Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression [Paperback]

Taigen Daniel Leighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1998

Contemporary Westerners look for spiritual guides to help them find the way to a more wholesome, productive lifestyle, and this fascinating book offers an introduction to a particular kind of guide, the Bodhisattva figures of the Buddhist tradition.

Explaining the psychology of bodhisattva practice, imagery, and imagination, Bodhisattva Archetypes identifies a number of archetypal figures -- beings dedicated to the universal awakening or enlightenment of everyone. In language that is subjective and reflective -- with fascinating folklore of the Bodhisattva tradition and numerous illustrations of the icons and their sacred sites -- Taigen Daniel Leighton introduces readers to recognizable Bodhisattva archetypes, like Maitreya the future Buddha (often depicted as a fat, laughing Chinese figure) as well as contemporary figures who exemplify Bodhisattva ideals, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau. These familiar personages from non-Buddhist spiritual traditions reinforce Leighton's view that the search for spiritual well-being is global, and that, in today's world, the bodhisattva ideal is a relevant, useful guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); First Edition edition (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140195564
• ISBN-13: 978-0140195569
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,546,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for All Sentient Beings, September 19, 2000

By 

Franz Metcalf - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression (Paperback)

Faithful amazon.com patrons know the phenomenon of reading superlative reviews here, reviews that sadly overstate the qualities of the books reviewed. Reading the two reviews below, you might fear this is such a case. They are indeed, superb reviews, accurate, informative, yet rising to the power of poetry. But the reader need not fear; Leighton's book is honored by the reviews but has earned every such honor. And if the reviews rise toward poetry it is because the language of the book inspires them.

I read Leighton's work carefully, wearing both my hats as Buddhist and Buddhist scholar. I take both hats off to him as he has fashioned a book that scholars will learn from and practitioners will deepen with. Non-Buddhists please take note: this would be a marvelous way to begin learning what Mahayana Buddhism is really about. All persons will grow from reading this book, and I hope they do.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-proking and educational, September 30, 2000

By 

Steven M Scotten (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression (Paperback)

A wonderful introduction to bodhisattva practice and history. Rev. Leighton explores the historical manifestations of the bodhisattvas, but always returns to examples accessable to the western reader (this western reader, anyhow!) and brings the focus to the ways we can learn from the bodhisattvas, not just revere them from afar.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Informative, March 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression (Paperback)

This well written book is inspiring and informative. It is a sourcebook of information about Buddhist iconography, literature and psychology and, at the same time, it makes the seemingly arcane idea of the "boddhisattva" compellingly relevant to our struggle to lead conscious and responsible lives in these complex and morally murky times. Mr. Leighton has served us and the Dharma well with this important addition to the epochal effort to bring the essence of Buddhism to the West.