Customer Reviews

Chan Buddhism (Dimensions of Asian Spirituality)

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Out of an extensive library of western philosophy and Buddhist thought this is one of my favorites. I have read some of the negative comments here and could not disagree more. You have to read this book several times to piece together Hershocks vision. But his is a vision I feel accurately explicates the poetic abstractions of Ch'an (Zen). Unlike at least one commentor, I did not find the writing to be dry, distant or confusing. I thought the writing was exemplary, to the point, and strung together a picture of Ch'an that very few others have done.

When it comes to these kind of books, there are tons of them written by very good practioners who do not have the background in western philosophy or as writers to adequately paint a lucid picture in non-poetic terms. Unravelling the poetic language of Ch'an can be a challenge, and Hershock does a masterful job of it.

I highly recommend this book.

This book is a general survey of Chan Buddhism written by a respected scholar. It is that simple. It is well written and easy to follow. The author uses images and analogies in relating buddhist teachings, some drawn from the buddhist tradition, others are more secular and contemporary. It is an accessible book for the general reader, though it could also be useful to those more advanced in religious studies.

With all the different "Buddhisms" out there, it was nice to find a book that stuck to the Chinese version of the tradition. So often Chinese, Japanese, and Korean forms of buddhism get lumped together. What I liked most about this book were the distinctions he presented between Indian Buddhism and Chan, making clear how they were different and why they were different. His honest accounting of the influence of Taoism and Chinese culture on a foriegn religious tradition was educating and helpful and answered many growing questions in my own study of this tradition. His discussion of the development of Buddha-nature, interdependence, creativity, and energy work--especially as they are unique to the Chan tradition--provide the reader with a good grounding in the basic teachings of the Chinese tradition. I am, however, still a little fuzzy in my thinking about karma and reincarnation, and perhaps this is an area of the book that is lacking. It is the only criticism I would offer.

If you are looking for an outstanding introduction to this subject, I would recommend this book. The University of Hawai'i Press offers many fine books on this subject. Further reading can be found there.

I am rereading Peter Hershock's book Chan Buddhism for the third time. I continue to glean things I missed on previous readings. But what is encouraging, as a long time zen practitioner, is the clarity with which Mr Hershock expresses the fundamental aspects of Chan that remain true today to people practicing. Describing enlightenment as a dynamic awakening into the total interrelatedness of all being, as well as what made Chan so unique amongst the streams of buddhism that came to China, it is a book both concise, and packed with great information and insight. I recommend it to those who ask me for a book on Zen that will give them background and insight into what it is supposed to be about. I find it's a book like no other. It doesn't get you bogged down in dogma, and continually comes back to Chan as being a practice oriented stream of buddhism, an enactment practice(s), not a textually based stream of buddhism. It's unique in that in all of buddhism, even though all the schools of buddhism have always had their meditation practices.
Although Mr Hershock has written other, more scholarly books about buddhism and Chan and it's influence, THIS volume is one to come back to again and again.

Without picking or choosing, how to review this book?

There's much helpful history here. Did you know that in one Buddhist university, Nalanda, there were at least 10,000 students and 2,000 faculty in residence by the 7th century. That in 707 as much as 80% of the total wealth of the Chinese empire may have belonged to Buddhist organizations and, as such, been untaxed? That in the 8th century, 1 out of 85 Chinese were either a Buddhist monk or nun? That between 755 and 764 A.D. two-thirds of all Chinese either died or were missing (missing to where?). That it was the persecutions of Buddhists that led to Chan's special place as a surviving Buddhist teaching, because it depended much less than on Buddhist teachings on the texts that were to a large extent destroyed during the persecutions.

There's much helpful insight from Hershock into the relevance of Chan to Buddhist practitioners then and now. That willful control would only lead to further need to control. That the positive qualities of a Buddha don't rise above the ordinary world. That moral clarity is important but cannot be contained in rules but instead requires skillful improvisation. That compassionate engagement is more important than finding any correct posture. That teachers have nothing to teach and students nothing to learn. That without complete confidence in yourself, you will proceed in confusion. That there is no time to step back to consider because life is moving ahead too quickly. That we must somehow, as a famous koan said, stop picking and choosing. That we need not to waste energy because we need it to have complete presence. And more. Where did Hershock acquire so much wisdom? Undoubtedly in good measure from his study of Chan and from his own Buddhist practice but not every Buddhist or scholar has so much to offer.

This is one of the required readings in my Buddhism training. A great book which gives us some application, history and information. It's not the easiest book to get through, but it isn't hard either. If you're looking for layman's terms on Buddhism, you might check out Buddhism Plain and Simple, or the Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism, or Buddhism for Dummies.

The title of this book is misleading and should be renamed to fit the content more accurately. I originally bought this book because of the above review and because I am finishing a college degree in a Prior Learning experience program. Because I spent 6 years as a Zen buddhist monk I am writing huge essays on my learning for credit. So here I am reading several books on the history of Buddhism trying to put together a history based on several sources. I am not writing my own book, but several large thesis's. I buy this book with several others under the impression that it would contain an in depth history of chan buddhism, instead I find its not written by a scholar but reads like a college thesis paper written by someone with a huge cultural chip on their shoulder. Skip the introduction , do yourself a favor on that one. Sure, there is some history in the book but it is combined with just really poorly written and ethnocentric personal philosophy. He may be a scholar but he does not give a clear history of Chan compared with Dumoulin. The book is history interwoven with the authors personal beliefs about what buddhism represents in a cultural, anthropological view. But Peter Hershock writes it as if he thinks he's a Dharma master.
If you want a book on Buddhist philosophy then buy one on that,If your looking for a book on Buddhist history then buy one for that. This book attempts to be both but is not. One of the real give aways to Herschocks inexperience and ethnocentric nonsense comes when reading the authors explanation of how and why Indians cremate their dead. As I spent many months in India and weeks in Varanasi, I have witnessed the burning ghats where people are cremated 24 hours a day. As a monk you have to go there to meditate upon death. If you've been to India and seen this, when you come to this part in the book you'll know this author has no idea what hes talking about and has never seen it with his own eyes. Not a useful book in any form. No philosophical gnosis and at the same time no evidence of strong intellectual mastery over the history of Buddhism. Try Ayya Khema if you want real Buddhist dharma, John Snelllings Buddhist Handbook if you want something more accurate and scholarly than the complete idiots guide but just as easy to read. If you want serious history of Chan try Heinrich Dumoulin or Noble Reat or learn
Japanese, chinese and Sanskrit.