Book Description
The Simplest Path, Step One: Free Your Mind delineates, in one slim volume, a complete system for achieving personal spiritual awakening, along with a straightforward, no-nonsense plan individuals and groups so enlightened can follow to awaken Humanity en masse and positively transform the world. This book contains keys to awakening. Awakening from our personal dream shatters the solid "box" of limitation memes have built around our lives, and frees us to fluidly craft our personalities, environments, relationships, careers, etc. as an artist paints a landscape or a sculptor teases form from formless clay. All of us awakening together from the shared dream of the planet will mark the birth of our species out of our current global nightmare of decline into a limitless future literally beyond our present ability to imagine, even in our "wildest dreams," indeed.
Customer Reviews:
Way Beyond "Socrates Revisited".......2007-08-22
After reading the commentary attached to the one star rating given by the young man from Texas, I feel compelled to step forward in defense of this very fine book. With only one exception, every point made in that negative review is simply wrong. Just not factually correct. The reviewer identifies himself as a young man (... "to my young mind"), and since all of his other Amazon reviews are of TV episodes on DVD, video games and rock music CDs I take him at his word. Well, I am an "old man," closing in on my sixty-third birthday, and I came to Mr. Casspriano's book after six decades of life experience, the last three of those decades a zealous practitioner of Zen Buddhism. I say this not to "brag," but simply to qualify myself as a reviewer before beginning.
I'll start where the one star reviewer closed his argument, with his statement that the simplest path reduces to two Socratic concepts: "Admit that you don't know anything" and "know yourself."
The first part is nominally true (the exception). Like Zen Buddhism, a central tenet of the simplest path is working to release the false notion we all hold that we know ourselves, other people, the world around us. But identifying and releasing our attachments to our illusions is a life's work, not some brash "I don't know nothin'!" as the young Texan seems to imply. Under normal circumstances, we go about our daily lives with no idea we are deluded about anything, as Maya (the illusion of the phenomenal world around and even inside us) is so convincing that most of us never even think to question its validity. Casspriano did not invent the notion of human beings being trapped in illusion, as this truth was known to the timeless authors of the Hindu Vedas and is central to all schools of Buddhism (not just Zen). But his scientific/spiritual exploration of the mechanism by which Maya ensnares our minds and can, with effort, be overcome is among the best "plain English" explanations of this process I have read. There is no "inscrutable mystery" in the simplest path (a criticism that has been accurately leveled toward Zen Buddhism, as a lot of Eastern thought truly does come off as "inscrutable" when translated into English and/or the metaphors of Western culture). Casspriano lays out in no-nonsense American English exactly what our brains are doing when they create the illusion we mistake for reality, then shows the reader in the same clear terms how to train his or her brain to break free of illusion and taste reality as-it-is. In just 216 pages, that is no mean feat. After thirty years of Zen practice and numerous kensho experiences (of varying depths and intensities), I can say from personal experience that Casspriano is correct. Enlightenment comes as the fruit of a long, incremental process of retraining the mind to touch reality in a new way, and the process described in the simplest path is the same as that followed in Zen practice, especially Rienzi Zen koan study (I'll have more to say about this in a later paragraph). Casspriano's approach and language is very different from traditional Zen (more "scientific," and no sitting meditation is required), which I think would appeal to Americans and other Westerners seeking to experience "awakening" without necessarily committing themselves to a religion like Buddhism, but the internal mental/spiritual process and final destination are the same.
"Know yourself," on the other hand, is not in this book at all, at least not in the way the young reviewer, or Socrates for that matter, uses the phrase. As in Buddhism, Casspriano takes pains to demonstrate that "self" is as much of an illusion as our misapprehension of the phenomenal world, and is a byproduct of exactly the same mind process that creates outer Maya. A core teaching of Buddhism is that our "self," our personality/ego, is nothing more than an aggregation of outside influences that cluster together in our minds like shiny stones gathered into a pile, and which we mistake not only for something "real," but tragically, for our essential selves. Yet this "pile" has nothing really to do with who we are at all. Buddhism teaches "no-self." Belief in the illusion of a unique and independent "self" is our greatest obstacle to enlightenment. Wasting time and energy getting to "know yourself" in the Western sense is foreign to Eastern thought. Casspriano again does a great job of translating the Buddhist concept of "no-self" into Western scientific/spiritual terminology. He shows the process by which our ego/personality aggregate "piles up," as well as how to take the pile down, stone by stone. Enlightenment is what the pile was covering up, and so it naturally appears as soon as the pile is removed - but oh how we cling to our personal pile of stones! "Self" is what we must trade for enlightenment, what must be surrendered, and Casspriano returns to this truth many times in the simplest path. My point is that the one star reviewer's reduction of the simplest path to "know yourself" has no basis at all in the actual book.
As to the book being "gimmicky": Yes, the words "The Simplest Path" recur frequently throughout the book, but not in reference to the book itself (at least that's not how I took it), but rather to the system of understanding the mind and working toward "awakening" Casspriano is describing - and it is a complete system that deserves to be considered as a whole, on its own. At times the repetition does have a feel of "branding" in the commercial sense, so I understand where the reviewer may have taken his impression. But the simplest path, while resonant with Zen Buddhism (and apparently, according to Casspriano, with the Toltec philosophy espoused by Carlos Castaneda, of which I have no personal knowledge, so I'll have to take the author's word for that) is far enough different that it needs its own "name" to set it apart from other schools of similar but not identical thought. The reviewer's criticism is like saying that every use of the term "Zen" in a book called "Zen Buddhism" should be taken as a reference to the book, and not to the larger practice of Zen Buddhism as a spiritual discipline that the book is describing. Casspriano's point in repeatedly linking The Simplest Path, Zen Buddhism and Toltec Shamanism throughout the book, at least as I understood it, is to highlight these three spiritual practices as related reliable paths through a dark forest of illusion, a forest in which many apparent (and more popular) paths, including most (all?) religious beliefs, actively vie to mislead travelers toward deeper ensnarement in the dream, rather than leading them toward "awakening."
I want to say a word about koan study in Rienzi Zen and how it relates to the simplest path. Koans are those quirky Zen sayings and stories like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "what was your original face before you (or your parents) were born?" that have no rational answer, and which Zen students turn and turn in their minds like the tumblers of a combination lock until their imprisoned psyches "explode" in a "super-rational" experience of reality beyond the illusion ("irrational" would be the wrong term, as that implies "nonsense"). That "super-rational" vision of reality is called "kensho." I have experienced it myself, more than once in my lifetime. I have come to think of Casspriano's "Key Questions" in the second half of the simplest path, especially the later seven of the ten, as "cultural koans" designed to trigger "collective kensho" for the whole human race at once. Like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?", unflinching consideration of the value of human life, of how our beliefs about the future shape the present, of the true origin and destiny of life on Earth, etc., especially as seen through the lens of Casspriano's "Key Question Technique," reveals that none of these questions have rational answers, yet all require our active and immediate response. Successful resolution of these larger riddles that impact everyone will require us all to eventually "explode" into reality, together, in a "super-rational" way. We'll have to break through the illusion and wake up together, as one (which has been the goal of Mahayana Buddhism, of which Zen is a sect, since around 200 BCE). That is the "Planetary Awakening" addressed in this book, and I believe Casspriano's "Key Questions" are a concrete step in that direction. I'm glad I spent my fifteen dollars.
This is my "old man" take on the simplest path, having encountered it after 30 years of Zen Buddhist practice (I'm not veering off my chosen path here, just bowing respectfully in passing toward Casspriano's). From a Buddhist perspective, the simplest path is true Dharma, though I do not get the impression from reading his book that Vincent Casspriano is himself a Buddhist or a follower of any religion. That to my mind makes his book all the more interesting.
True, but gimmicky.......2007-08-09
Casspriano's book is scientifically and philosophically sound as best as my young mind can tell, but I don't recommend this book. Its scattered with numerous pages of advertising about how his "program" works and how it compares to other religions and spiritual movements. Why must this author physically write out "The Simplest Path" in reference to his book every other page, and talk about his second volume? Perhaps because he's not out for pure truth, but for our money.
All this book comes down to after you strip away the nonsense is two things. First, admit that you don't truly know anything. Second, know yourself. Do those two things (they essentially both mean to question EVERYTHING), and you'll have Casspriano's "Planetary Awakening," with 15 bucks still in your pocket. And you'll be following the fundamental truths already said by Socrates.. so do yourself a favor and pick up Plato's "Apology" and read up on the Socratic dialogue on how to live a good life. And don't stop there, because you can't be sure he's right.
And I have 10 bucks that says these other couple of reviews were written by the book publisher. In any case, ignore the hype.
A Unique and Inspiring Wake-up Call.......2007-05-15
This is one of the most clear-headed books I've read in years on the subject of real, nitty gritty, get your hands dirty spiritual development (as opposed to the fru fru New Age variety). So much of what passes for "spirituality" in our time amounts to some author, celebrity, priest, philosopher or self-appointed guru telling us what to "believe," sight unseen, if we want to reach heaven, attain enlightenment, achieve "ascension," etc. Casspriano takes an at times startling opposite approach. For Casspriano, such unquestioned/unquestionable beliefs are not only NOT the path to spiritual awakening, they represent the chief obstacle blocking our realization of higher consciousness. And it's not just religious beliefs ("faith") he's talking about, but all our beliefs about reality, especially those that enclose our thinking in "boxes" that limit our freedom to find solutions to real-world threats like Peak Oil, overpopulation, Global Warming, etc. Though much of the book focuses on individual enlightenment, for Casspriano, these larger planetary issues are "spiritual," as well. Whether the issue is our personal inability to find happiness or Humanity's collective rush toward physical extinction, the cause is the same - our wrong-headed beliefs about what's real. The solution is the same, as well - continuous, deep questioning. Using Richard Dawkins' concept of "memes" as a central metaphor, Casspriano first breaks down the basic process of belief, showing the mechanism in our brains by which beliefs misdirect and control our psyches, then he walks the reader through an exploration of a series of ten "anti-meme questions" aimed at breaking down the walls of our mental "boxes" and setting our minds free. With each question, he supplies an exercise designed to allow the reader to attain a personal taste of reality "beyond the box," especially as flavored by that chapter's "Key Question." For the most part, this formula works very well (with a few rare moments of over-exuberance on the author's part, as already described in other reviews, though as a card carrying vegan environmentalist, I can't say I particularly minded), delivering a cumulative series of death-blows to some of the most basic "pillars" of our present human consensus reality. Beyond the walls those pillars supported lies real reality, where we are all interconnected and interdependent, and, in Casspriano's view, mutually destined for greatness, if we can just wake up and grab the reins of our runaway culture in time. This is not a book for spiritual "feel gooders" seeking soft assurances that they're perfect just they way they are and everything's going to be all right, no matter what. This is a wake up call, a tool kit and a concrete action plan for becoming individually enlightened and collectively saving the world, all rolled up into one. That, I think, is a cause well-worthy of exuberance.
Challenge Consensus Reality!.......2007-05-10
This is a thoughtful book that addresses how we may go about developing a process to question our everyday consensus reality. I suppose if I have learned anything in 49 years of life, it is that all personal and social problems stem from our fundamental views on the nature of reality itself. Vincent Casspriano uses the concept of a "meme" as a fundamental unit of ideas, assumptions, etc. that often block our understanding of reality itself. One such meme, for example, may be that we have to "fight for our freedom" or the world's a "fearful" place and hence, we have to be ready to kill to protect ourselves. I suppose you could also use the word "paradigm" here as well, but the essential point of this book is that we "unconsciously" function in our life with many limited points of view that block our ability to solve problems on both a personal and a social basis.
While Vince Casspriano is to be congradulated for producing a book that presents both a methodology and a motivation for personal transformation, there are a few pitfalls here that the potential reader should be aware of before tackling this material. The author has some rather strong views on fossil fuel consumption, meet consumption, and the role of humans in the cycle of procreation. While I generally agree with his analysis on fossil fuel consumtion and meat consumption (as I have viewed large tracks of deforrested grazing land in developing countries), these viewpoints can distract the reader from the essential point here which is to rigourously question consensus reality. Since I am single, and have no motivation to have children, I definitely disagree with his views on the necessity of human procreation on this planet, but here again, it is important to extract the essential meaning rather than get caught in the specific political/social debates that these issues may spawn.
If you are serious about personal transformation with the potential for changing our global consciousness, than this book can be an invaluable tool. I do agree with the Author that a world population of "high functioning" people can resolve every planetary problem we face today. As we systematically question our consensus reality, we will see our problems in new ways, and with this new perspective, problems can often be quickly resolved or transcended.
A Simple Cure For What's "Eating Us".......2006-11-13
I considered titling this review, "Stop Whining, Wake Up and Get Busy Saving the World," but decided "Eating Us" would be more attention-grabbing - which matters because I believe Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" is an important book, and I want to do whatever I can to draw your attention to it. Pick the title you like best. Both very fittingly describe what you will find within the pages of this remarkable new release from New Paradigm Press.
I have selected three short quotations to explore in this review that I think best summarize Casspriano's overall message:
From Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"Right now, this very moment, you are asleep... Even if you are reading these words in broad daylight - sitting at your desk or beside the kitchen table, your feet firmly planted on the floor, eyes open, senses alert, feeling the weight of this book in your hands as sounds of life rise and fall rhythmically around you - you are deeply asleep, and dreaming furiously"
Now, the idea that Humans are sleeping, and must therefore "awaken," is by no means unique to Casspriano's "Simplest Path" spiritual system, being the root observation underlying pretty much all Eastern religion, and a lot of Western Occultism and New Age metaphysics, as well. In fairness, Casspriano makes no claim to this as an original insight, openly supporting his assessment of the human predicament with quotations taken from Animism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. He then flows seamlessly into a list of complementary illustrations from the secular realms of Quantum Physics, brain/consciousness research, and most to-the-point, the study of memes and memetics, ala Evolutionary Biologist and world's best-known cheerleader for scientific atheism, Richard Dawkins.
If you've never heard of memes or memetics, a quick Google of those terms will reveal hundreds of serious, information-rich websites devoted to this now thirty-year old science. In a nutshell, a "meme" is a sort of contagious thought-form that spreads between people by way of imitation. Obvious memes in our environment include advertising jingles, fads and fashions, etc. Casspriano somewhat radically extends the concept to include just about everything that makes up the contents of our individual brains and shared human culture. While he resists redefining the word "meme" wholesale, he decidedly expands its definition to make memes and "memeplexes" (what you get when a number of memes band together into an organic, relational unit, like a religion or cultural or political movement) the basic, fundamental building blocks of everything we habitually label "real..."
And then he demonstrates, in at times excruciating detail, the complete emptiness of the "apparent-reality" that is a byproduct of memetic activity in our brains. What we call "real" is not real at all. It's an illusion spun up by our memes. And our memes are not original to us. They are "viral invaders" assailing our minds from without. Worse - and, while even this thought is not wholly unique to Casspriano, he certainly gives it his own very effective spin - memes are by no means mere passive beliefs or simple "harmless ideas." They are, Casspriano believes, actively predatory psychic parasites whose survival depends on our buying into the illusions they create in our minds. Think of illusion (Samsara, Maya, etc.) as a web we're caught in. Memes are the spider. We are the fly. Gotcha.
One thing I like very much about Casspriano's book is that he never asks us to take anything on faith, least of all this rather ugly depiction of the human psychic/spiritual condition. He not only challenges readers to test his hypothesis firsthand in order to experience what is real and true for ourselves, he spends a large chunk of the book outlining specific exercises anyone can do to escape memetic interference and personally experience reality as-it-is. The exercises in Part II of the book are powerful medicine... But this is a digression, so let me return to the point.
Memes are the spider, and we are the fly. A better metaphor might be that memes are the farmer, and we are the cow. Domesticated and docile, we allow memes to milk us daily, to extract from our minds the potent human psychic energy which, if reclaimed by us and put to proper human use, would quickly and positively transform our lives and our world. This transformation is awakening, ascension, enlightenment, metanoia, the Buddha-like change of consciousness most religions and spiritual systems on Earth hint at, but few ever actually deliver to followers. In this analysis, Casspriano's "Simplest Path" is very much in line with Gurdjieff's "Fourth Way," Carlos Castaneda's Toltec sorcery, and a few other well known spiritual practices inhabiting a somewhat darker, though perhaps more realistic corner of the New Age. But unlike most of those other systems, Casspriano's prescription for escaping illusion and awakening to reality is remarkably, well... simple.
From Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"The simple truth is that we are sleeping because we lack sufficient energy to wake up."
And later in the same chapter:
"The real work that brings about awakening, rather than merely granting the external appearance of "being spiritual," while actually embroiling us ever more deeply in the dream, is a rigorous, daily commitment to the identification and elimination of every self-serving belief from which our personal dream-lives are constructed."
For "belief" in the quotation above, read "meme/memeplex." Casspriano certainly does, treating the terms as largely interchangeable. In the end, this genuinely simple - at least in the sense of being uncomplicated and pragmatic - spiritual practice amounts to discovering reality as-it-actually-is less by searching for a glimpse beyond the illusion, than by systematically withdrawing our participation in, and identification with, the dream. When we disentangle our psyches from memetic illusion, only reality remains. We don't have to chase it; to a meme-free mind, reality just appears. This is "Satori" in Zen Buddhism. This is "stopping the world" in the Toltec sorcery of Castaneda and others. Casspriano's genius lies in his talent for exposing the core mechanism behind such complex and often inscrutable spiritual systems, and for putting into plain language clear instructions for unraveling the dream and achieving personal awakening. The virus-like process by which memes take over and control our human minds, as described by Casspriano is, to my mind, very complicated (but well worth struggling through). What is genuinely simple about "The Simplest Path," however, is Casspriano's prescription for breaking those bonds, once you've made the effort to understand how they are created and maintained. For Casspriano, remaining a victim of spiritual sleep and energetic exploitation by memes is a complex activity in which we unconsciously invest enormous amounts of psychic energy every day of our lives. Awakening is the product of a simple act of withdrawing that investment, which automatically re-energizes of our minds and lives. Or as Casspriano cleverly phrases it when closing Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"Unweave the tapestry of the dream, and awakening happens."
Anyone can do this. Spiritual awakening, in Casspriano's view, may be hard work, but it is not complicated work. The path to enlightenment is really rather shockingly simple. Fall out of love with the dream. Reclaim your psychic energy. Wake up to reality.
The ten "Key Questions" Casspriano explores in the second section of the book are designed to put the theory laid out in Part I to practical and immediate use. Essentially, I think Casspriano sees these ten issues - why we treat enlightenment as an "airy-fairy" ideal instead of a measurable transformation of brain functioning, the excuses we make for avoiding personal responsibility and integrity along the lines of Castaneda's "impeccability," the fallacy of belief in a "separate self," etc. - as pillars of both our personal and collective human dreams. They are by no means an exhaustive listing of the memes twisting our minds. But they are primary keystones on which layers upon layers of the grand illusion are built. Topple these ten baseline pillars and the larger structure crumbles.
Casspriano explores some "Keys" more successfully than others. One downside to the book is that, especially in the "Keys," Casspriano's own memetic prejudices shine at times rather glaringly through, as when, in his discussion of the American "What Would Jesus Do?" religious fad, he characterizes the Evangelical Christian purveyors of WWJD as, "ultra-conservative, right wing ideologues." Even should the reader personally agree with such pronouncements, its hard to resist thinking, "Hey Vince! Your memes are showing!" But where he nails his point, Casspriano's prose can be downright inspiring, as with the "Key" cosmological study "Is Earth the Center of the Universe?," which explores the gap between what we know, scientifically, about the Universe and what our daily choices and behavior says we really believe, about the cosmos and about ourselves. His closing "Key" "Are We Alone?" so poetically frames the true stakes of our global human predicament - species survival VS extinction - that its hard to imagine anyone keeping their gaze glued squarely to their own self-involved navel in the wake of reading it. Of course we are not alone. There are six and a half billion of us on Planet Earth, and whether we awaken to what's best in us or follow our darkest drives over History's cliff into oblivion, we do so as one. One planet, one fate.
This notion of "oneness" and of a common, intertwined human spiritual and biological destiny is a core theme in The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND that sets it apart from any spiritual book in recent memory. My final quotation from the book returns us to the opening lines of Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"We are all aware of the challenges facing us as we enter together into the 21st Century:
· World oil supplies are running out.
· Global warming is transforming the Earth into a steamy greenhouse.
· Even as our technology connects the world, ideological extremism, terrorism and militarism divide us as never before.
· Headlines bombard us with news of war, famine, pestilence and death until we feel overwhelmed and unable to respond.
· Time is running out..."
Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Transformation, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" does not offer easy escape from these very pressing real-world human ills, but rather, a down to Earth, workable prescription for their cure. Yes, we must awaken as individuals, and, rest assured, "The Simplest Path" shows spiritual seekers exactly how to do that. But a prime message of "The Simplest Path" is that, for personal awakening to have meaning, it must occur within the context of a complete re-visioning of global culture, and a mass wrenching away of the wheel of History from the control of viral memes, that we might create a common cosmic human destiny worthy of our highest potential as a species.
Now that's a meme worth feeding.
Book Description
Here is a practical Buddhist guidebook that offers techniques for developing a truly compassionate heart in the midst of everyday life. For centuries, Tibetans have used fifty-nine pithy slogansâsuch as "A joyous state of mind is a constant support" and "Don't talk about others' shortcomings"âas a means to awaken kindness, gentleness, and compassion. While Tibetan Buddhists have long valued these slogans, recently they have become popular in the West due to such books as Start Where You Are by Pema Chödrön and Training the Mind by Chögyam Trungpa. This edition of The Great Path of Awakening contains an accessible, newly revised translation of the slogans from the famous text The Seven Points of Mind Training . It also includes illuminating commentary from Jamgon Kongtrul that provides further instruction on how to meet every situation with intelligence and an open heart.
Customer Reviews:
More advanced commentary on Lojong practice.......2006-08-08
Of the three guides to Lojong practice: Start Where You Are (by Pema Chödrön), Seven-Point Mind Training (by Alan B. Wallace), and Training the Mind (by Chögyam Trungpa), this one is more advanced in presentation and is more esoteric (Vajrayana) in nature. The other texts mentioned present the material more for the beginner. All of these texts are excellent.
This book is mentioned in "Training the Mind", and Chogyam Trungpa's comments appear on the rear cover of this book. It is a wonderful translation and the notes/glossary is helpful and extensive.
To be the view, not to be reviewed.......2006-07-02
This spiritual classic is invaluable as a point of view from which to live life well.
Book Description
An authoritative and critically acclaimed book, in which the author traces the path of enlightenment as it is found in 37 pieces of Buddhist literature, known as the bodhi-pakkhiya dhamma. The result is a thorough and engrossing piece of work, which provides a unique insight into the nature not only of Buddhism, but also the mystic experience generally.
Customer Reviews:
A Westerner Walks in the Buddha's Steps.......2004-07-29
I think that this is one of the most useful and original books on Buddhism that I have read in a long time. The author is a matter-of-fact Englishman who has achieved great spiritual insight, and does about as much as anyone can to explain the inexplicable. He starts at the beginning of his own journey, and describes what he realized and how his realization grew as time went on. He does this in simple English, and then tries to show how it fits in with traditional Buddhist theory.
This makes his work substantially different from most Buddhist literature, which, whether written by Asians or Westerners, which starts with the intellectual framework developed in another age and in another culture.
Looking at what I have written above, I feel some doubt that I have described the book quite correctly. But it is the best I can do.
In any case, A record of Awakening is very original and should be helpful to anyone on the path. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Important.......2002-03-23
I highly recommend this book. It is not only a spellbinding true account of a spiritual awakening. It also gives us reliable methods and incouragement for our own lives. It may be more suited for someone who knows a little about meditation but it has been my favourite book since I bought it two years ago.
Book Description
Written in India in the early eighteenth century AD, Santideva'sBodhicaryavatara became one of the most popular accounts of the Buddhist spiritual path. Important as a manual of training among Mahayana Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text continues to be used as
the basis for teaching by modern Buddhist teachers. This new translation from the original language provides detailed annotations explaining allusions and technical references. The Introductions set Santideva's work in context, and for the first time explain its structure.
Customer Reviews:
Santideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Path.......2007-04-03
I first saw a copy of the original 1995 paperback version (with extremely small type) of this translation of Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara and, after skimming through it, decided to order it. When my order arrived, I was immensely surprised to see that it was a well-designed hardback. Having compared the several available translations of this text by other authors, I feel confident in recommending this translation for several reasons. For the beginner interested in Buddhism, Santideva's guide to the Bodhisattva's Path is a wonderful introduction to the basic concerns of Buddhism. The translators (Crosby/Skilton) have done an exceptional job of presenting Santideva's thought in accessible terms easily understood. The General Introduction (Williams) and the delightful chapter summaries help to contextualize what Santideva is saying. The reader's need to be included in the communicative process is always thoughtfully addressed. One experiences this text as a dialogue and not a monologue. For the experienced Buddhist practitioner, the detailed explanations and copious notes provide rich insights into Santideva's Madhyamaka School of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. Finally, in reading this version of an ancient Indian Buddhist text, there is the obvious sense of a dedicated familiarity by the translators regarding their subject. This translation is both entertaining and informative regardless of one's level of knowledge of Buddhism.
A truly bad translation.......2004-01-13
I'm at a loss to understand why anyone would recommend this translation of the Bodhicharyavatara, versus any of the other choices available on the market. It completely lacks the poetic quality of the Padmakara translation, and the straightforwardness of the Batchelor translation. I don't even understand why academics would want it--the notes are self-obvious.
The most readable translation I've come across is the Padmakara translation, published by Shambhala, and it includes a good introduction and substantial notes.
Excellent translation and analytical comments.......2001-06-22
On one hand the notes and comments are very useful for novice readers lacking the historical context as well as the cultural aspects of the writing of the Bodhicaryavatara. On the other hand, placing comments before each chapter makes the book more analytical, and this impacts on the depth and beauty of the verses of the Bodhicaryavatara itself. It is probably a good idea to read it once for understanding the why's and who's and then go back through it without reading the comments at all.
Since it has been written after or partly at the same time as the Siksa Samuccaya, interested readers should also get the Siksa Samuccaya and read both books. It is also probably easier to first read this book and only after having been taught the context of the "story" go to the Siksa Samuccaya which is difficult to understand without a consequent knowledge of the Buddhist culture.
Anyway, this is a high quality translation as well as a very good commented version of the Bodhicaryavatara. Recommended for all types of readers, novice as well as more advanced in the Buddhist thought.
If you really want to understand the Bodhicaryavatara this is one of the best books you can get.
A good guide to the life of the Bodhisattva.......2000-11-29
This book is about the Buddhist path to enlightenment, but contains many things applicable to improving anyone's life. It deals a lot with human suffering, and the need for people to help remove the suffering of others, as through this one's own life may be improved.
Although it is presented from a Buddhist perspective, much of the teaching is a good guide to self development, the principles that it teaches are hard to fault, and it remains centered on these things throughout the book.
The commentary deals with the Buddhist philosphies that Santideva uses, and explains the Buddhist principles involved, rather than explaining the teachings.
It gets pretty involved, but you can take quite a lot out of it.
"When the mental attitude of anger is slain, then slain is every enemy"......
Point One: a hierarchical rating is dispensable........1999-09-28
Clarification: the book is not as bad as it can be, neither is it as good as there can possibly be. It just is. It is truth/Truth. It has helped many find the path, it can help everyone and anyone if it is read conscientously. Let us put an end to suffering not for our own pityful selves, but for the sake of every other embodied being. Peace.
Book Description
Written by the nineteenth-century Tibetan scholar Jamgon Kongtrul, this book provides clear and concise instructions for working with fifty-nine traditional Buddhist maxims or slogans. This practiceâmade popular in such books as Start Where You Are by Pema Chödrön and Training the Mind by Chögyam Trungpaâis designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward oneself and others.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect Book At Any Stage On The Path.......2005-03-20
This book is one of the best I have read on practice. It breaks down the subject so it is easily comprehended by a beginner. I would recommend this along with 'Turning the Mind Into An Ally' by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche as the first two books on practice for a new student. 'Turning the Mind Into An Ally' will teach basic practice and this book will teach the cultivation of compassion and loving kindness during practice. What else can you ask for?
I, however, came to this book after several years of study and found it just as useful. It really drove home how compassion and loving kindness are what the path is all about.
Highly recommended!
Essential how-to guide.......2003-12-01
I can't think of a more valuable guide for life than The Great Path of Awakening, and it is just 50 pages long minus end notes.
This text will be most useful to Buddhist practitioners, regardless of level of experience. For the non-Buddhist, some introduction to the concepts discussed here from another source e.g. the Dalai Lama's Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart would be helpful.
What's so special about this text is that it gives concrete instructions for cultivating Bodhicitta in your practice. This is the greatly expansive quality of compassion that Buddhists believe will lead us all to peace and enlightenment. So unlike other texts which may discuss the benefits of Bodhicitta at great length, this book tells us exactly what to do to develop it. Highest possible recommendation.
Essential for those on the mahayana path.......2002-04-22
This classic text was written for those who wish to cultivate bodhicitta (compassion). The great path of awakening is a commentary of an earlier text The Seven Points of mind training by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje.
The development of compassion toward all sentient beings is an integral part of the mahayana path along with meditation and yidam practice, with a goal to fully realise our Buddha nature. In the mean time, the cultivation of compassion will quieten the mind, relinquish ego clinging and make us nicer people to know.
The text is easy to digest and the points are easy to put into practice. In practice, for the novice, Bodhicitta is hard to cultivate and requires diligence and dicipline in ones practice.
Although intended for practicing Buddhists any one could benefit from reading this book. Much of what is written can be found in contemporary self-help books, yet it was written in the late 19th century.
One of the key cannonical texts on ethics ever written.......2000-06-20
The underlying text of this commentary is a deeply inspired canon on ethics. This work is as groundbreaking as the New Testament but is born from an eastern perspective. It is hard to understand that this text is so little known in the west. I would rate this, along with the Sermon on the Mount and the Tao and Kant's categorical imperative, as one of the definitive works on ethics and spirtual insight. Part of the commentary is colored by Buddhist beliefs which I personally substract from its general message(as I would with Christian dogma from the New Testament). If you are looking for some kind of exotic, new age, feel good chanting sort of philosophy you should definitely skip this. This is one of the toughest prescriptions for ethical living that I've ever come across. This goes far beyond the Judeo-Christian call to "love thy neighbor as thyself" and calls for you to "offer all gain and victory to others while taking upon yourself all sufferings"- this especially applies to your enemies who you should be most thankful to since: "In particular, all those who hurt me are worthy of gratitude since they are my companions and helpers for gathering the accumulations of merit and pristine wisdom and for clearing away the obscurations of disturbing emotions and conceptual knowledge". Pretty strong stuff. If humans, with their vast technology but miniscule ethics, are not to go extinct during the next millenium, they are going to have to eventually follow a philosophy such as this. " Winner takes All " has gone about as far as it can in a world were the losers are armed with nuclear weapons.
Canonical text on ethics.......1999-11-26
The underlying text of this commentary is a deeply inspired canon on ethics. This work is as groundbreaking as the New Testament but is born from an eastern perspective. It is hard to understand that this text is so little known in the west. I would rate this, along with the Sermon on the Mount and the Tao and Kant's categorical imperative, as one of the definitive works on ethics and spirtual insight. Part of the commentary is colored by Buddhist beliefs which I personally substract from its general message (as I would with Christian dogma from the New Testament).
Book Description
Unlike similar works, The Path of Direct Awakening references an impersonal divine — expressed as "Nature" or "Mind" — for meditators or seekers who resist the notion of a personalized divinity such as God, Krishna, or Yahweh. Selections in this illustrated collection are drawn from the Buddhist literature of India and China, and the Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist traditions of China. They include 70 poems and 10 prose pieces -- writings by such legendary figures as Lao-Tzu, Confucius, Buddha, Han Shan, Huang Po, and Wang Wei. Brief essays and annotations provide context, and four Chinese-style brush-stroke drawings enhance the text and help the reader address the Absolute directly.
Customer Reviews:
The Path of Direct Awakening.......2006-04-01
I use Steve Ruppenthal's, The Path of Direct Awakening in my course on the sacred and mystical literature of the world. The passages, selected from Lao Tsu, Confucius, The Buddha, Huang Po, Han Shan, The Sixth Patriarch of Zen, and others from the Chinese tradition, radiate the spirit of nontheistic thought and experience of seekers who sought peace directly, without the intervention of any soul or deity.
Instructions for meditating on passages are included. Those who wish merely to read and be inspired can read happily here, but the means of going deeper are given for those who wish to make the attempt, and are willing to accept the challenge.
Ruppenthal hopes we take it up, and that we will experience "...the ever-real possibility of a breakthrough from the mundane world into that higher realm of light we all have, unnoticed and untapped, within ourselves."
Simply beautiful!.......2004-06-28
The book is simply beautiful. The selections are splendid, and the introductions and explanations read so smoothly, as being told them by a dear old friend-- restrained yet warm, personal but never cutesy (or even close to it), simple, dignified. For anyone of a non-deistic bent -- or mood -- what a welcome collection this is: meaningful passages, the translations crystal clear, smooth-running, elegant, a great pleasure to read. And the book sits cozily in my hand.
Average customer rating:
- Most insightful book on being a Buddhist I have read
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Buddhist Path to Awakening
Tejananda
Manufacturer: Windhorse Publications (UK)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Buddhism
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1899579028 |
Book Description
A straightforward and encouraging description of the path of the Buddha and his followers. Reveals how the Buddha's teaching can help us develop a clearer mind and a more compassionate heart.
Customer Reviews:
Most insightful book on being a Buddhist I have read.......2001-07-19
I have read innumberable books on Buddhism, both philosophy and practice. This is the first one to sythesize all the answers to questions I have had about Buddhism. Buddhism for Westerners is not easy to grasp, and after months of study and thinking, this was the first one to hit at all the questions. He speaks on everything from a bit of history to practice--such as behaviour, and what to expect from practice.
There are a lot of books out there on Buddhism, but many are so theoretical and obtuse that ardent enthusiasts do not grasp the point. This book is a great source.
Product Description
In The Buddhist Path to Simplicity, Christina Feldman, an internationally renowned Buddhist teacher, illuminates the subjects of compassion, intention, mindfulness and awakening as they affect us daily. The path to peace, she suggests, is not necessarily complex or arduous. If we simply turn our attention to this moment, it will speak to us of wonder, mystery, harmony and peace. Feldman demonstrates that there is no better time to awaken and discover everything our heart longs for than this very moment.
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- While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within
- A Glimpse of Nothingness: Experiences in an American Zen Community
- A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder And Its Aftermath
- A Skeptic's Search for God: Convincing Evidence for His Existence
- A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness
- A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are
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