the plan. The monk often tells Crane that he worries too much. However, most of us would worry about these daunting challenges. For example, how to get a one ton statue from New York to Inner Mongolia, or–more importantly–whether the aged and ailing monk will be able to complete the trip alive.

There are tidbits of insight as well as poetry scattered throughout the book.

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DAILY PHOTO: Rural Shrine Near Maewang, Thailand

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In Thailand, there's a temple everywhere.

In Thailand, there’s a temple everywhere.

If you’ve been to Southeast Asia, you’ve probably seen gleaming golden temples even in remote, impoverished portions of the countryside . However, when it comes to the really off-the-beaten path areas occupied by just a few hill tribe farmers, one might think they’d be forced to hoof it to the nearest big shiny temple. Not so. There are little shrines like this one, marked by saffron cloth tied to trees, out in the middle of the jungle.

Book Review: Breakfast with Buddha

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Breakfast with BuddhaBreakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Merullo’s “Breakfast with Buddha” is a classic road-trip / odd couple tale. I found it to be engrossing and engaging. It is a book that attempts to convey life lessons as it entertains. In my opinion, this type of book succeeds best when the lessons do not draw too much attention to themselves, but rather subtly plant a seed. In some cases Roland Merullo’s book succeeds on this regard, and in other cases his middle-of-the-road protagonist comes across as a bit preachy and holier-than-thou.

The set up is a road-trip from New Jersey to North Dakota in which a spiritual but only vaguely religious skeptic is joined by a Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche. The Rinpoche conveys life lessons, largely of a Buddhist nature but somewhat non-denominational, to the protagonist — often at breakfast (hence the title.)

Merullo does a great job creating a character who considers himself spiritual, but who is not so comfortable with spiritualism that is out of line with western rationalism or which expresses religiosity in the doctrinaire Western tradition.

The protagonist, Otto Ringling, undergoes a sort of transformation that is satisfying –though some may find it to have gone a skosh too far.

Those who my Religious Studies professor called Homo religiosis will likely find the book objectionable, but atheologists (not atheists, but those not believing in religion, though believing in god / God / gods) will probably relate to it quite nicely.

I recommend it.

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