Customer Reviews

Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness, and the Man Who Found Them All

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At some point in our cultural consciousness, Buddhism developed a hip cachet. From Zen mp3 players and the rock band Nirvana to Richard Gere's appearances with the Dalai Lama, Buddhist vocabulary and imagery began to infiltrate our collective psychic ken. Journalist/Author Perry Garfinkel spins what began as a National Geographic assignment on modern Buddism around the globe to a full-length book chronicling his journeys around the planet in search of the living Buddhist spirit amidst the cacaphony of modern life. From the war-torn provinces of Sri Lanka(where Buddhist soldiers defy the image of pacificism associated with the religion) to Takster, the birthplace of the Dalai Lama, Garfinkel gives a humorous and sharp-eyed report on Buddhist faith and practice. The picture that emerges is of a complex, evolving religion that is not spared the contradictions, hypocricies, and perplexities of other faiths. Along the way Garfinkel encounters a cast of lively characters, including Sri Lankan activist Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Shao Lin monk Shi De Cheng, Thich Nhat Hanh, and His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Garfinkel seasons the book with just enough autobiographical information and humor to keep it lively and quick-paced without becoming indulgent or self-aggrandizing. He manages to blend contemporary observations with historical record to create an informative, clear, and accessible portrait of the historic Buddha and the religion that followed in his wake. At 291 pages, the book is a quick, lean, and fun read. For those who enjoy travel writing and/or religious exploration, this book is a score.

This book was a fast and light read. Garfinkel's voice is engaging and witty. Speaking of engaged, one of the book's goals is to track the Engaged Buddhist movement. Here, the author travels around the globe taking snapshots of how different cultures have adapted and modernized Buddhism, in many instances making the religion more socially "engaged."

However, in each of the stops I wanted to know more--they truly were just snapshots. For example, he goes to India and signs on with a tour group covering the four major Buddhist holy sights: where the Buddha was born, where he attained enlightenment, where he gave his first teaching, and where he died. Yet, the author really focuses on Bodh Gaya (where the Buddha became enlightened), and says the other spots are sort-of "hazy." Hardly what I call a book about the author's travels "in the footsteps of the Buddha." A more acurrate designation might be "in the footsteps of BUDDHISM."

Covering Engaged Buddhism was equally light, and I was very disappointed in the chapter on American Buddhism, where he was more concerned about his relationship with Buddhism as a Jew. He talked more about Engaged Buddism in his introduction and in the chapter on Auschwitz, Poleland than in the American chapter.

Yet, I still enjoyed the book. If you want a light read and a brief overview of Buddhism around the world, this is the book for you. But if you want something heavier, look elswhere.

Garfinkel developed this book as an extension of work he did documenting the roots and migration of Buddhism in Asia for National Geographic. It helps to have some rudimentary introduction to Buddhism before the reading the book. On the other hand, the book will appeal to people who see themselves as "seekers" and want to know more about the diversity of Buddhist practice or have concerns about different aspects of dharma or practice. This is not a book of inspirational readings or scholarly discussions of dharma or Buddhist practices and will be welcomed by those who find "serious" work a little daunting at this stage of their interest in Buddhism. It also will be welcomed by people who have seen some disconnect between Buddhist doctrine and the conduct of Buddhist societies.

Garfinkel has had many years of exposure to different branches of Buddhism, but clearly has been weary of a full-on commitment to any of them. He makes efforts to compare and contrast the development and structure of Buddhist beliefs with those of Christianity and Judaism and tends to do better with Judaism (the faith in which he had been raised). The book is far from exhaustive in describing the life of the Buddha or how Buddhism spread and evolved in Asia. Nonetheless, he seems to get most of the fundamentals right and offers direction to deeper work in a number of areas. There are gaps of varying importance--he describes the large temporal gap between the Buddha's life and efforts to document his teaching without much attention to what happened in between. The idea that Buddhism became incorporated into various Asian cultures is treated as more novel than it needs to be (e.g., Catholicism, a faith with significant hierarchy and centuries of centralized teaching, nonetheless, evolved in markedly different ways around the world, which has posed challenges for the US Church with waves of new and different Catholic immingarnst). Moreover, many of the cycles of decline, renewal, institutional corruption, etc. are common to other faiths. While Buddhism differs from other world religions in its absence of a deity, lack of anti-scientific ideas, etc., organized Buddhism suffers the same human frailties as any other collective enterprise.

Garfinkel attempts to explain the adoption and adaptation of Buddhism in the US and seems to have more difficulty with this than with explaining why Thai Theravda Buddhism looks so different from Zen Buddhism in Japan. In many ways, he seems Boomer-centric and misses the many ways, often small, in which the US became ready to engage Buddhism. He is somewhat better at describing and analyzing how Asians have come to the US and discovered ways to renew interest in Buddhism in their own, "Buddhist" countries. In terms of Buddhism's arrival in the US, there have been waves of interest in things Asians since the late 19th century and the strong influence of Buddhist imagery in Chinese, Japanese and other Asian arts and crafts would have awakened some interest decades ago. In addition, many Americans would have been exposed to various aspects of Asian culture and religion, if only superficially, through the Philippine occupation, WWII, the occupation of Japan, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War and the continuing placement of troops and other interests in a variety of Asian Countries. Important intellectual currents in the US from the late 19th century onward also paved the way for more interest and acceptance. Among the small number of US thinkers who captured the interest of Asians were people like John Dewey. Dewey was the chief exponent of pragmatism, that most "American" school of philosophy which ironically, had many areas of overlap with Buddhist thought. Dewey also was an important figure in social democratic circles, whose ideas would have received a warm welcome by Buddhist thinkers such as Buddhadasa. Early Humanism, including Humanistic psychology (e.g., Rogerian ideas before Carl Rogers rejection of science and the field's popularization by the self-indulgent) also has many points of overlap with Buddhist thought. American thinkers also would have been aware of the study of Buddhist history stimulated by the work of British and other archeologists (described by Garfinkel). In short, the stage was set for dialogue between quintessential Americans and Asian Buddhism long before the likes of Jack Kerouac or Ram Dass.

Shortcomings aside, this is a quick and entertaining read and good for people who want to know more about Buddhism but aren't ready for a detailed history or for inspirational writings. Some may be put-off by Garfinkel's tendency toward the glib and toward Woody Allen-esque humor. I have a fairly irreverent take on many things, but even I found this grating at times. I got the impression that Garfinkel was a little uncomfortable getting too serious about Buddhism, even though it was also apparent that he wished it was somehow more "pure" and consistent. He seemed bothered about its mongrelization in the US, without recognizing the mongrelization he documents elsewhere. He also seems bothered by its commercialization, although I have to say that compared to the commercialization of Christianity, this seems tame. Even in my very secular neighborhood, one can find "Jesus is my homeboy" bumper stickers, the schlockiness of which I've never seen duplicated in other faiths. Ultimately, Buddhism lives as a human enterprise that has had to adapt itself to many different eras and societies and that's what Garfinkel helps document, even if he isn't always able to draw some of the more obvious conclusions.

It may surprise you to know a recent study revealed one in eight Americans say that Buddhist teachings or practices have influenced their lives: BUDDHA OR BUST: IN SEARCH OF TRUTH, MEANING, HAPPINESS, AND THE MAN WHO FOUND THEM ALL tells of a journalist's world-wide journey to understand why. His assignment for National Geographic led him to follow the footsteps of the Buddha, and in the course of his travels to sacred Buddhist sites and his interviews with renowned Buddhist authorities, he discovered many underlying influences on Buddhist beliefs systems - revealed here, in a lively blend of travelogue and spiritual examination.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I bought the book as a gift for my husband and as I was wrapping it I started reading it.

Ultimately, read the whole damn thing.

Garfinkel is funny with dry detached observations that make the subject digestable and, well, funny!

I've struggled with traditional discussions of Buddhism and heard scholars discuss Buddhism in the west. I usually zoned out early on.
Not this time.


I ended up buying 4 books, gave them all away and now, damn it, need one for myself.

Not bad, not too exciting either. It's a nice read that has a lot of information on the history of Buddhism. Nothing in the book is overly interesting, but nothing turns you away. His humor never worked for me, but others may enjoy it. Not quite sure who I would recommend this to, not quite sure who I would not recommend this to. Doesn't seem like a great intro book to Buddhism, but doesn't seem like a bad book to start with either. Won't really motivate you to meditate or want to learn more, but doesn't really turn you away from it either. It's just kind of there.

Travelling in Buddha's footsteps, Garfinkel pursues "engaged" followers who apply dharma to heal the world. Parleying a 5,000-word National Geographic" commission into a brisk report, if perhaps too rapid for those less familiar with Buddhism today.

Such speed, for instance, early on raises questions. Going east from America, Garfinkel reaches not the Buddha's Indian birthplace first to start his account, but a Zen Peacemakers retreat held at Auschwitz. From a New Jersey family with Polish Jewish roots, Garfinkel as expected brings baggage to this experience. Yet, he mentions offhand the fact that retreatants stay at the contested Carmelite convent's dorm adjoining the camp; he also seems to underplay the question of making a more universalist statement out of the Shoah at its ground zero impact.

Kaddish is recited and the names of a few of the six million recited, but summing this up with the fact that Garfinkel could 1) get angry and spread revenge; 2) hide and avoid the truth; 3) accept its inexplicablity and align it with a Buddhist refusal to comprehend some things appears only to postpone this immensely difficult question's resolution, for evil was done for explicable reasons, not out of some <span style="font-style:italic;">mysterium tremendum</span>. He sums up that out of this "incomprehensible" encounter how he can choose rather to "feel more alive," but this option for acceptance failed to satisfy me-- yet the Shoah for many observers remains a topic that cannot be resolved in words.

The next chapter recovers with a very well-told look at Buddha's life and teachings. I have read a few of these, but Garfinkel shared fresh bits. I did not know that Siddhartha on leaving his sleeping wife and child in one version did not tiptoe away after a parting glance one night, but in an alternate telling, awakened his wife to make love with her one last time before tiptoeing away. I'm not sure which action was more or less worthy; Garfinkel notes how Buddhist feminists may be troubled by this anecdote still, and it's always troubled me too.

Garfinkel shares an echo of such tension caused by renunciation of the world and family when the reforming King Ashoka's wife, fearing her husband's born-again devotion to the Buddha, destroyed the branch planted by the king from the original Bodhi tree. The author holds as a follower that "ripples of change," as Ashoka showed in India, happen by individual initiative with engaged Buddhists rather than relying on political or social transformation to affect change for the better.

The chapter from the longest continuing Buddhist nation, Sri Lanka, does disappoint a bit, perhaps overshadowed by the Sinhalese majority's war with the Tamil Hindu minority that complicates simple equations of Buddhists with peace; in Thailand as well, there's a sense of gloom at corruption and squalor. A moment of insight comes, however, when while watching a monk practice his meditation for a few minutes, Garfinkel blurts out from his heart: "take me there"-- not the mountain behind the monk's cell so much as the place within his soul.

In Bangkok and Hong Kong, the East-West exchange of mutual influences for engaged globalized Buddhism enter our mediated age. An Indian businessmen harried by communicating with New York bosses a whole work day away by e-mail reminds Garfinkel of the tensions of staying in touch 24/7 as one's way of making a living. He clarifies that while the East has been allied with being and the West with doing, in the emerging, commodified Buddhist network across electronic and business lines, therapies and meditation labs, teachers and students criss-crossing, that such facile demarcations are blurring.

In China and Japan, the challenges of retailing Buddhist tradition to tourists and natives alike seem to dispirit Garfinkel. The Dalai Lama's cousin, by an amazing side trip near the border of Tibet, parrots Communist harmony and freedom of religion to Garfinkel, who records these words to play at an interview with the Dalai Lama in exile. As with many jaded journalists, Garfinkel reports that his meeting with the Dalai Lama seemed to spark energy within the most cautious and world-weary interviewer.

Back in America, a visit to Naropa U. in Colorado and a look at how Buddhism gets packaged move as expected, tidily but a bit drearily. Garfinkel intersperses his own understandings of his Buddhist-Jewish-secular outlook too sparingly. He may as a journalist want to subsume his own life within his travels, but his discussion of how suddenly while talking with a Zen priest his own belief in God blinked out needs more than a paragraph or so of elaboration.

He's on, of course, to a profound difference between Buddhism and conventional religions as belief-based systems by definition. He holds that belief in God propels suffering, the self-vs.-non-self, me-not-me dichotomy that separates us from everything and everybody else. God, Garfinkel posits, is not something or someone else, and Buddhism places the awesome responsibility for undoing the damage done upon ourselves alone. He advances the Zen "don't know mind" similarly when tackling the Shoah at Auschwitz earlier on, but there persisted for me in this narrative a sidling away from how he was taking on the question of human correction of evils, after all at the heart of an socially engaged Buddhism.

In closing, his own traveller's tale has many exciting moments and involving stories, but it also shares a middle-aged tiredness with its author. He takes up his life's challenge and seeks answers in a method that refuses pat answers for eternal verities that other faiths promise. Nevertheless, this may prove after all, then, a more honest story than I expected, a lesson in the "bust" on the way looking for a "Buddha."

If you wanna know, read this book!
The author takes you on a phantasmagorical ride around the globe to trace Buddha's origins. This guy even gets a meeting with the Dalai Lama himself and sort of becomes his pal. Garfinkel's writing style and incredible knowledge of history combines to create a book that's easy to read and understandable -- for the first time I think I really understood the Sri Lankan conflict that occurred between the majority Sinhalese, largely Buddhists, and the mainly Hindu Tamil separatists. And it was in Sri Lanka the author comes face to face with the hypocrisy of even the peaceful dogma of Buddhism when he realizes there are "Monks in politics? Buddhists at war?" While it should be a country showing the best of what Buddhism has to offer, he writes, "it is hemorrhaging from within."
He made Buddha real for me, even showing that he may have had some self-doubt. In Chapter 4, "In the Land of Buddha's Birth", Garfinkel writes: "Indeed, the Buddha considered `checking out.' He could have lived up to one of his names, Tathagata, which means `thus gone'. Furthermore, he lamented that his Truths were much too complicated to teach and much too difficult to follow." Buddha obviously chose to persevere, but through such nuggets the author breaths life into the Buddha many of us have come to know as a fat silly sculpture like the one on the book cover.

> Positives: nice glimpses of buddhism in different countries, well researched, taps into the desires to better understand the "big questions", held attention during a long plane ride

> Negatives: rarely goes into depth regarding the many strains of buddhism described, doesn't seem to leave reader with much at the end

> Big annoyance: 50+ year old white author's views on Asian women.

e.g. "I was becoming enamored with the beauty, charm, and mercurial quality of Chinese woman." . . .the same later happens with a Vietnamese woman. . . these parts were not needed and definitely turned me off (or would've rated book a bit higher).

For a buddhism related book, would recommend Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill

The way of writing is clear, very easy to read. But this book gives the impression the author's study is only there to say : "hey, there are more and more Buddhists on earth, and I will show show where with few anecdots" ..

I enjoyed the reading, but I must admit that I read it very quickly, as there are not so many points in the book. Let's say it could be an introduction for many people to Buddhism, but not more.

Above this, I have found the author to be very naive, and discovering the world at 50+ with such childish eyes is a bit surprising there.