Customer comments on this selection.
 Good "Comparative Religion 101" type guide
This is certainly a notch or two above what one would expect to find in a "Dummies" or an "Idiot's" guide. Diane Morgan, who teaches philosophy and religion at Wilson and Frederick Community College in Pennsylvania, has a light touch that sometimes drifts into something close to irreverence, which might offend some sensitive readers, although the Zen Buddhist part of me found it agreeable. For example, Morgan writes about Milarepa "an important character in the development of the Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism" who, during an ascetic period of his life (before he began imbibing ambrosia), lived on nettle soup "which turned his skin completely green." She observes that Milarepa died at the age of 84 "after knowingly ingesting some poisonous curds." She adds "(Curds are quite a comedown from ambrosia, but about on a par with nettle soup)."
Hers is not a true believer's approach, that is for sure; and this is only to be expected. How could a true believer of any religion be objective about the nine religions/philosophies she covers? Consequently this book is written from a secular point of view with the usual assumption that no one religion or philosophy has a monopoly on truth or wisdom.
The nine religions covered are Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism, Tantra, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and Shinto. The first four are covered in some depth, forming the first four parts of the book, while the latter five comprise the five chapters of Part 5. Strictly speaking Tantra is an adjunct of both Hinduism and Buddhism, and it is debatable whether Confucianism should be called a religion. Actually, as Morgan points out, in the East, religion and philosophy go hand in hand, and one is hard put to separate them.
Needless to say it is impossible to do complete justice to even one religion in a single book. Nonetheless I think Morgan does a good job of introducing a religious and philosophical view from the East that is different from the Abrahamic and Greek traditions that are so familiar to us in the West. What she doesn't do--and I think this is a significant failing--is to make a distinction between the fundamentalist or literal interpretation of the religions and a philosophic or symbolic interpretation. In Christianity there is a world of difference between the fundamentalist and the more progressive branches, between strict interpretations of the Bible and symbolic ones. In Buddhism in particular there is a significant difference between not just the two main branches or between the Tibetan and Zen offshoots, but between the way the average Buddhist sees the world and the way the monk or the educated Buddhist sees it. The idea of reincarnation is taken as literal to most Buddhists, but a deeper understanding may require an interpretation that sees our individual "consciousness" as what is reincarnated, with the understanding that our consciousness is like fire, essentially the same in every manifestation.
Also in Buddhism and Vedanta (part of Hinduism) there is the idea of "non-self," an idea that takes many years of study or experience (or a marvelous "enlightenment") to fully appreciate. This idea has very little relevance to the everyday practitioner. It could even be said that the idea of karma, which, as Morgan explains, can include actions from previous lives, is really just a symbolic way of expressing a general tendency in life (or even a way of hinting at biological evolution) without any need for reincarnations. In fact, strictly speaking the Buddha spoke only of the here and now, this lifetime and did not trouble himself with gods or afterlives.
At any rate, this book is very much like a "Dummies" book with the usual easy-to-read, "lite" style, with sidebars, text boxes and summaries at the end of each chapter. It is especially good for someone who wants an introduction to Eastern religions such as one might get in a Comparative Religion 101 class. It is for the curious, and good place to start for those who want to go on to more in-depth studies.
 Find Another Book
Morgan's style frequently slips from casual to chatty, at the expense of the reader's time and patience. She is often uninformative, dismissive, and favors the trivial over the essential. After reading it, I do know more about Eastern philosophy than I did before, but there must be better books on the subject.
 Disappointing
I picked up this book as it looked like some nice light reading to fill in some aspects of eastern religion unfamiliar to me.
Perhaps I'm spoiled by reading books by actual participants in a religion, but even an external observer should be able to provide more insight than is found here. I confess to having read only the Buddhist sections, but they were so misguided and innacurate I won't be reading more.
The author seems to be disinterested and even have disdain for the subject. Perhaps in an attemempt to be user-friendly, the book has an undertone of humor, but unfortunately it all has a negative tone.
If you have never read a book on eastern religion before, this would not be a good first step, in my opinion.
Excellent introduction on this vast subject
This is an excellent introductory book on this vast subject. It gives an excellent introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. It then goes on describing less well known spiritual disciplines, such as: Jainism, Tantra, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and Shinto. The structure of the book, and its overall user friendliness reminds me of the "Dummies" series. This is if you want the Eastern Philosophy for Dummies. In my mind, this is the greatest compliment. Just like the Dummies series, this book invites you to read more on the subject covered, but gives you an excellent foundation.
Hurried job?
The authoress rather betrays her ignorance of several aspects of living cultures, despite perhaps good intentions. Particularly disappointing is her treatment of Hinduism. To start with, anyone with serious intentions to explore the origins of what is known today as Hinduism should have known that the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) stands totally debunked. Besides, though the name Hinduism is relatively modern, ancient Hindus did have a name for what goes by that apellation today - they called it the Sanatana Dharma or The Eternal Religion, loosely translated. The authoress fails to mention that. Clearly, an irrevocable corollary of the claim to an eternal nature is one to universality. Thus, Hindus of Vedic and Upanishadic times were fully aware that the infinite variation in human temperaments would have to be accmmodated in any system that lay claim to universality in this sense. Several mantras in the Vedas and later texts stress the underlying unity of mankind presaging the modern ideal of universal brotherhood by thousands of years. An essential instrument in the underlying philosophical framework enabling truth-claims to be made for such assertions are the notions of Atman and Paramatman. There are sophisticated systems of thought and philosophy on the nature of this apparent dichotomy which again vanishes through systems of spiritual discipline roughly collected together under the broad name of Yoga. Surely the literally hundreds of manuscripts of thess genres should have merited greater respect, or at least a deeper, detailed and more serious scholarship? The writer is thus far off in failing to gauge the depths of Hinduism and presenting the entire gamut of important milestones in the spiritual history of man in a somewhat shallow manner.
|
