My friend Chris is fond of saying, “In the winter I’m a Buddhist, in the summer I’m a nudist.” Not sure where he picked that up, but it’s pretty catchy, and I must admit, that phrase was running through my head the entire time I was trudging my way through Thubten Chodron’s Buddhism for Beginners. The book is only 150 pages long, so I really should have finished it in an afternoon. Instead, I found myself distracted at every turn by other books that were simply far more interesting. Now that I’ve finished it, I suppose I should go ahead and tell you my thoughts.
First let me start by addressing the book as a *book* - setting religion aside for the moment. The work is entitled Buddhism for Beginners, and as such, I was hoping to find a work which would present Buddhism to me, a person wholly ignorant on the topic, in a logical way. The book sort of accomplished this, albeit not in the sort of format I had hoped for. Chodron compiled a list of commonly asked questions pertaining to Buddhism, and organized them into chapters by topic. (Ex: Meditation, Dharma in the Daily Life, Buddhism and Social Activism, etc.) This may sound all well and good until one considers that in order to *ask* the majority of these questions, one must already have some knowledge of Buddhism. Take the third question in the book: What are the Three Jewels? How do we relate to them? The Three Jewels had yet to be mentioned in the book, and as such I was pretty thrown off. Hell, Siddartha (the historical Buddha) hadn’t even been mentioned by that point! Even after reading the answer to the Three Jewels question, it was difficult for me to place the Three Jewels into a mental image of Buddhist worship/life.
While I found the book informative, it really wasn’t what I had hoped for. I guess I had been hoping for something that would start with the life of Siddartha, and move into his beliefs and practices, followed by the evolution of Buddhist practices and faith in the 2500 years since his death. In short, I probably should have purchased Buddhism: A History. (I don’t suppose any of you have read that?)
First let me start by addressing the book as a *book* - setting religion aside for the moment. The work is entitled Buddhism for Beginners, and as such, I was hoping to find a work which would present Buddhism to me, a person wholly ignorant on the topic, in a logical way. The book sort of accomplished this, albeit not in the sort of format I had hoped for. Chodron compiled a list of commonly asked questions pertaining to Buddhism, and organized them into chapters by topic. (Ex: Meditation, Dharma in the Daily Life, Buddhism and Social Activism, etc.) This may sound all well and good until one considers that in order to *ask* the majority of these questions, one must already have some knowledge of Buddhism. Take the third question in the book: What are the Three Jewels? How do we relate to them? The Three Jewels had yet to be mentioned in the book, and as such I was pretty thrown off. Hell, Siddartha (the historical Buddha) hadn’t even been mentioned by that point! Even after reading the answer to the Three Jewels question, it was difficult for me to place the Three Jewels into a mental image of Buddhist worship/life.
While I found the book informative, it really wasn’t what I had hoped for. I guess I had been hoping for something that would start with the life of Siddartha, and move into his beliefs and practices, followed by the evolution of Buddhist practices and faith in the 2500 years since his death. In short, I probably should have purchased Buddhism: A History. (I don’t suppose any of you have read that?)
Now, putting the book review aside, let me share what I think about Buddhism as a religion after completing Buddhism for Beginners. I guess my main problem with Buddhism as a religion is the same essential problem I have with all other religions: I simply don’t believe in it. When it comes to things such as omniscient beings and infinite rebirths and the like, I simply lack the capacity for belief. As Rachel Weisz’s character in The Mummy says, I believe if I can see it, and I can touch it, then it's real. That's what I believe. Certainly there are a lot of aspects of modern Buddhist morality which are appealing – but there are aspects of Christian morality which are appealing too, and I’m obviously no Christian.
Also, I would just like to add that every time I hear the phrase “Three Jewels” I think Silmarils. Truly.
9 comments:
And, as you have figured out by now, you don't need religion to be a moral person. I think Buddhism (which I have only experienced in a uni course on world religions) is probably a really interesting practice and useful for people who would like some explicit framework for their morality. That said, you could just read a few more books about it and take what you like into your system rather than getting on board for the whole thing. Extra points for Buddhism, though, for being non-theistic.
Extra points for Buddhism, though, for being non-theistic.
True, true.
I don't know if you have read any books by Karen Armstrong - one I like is The History of God. You might want to check out the others on Amazon. I think the Battle for God is also a good one. But I liked this interview with her at http://www.powells.com/authors/armstrong.html
AM
This isn't actually related, but I thought you might be interested in this article, Jane:
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/15-03-2007/88304-anti-semitism-0
It's about anti-semitism in a book from Korea.
I guess that means it's religion-related. We'll pretend it's relevant.
My mom said something funny once it was along the lines of "I can't be one of them, even if they are right, because then I would have to ACT like one of them"
This logic to me was kind of at once humorous and a sort of way of thinking that I think probably alot of people have about christianity... only seeing the really awful awful awful people who wave their christian flags.
so what is my point here. I guess that I wish that the representative s of a religion weren't always so damned human in the way they show their beliefs sometimes.
Good luck, Jane. I almost became a Bahai. The only reason I didn't was because no one would tell me anything or explain to me what to do, where to go, about anything.
Ultimately the only happy, really happy people I met were christian, and they werent loser dorks.
I never made a better decision.
Thank You for the quote :-)
Christopher
I've found that Buddhism as a religion is...well...a religion. As a practice, however, some of the teachings are immensely valuable in relationships with other people *in the present*. After all, what's the value in any belief system if it is all about chasing an afterlife that no one writing about it has experienced?
Though not useful from a historical perspective, I always recommend books by or interviewing the Dalai Lama (like "The Art of Happiness") and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. I like the way some of the Tibetan texts can introduce the tenets of Buddhism in a way that's acceptable and useful for the Western world....though again, lacking in the history and anything that might resemble "religious" teaching, per se.
After all, "Half of writing history is hiding the truth." - Mal Reynolds, Serenity
I think that there may be different types of Buddhism between the differing countries. So, Korean Buddhism might be slightly different than say Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodia, or Tibetan for that matter. Its sort of like Christianity and all of the different denominations. What I like about Buddhism though is that each person is striveing to become a Budda themselves. In essence, each person is working to become their own God. At least that is how I had it explained to me. Whether that is true or not, I simply do not know. Is that your understanding of it?
Christopher
Chris - Well, it's not so much that they're becoming "god" in the sense of an all-powerful, all-knowing being which can control the lives of others, but it is that they are seeking to become a "perfect being" (which is actually different from a "god"). I definitely like the notion of aspiring to self-improvement.
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