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Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist

fivebellsfivebells Veteran
edited June 2010 in Arts & Writings
Just got done reading this a few days ago. I highly recommend it. It's a very intimate account of his sincere attempt to assimilate the Tibetan Buddhist worldview, then the Zen approach, and finally a more liberal approach, with a bit of Theravadin mixed in. Along the way, he gives a biography of the Buddha based on the sutras, which I had not come across before. He believes that one of the goals of the Buddha was to set up a new kind of society.

Comments

  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    edited May 2010
    fivebells wrote: »
    Just got done reading this a few days ago. I highly recommend it. It's a very intimate account of his sincere attempt to assimilate the Tibetan Buddhist worldview, then the Zen approach, and finally a more liberal approach, with a bit of Theravadin mixed in. Along the way, he gives a biography of the Buddha based on the sutras, which I had not come across before. He believes that one of the goals of the Buddha was to set up a new kind of society.
    Five bells,
    I would agree with you and I think that people should read it. I just got a sense that somhow he felt let down, for lack of a better word, by his whole experience. Did you get that feeling? An "American" style Buddhism will (and must) be established, maybe this book along with others is a stepping stone towards that goal. Perhaps a secular, liberal, more lay oriented style. Who knows.
    Yours in the Dharma,
    Todd
  • NiosNios Veteran
    edited May 2010
    Here is an interesting debate about rebirth involving the author.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited June 2010
    The swing is yellow wrote: »
    Five bells,
    I would agree with you and I think that people should read it. I just got a sense that somhow he felt let down, for lack of a better word, by his whole experience. Did you get that feeling? An "American" style Buddhism will (and must) be established, maybe this book along with others is a stepping stone towards that goal. Perhaps a secular, liberal, more lay oriented style. Who knows.
    Yours in the Dharma,
    Todd

    Sure, of course, an American (or maybe we should say Western) Buddhism will develop. It's already developing. How it will turn out nobody knows. Since the US is such a melting pot, American Buddhism will no doubt reflect its many origins and be multivalent. But it will happen. It always does when Buddhism comes to a new country. We can't pretend to be Tibetans/Japanese/Chinese/Indian/Korean/Vietnamese or whatever forever!

    Palzang
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