Customer Reviews

Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish I had read this book when I was first attempting to learn about Buddhism, because it is clear, concise, accurate, and (usually) respectful. It briefly covers the historical Buddha, the development and foundations of the different major branches, and the major themes, beliefs, and ideas. People are always asking me for a book that "explains Buddhism" and I always want to offer them something that has a good chance of opening their eyes. I used to give "What the Buddha Taught" but I plan on giving this in the future. Even though studious Buddhists may already know all the information here, it is still beautiful to read again in its simplicity and profunity. Also, a great biography.

The quality of a factual book should be judged by its lack of overt partiality, comprehensiveness, sources and ability to make you think and ask questions. This book scores well on all points and above all reads like an essay which you can zap through.

It contains a good bibliography for follow up reading and includes details of the the award winning "Journal of Buddhist ethics" on the web which was partly established by the author. Apart from the author's erudition his book is backed up by other experts and has been reviewed by his students.

Above all the book analyses what is meant by religion (as Buddhism does not easily fit this classification) and provides a modern interpretation of this system of thought from all its major perspectives. The treatment of Mahayana Buddhism short, yet precise and on the whole Keown concentrates on highlights. Towards the end is a discussion on Buddhism in the West. The book also provides useful comparisons with other religions.

Compared to many small and "cheap" introductions to Buddhism, this book is fairly impeccable. It is not perfect (2 tiny errors I identified with regards to scriptural quotations) but will lead anyone interested to work out what Buddhism is for him or herself, rather than being spoon fed as it were. I was however, disappointed that the book ended so fast - and glad at the follow up leads left, by this trustworthy writer.

This is not only an accessible volume, but also a very insightful one. Damien Keown has a good understanding of Buddhism and presented it in a short and simple format. Yet within its simplicity lies many valuable pearls and insights that are rarely seen in books of this size. There is the brief discussion on what is suffering in which he explain to great clarity why certain terms were used and what they mean. His dicussion on ethics is excellent. I would strongly recommend it to any reader, be it those only seeking a brief introduction or those who are already very well read on Buddhism.

Written by Damien Keown (the version which came out in May 2000, not the one written by M. Carrithers), A very short introduction to Buddhism is one of the best "short-form" books on Buddhism I have read. It has clarity and it is enlightening. The author makes a complex subject easily understandable for readers who may not have much knowledge of Buddhism. Even for advanced readers of Buddhism, the book was v enjoyable. That is why I have given away over 20 copies of this book, and keep finding myself buying more as gifts. I have never written a book rec until now, because I believe this book truly deserves one. It spreads lots of good karma!

This book is well written and scholarly, but has a definite Mahayana and Tibetan bias. For instance, the assertion that reincarnation and states of future existance (hell beings, hungry ghosts, etc.) is fundamental to all Buddhist groups is not true. The docterine stems from a 1200 AD Cambodian text, and there are Buddhist discourses that warn against debate on reincarnation (with arguements about the implicit assumption of a self or soul that may lie in this belief). The other Very Short Introduction to Buddha is less biased. For a better introduction, I would recommend Rahula's What the Buddha Taught.

Part of a series by Oxford University Press, this book, 'Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction', follows the same format as other texts in the Very Short Introduction series -- it has fewer than 150 pages, is well indexed, has a useful glossary, accessible and enjoyable narrative, and captures the essence in a very short space the major points of its topic. There are probably nearing 100 volumes in this Very Short Introduction series (making it, ironically, not a Very Short series), but among those that I have read, this text stands out as being one of the best.

Damien Keown, of the University of London and the Royal Asiatic Society, addresses Buddhism past and present, East and West. Beginning with narrative tales the help to exhibit the principles, Keown examines in turn the major questions. First, with regard to Buddhism, is this -- is Buddhism really a religion? Often categorised as such, it is often the exception proving the rule. Many take strong spiritual and philosophical ideas from Buddhism (sometimes without knowing it) but do not subscribe the larger system of practices -- but perhaps most telling, Buddhism is a non-theistic way of being. Keown looks at seven dimensions of religion, and concludes that Buddhism does fit a broader definition of religion.

Keown proceeds from there to look at the origins of Buddhism, the life of the Buddha, ideas of karma and reincarnation, and the central ideas of the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. From these beginnings, Buddhism branches out, the largest grouping being the Mahayana (who get their own chapter), and other spreading first across Asia and then to the rest of the world.

Like other books in this Very Short series, there are useful maps, a nice snapshot timeline, and suggestions for further reading, should the Very Short introduction not prove sufficient (and for many, this sample will leave the reader wanting more). I cannot speak too highly of this series, and of this volume on Buddhism by Keown in particular.

The Very Short Introductions series continues to engage me with each volume I read. Buddhism has been an area of potential interest for me for a while as a student of Philosophy and someone who takes an interest in religion and belief, but I've never got round to actually studying its core principles and history, and this volume seemed like a perfect introduction, being as it is from a fantastic series.

As a borderline liberal Christian/theistically-inclined agnostic I was intrigued by the Buddhist teachings, which Keown writes about in accessible but engaging style, and I certainly will be looking into the faith more in future. In our current world we all need to understand more about other traditions and be more open-minded about our own views, and for those who want to practise this by learning about Buddhism, I reccommend this book unequivocally.

If Steely Dan was your only introduction to Buddhism then you need to get this book. I am so glad that I found these "A Very Short Introduction" books. If all of them are as informative, to the point and interesting, I'm going to have a library. These books are the Cliff Notes to life for people with a brain.
This book has maps, references, end notes and pronunciation guides.It attempts to answer question such as "Is Buddhism a Religion?" Yes, based on the taxonomy of a religion used by Keown.

I don't want to make the review longer than the short book. But, if you want a brief overview of Buddhism and how it can relate to you today, get this book!

Finishing Damien Keown's "Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 1996), I compared his understanding to the book immediately prior that I had reviewed on Amazon, "god Is Not Great," by Christopher Hitchens. The latter writer fails to note the Dalai Lama's own insistence that if scientific inquiry proved false the words of the Buddha, he'd abandon the words; he also keeps, as Pico Iyer reported in his "Time" cover story (Mar. 31, 2008), a model of the human brain on his desk. Certainly the Dalai Lama's not the quasi-feudal potentate lording over theocratic serfs that Hitchens hints. Neither has modern Buddhism, as it evolves in the West, been opposed to secular liberalism or psychological analysis.

London-based scholar Damien Keown quotes the delightfully named Christmas Humphreys, a leading British pioneer in popularizing what he suggested a "new vehicle" of "Nava-yana" to "grow happily alongside, and even blend with the best of Western science, psychology and social science, and thus effect the ever-changing field of Western thought." He continued: "Just what it will be we do not know, nor does it matter at the present time. The Dhamma as such is immortal, but its forms must ever change to serve the ever-changing human need." (qtd. by Keown p. 121 from Humphreys' "Sixty Years of Buddhism in England," p. 80).

Surely Hitchens might find in such an openness a fruitful intersection rather than a solid wall that he erects that shuts off, given the failings of the Dalai Lama that he castigates amidst the larger stupidities of such as the Bhagwan or the Maharishi. In the single chapter he devotes to demolishing the Eastern alternatives, Hitchens does overlook the fluidity of Buddhism within progress, a feature that distinguishes its overlooked practical nature from the otherworldly states that Hitchens like most of us characterizes as a salient, and often only, differing feature of the Far Eastern seeker or guru vs. the Western (or Middle Eastern) mullah or minister.

Keown, by contrast, as his short study promises in its title, gives us a friendly entrance by portals we recognize into what for me's been a mysterious panorama. He compares human nature's "five factors of individuality" taught by the Buddha to five components of an automobile. The parts shift in motion, the car demands the fuel of "tanha," but all of its five parts eventually will break down. This gas-guzzling car's propelled by perhaps the wrong octane (my metaphor) of desire, which equates with the First Noble Truth that we depend on "dukkha." We will need to diagnose this flaw before we can repair our vehicle.

Likewise, Keown uses fire to explain the metaphor of "samudaya," the Second Truth of Arising. He then defines Cessation ("Nirodha") in the words of the Buddha helpfully: "asking about the whereabouts of 'an enlightened one' after death is like asking where a flame goes when it is blown out." (52) The flame has not gone anywhere; the process of combustion has ceased. "Removing craving and ignorance is like taking away the oxygen and fuel which a flame needs to burn." You can see, although Keown does not belabor the image, how the earlier automotive metaphors compliment the traditional ones of the candle-flame to explain for we moderns a venerable set of Buddhist core teachings--which forms Truth #4 of the Noble Eightfold path of the Middle Way of sensible moderation in daily practice, "Magga."

I found the chapter on the Four Truths enlightening, and his on the life of the Buddha summarized efficiently the little we know in fact well. (In fact, all I perhaps for now needed to know, compared with Karen Armstrong's Penguin Lives "Buddha"-- recently reviewed by me-- that tended to ramble on.) Other sections examine Karma & Rebirth, The Mahayana school, and Asian varieties. A short reading list, maps, and illustrations have all been chosen sparingly but appropriately; the use of text boxes to summarize key concepts makes this book reader-friendly, although the handsome typeface may be too small for some readers. The discussions of Asian expansion while necessary lacked the earlier and later chapters' verve, perhaps inevitably-- a second minor flaw.

Valuable discussions of ethics and Buddhism as adapted to the West should counter claims of many about the supposed non-worldly withdrawal from relevant concerns of human rights, scientific advancement, and mental health that show how this ancient teaching can be well integrated into current knowledge at the most advanced levels in industrialized nations, ecumenical dialogues, and secular cultures.

P.S. Countering George Dekle's 2006 comments here on Amazon, this book does not credulously urge you to levitate or water-walk! A careful re-reading of the book reminds us of Keown's pragmatic view: "Although the Buddha is said to have possessed these abilities himself, he sometimes mocked those who went to great lengths to acquire them, pointing out rather than devote years of one's life to learning to walk on water it was simpler to engage the services of a boatman!" (89)

The book was new as it was labeled to be, but the binding broke and pages fell out the moment I first opened it. Either invest in some glue or don't purchase.