Customer Reviews

Buddhism Core Ideas

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Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guan Shan, whose headquarters is in Taiwan, has written a very good treatment on the fundamentals of Buddhism, of which 'Buddhism:Core Ideas' is a part (Lotus In The Stream being the other).
This book is in some ways an extension of 'Lotus' in that it develops more deeply into some of the more subtle and hard to grasp aspects of Buddhist thought referred to in the former. Subjects like Emptiness and Impermanence are given more insight, description, and definition. Having gone thorugh many other books on the generalities of Buddhist teaching, I find Master Hsing Yun's works one of the most accessable. In some ways like his Christian counterpart, C.S. Lewis, Master Yun takes the reader down some weighty philosophical/spiritual paths, but never loses or leaves the reader behind. His approach is simple, straightforward, and gracious.
Credit must also be given to translator Tom Graham, who does a supurb job in handling what must certainly be subtleties in not only Chinese language, but in also the way Master Yun's words reach not only Chinese devotees, but also to effect world intellect and spirituality, in a way that Master Yun would want to reach and teach this beautiful and poetic religions/philosphies.