Customer Reviews

Eastern Philosophy For Beginners

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jim Powell, who also seems to be the author of Derrida for Beginners as well as Postmodernism for Beginners, has written an introduction that is lucid, well-written and insightful. Most scholars of religions tend to feel that categories such as Hinduism, Buddhism etc. are almost meaningless abstractions, because they are too broad. One of the nice things about this book is that it shows how the various traditions changed over time and were deeply influenced by other traditions. For instance, Powell notes the influence of Christianity on modern Hinduism, and the influence of MTV in contemporary China. The poetry of Powell's descriptions is often quite nice, for instance his description of Shiva. An excellent introductory read for those new to the study of Eastern Philosophy as well as those who fancy they know something about this vast field. Though it IS introductory, it is nevertheless brimming with a major insight in every section.

This book gave me some good ideas for my Religious Studies paper. Actually, it gave me more good ideas than the books assigned by my professor! Also, the many illustrations, especially the 19th century engravings, made me feel as if I was walking through ancient India and China. My favorite section was "The Incredible Lightness of Beijing."

The books approaches Asian Religions historically, with the major focus being on India and China.

This is a fine, clearly written and insightful book.

I liked this book because it will push almost everyone's buttons. First of all, Indians don't like to hear that their Vedic culture had its origins outside of India. Powell shows that it did. Hindus don't like to admit that vegetarianism came from outside of Hinduism. Powell shows that it came from Jainism. As an aside, Powell's contention that the Hindu Goddesses such as Saraswati are not central in Hindu theology is correct. The Gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are central. Powell's point is that before the patriarchal Aryan influence, India may have had a form of Goddess worship in which a Goddess was central, as in some other cultures. They are not central, however, in Hinduism. Although there is much attention given to Goddess worship in India, it is nevertheless a culture, as Powell points out, in which widows were expected to jump into the funeral fire to join their deceased husbands. Some of these husbands were rajas and some of them had hundreds or even thousands of wives. If Goddess worship were central in India would women need to prove their purity and sanctity by burning themselves to death in their husbands funeral pyres?

Powell is irreverent and informative. His approach is mainly historico-comical. However, he leaves most of the humor up to the illustrator and focuses instead on systematically presenting rather complex ideas. Furthermore, the illustrations imply that the entire narrative (in the form of a conversation between the Hookah-Smlking Caterpillar and Alice in Worderland) is just a pipe dream--that any representation of the Orient--including this one--is fated to be just a representation--not the Orient.

I appreciate the format this book attempts to use and the audience it is working to reach. It covers a wide range of religious thought and non-religious philosophy, even some minor schools of thought, with an appreciable lack of bias. However, I have a few serious gripes. The first is the massive number of formatting errors and total lack of continuous, fluid formatting. The font is ugly and oftentimes words spill out of their designated boxes and into images. The second is the way attention is paid to minor matters, such as legends and myths surrounding people, and horded when it comes to technical explanations and historical descriptions. This is worst when the author goes on speels about female anatomy and sexuality. He will spend a page describing, in cliché "Oriental" terms such as "jade stalk" and "lush valley" the process of lovemaking, then fail to explain what Taoists believe. These shortcomings were enough to force my decision to find a better introduction to Eastern philosophy, despite having read this entire book through - just in case there was anything worthwhile. There wasn't, unless all books on this subject are so bad.

This book made me aware of how much I do not know about Eastern philosophies and religious systems. For, instance, I had thought that vegetarianism originated with the Hindus. In fact, as Powell points out, the Hindus adopted it from the Jains. This book packs a lot of insight into a deceptively facile genre.

Pros:

Outlines the evolution of the various religions of India and eastward, and provides a quick glimpse of their differences.

Cons:

Many topics have little more than a glancing discussion.
There are sexual overtones interspersed throughout the book, that occasionally seem to take over the topics.

I loved this book. Not only is it thorough in its facts and history, and hilarious at times, but it is also critical on various issues. The author has done an excellent job at illustrating Eastern Philosophy without sacrificing his intellectual rigor as well as spiritual truthfulness.

Jim Powell's organization of this book is very good. He talks about Hinduism and how it evolved and changed over time right from 3000 B.C. (Indus civilization roots) to present day (encompassing: Bhrahamnical, Shravanical periods etc.). He points out about the influence of Jainism, Buddhism in Hinduism. The writing about Sanskrit and it's commonality with other European languages like Lithuanian, Latin, Greek, German is very interesting. The notes on Chinese/Japanese philosophy also provide good insight. But I give it 2 stars because of some glaring Factual mistakes in the book. Like for example, the book says that in Hinduism, Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati have little more than ornamental importance than their husbands (Brahma, Indra). This is completely wrong and would have been pointed out by any person who has visited Hindu temples or has had some discussions with a person practising Hinduism. Saraswati (goddess of knowledge, arts..) and Laksmi (goddess of wealth and wisdom) are worshipped everyday in most Hindu households and have a very important place in Hinduism and Hindu festivals.

The book also doesnt portray Goddess Kali in the right way and would be pretty offensive to a reader. (I dont want to quote the offensive comments made in the book by the "Student" Alice).

The book also states that Indira Gandhi was the president of India -she was the Prime Minister of India and never a President.

So overall, this could have been a better book had it been reviewed thoroughly before publication.

"Eastern Philosophy for Beginners" by Jim Powell [Writers & Readers Publishing, NY, 2000, 181 pages] is a delightful book, commended to beginners interested in learning the basics of eastern philosophy and religion, as well as to experts inclined to enjoy a refreshing new look at the subject. In spite of its unassuming title, the book is quite comprehensive, and charmingly illustrated. The concepts are lucidly presented, along with descriptions of the historical and cultural contexts. Reader's questions are anticipated and answered by way of frequent dialogs between an intrepid learner, "Alice," and her very-much-in-the-know companion, "Caterpillar." The book begins with an introductory orientation, and a fascinating exposition of the philosophies and religions of India, followed by those of China, then those of Japan, and finally of Tibet. The index is thorough. There is a brief bibliography for those desirous of further reading.
Arthur Hubbard
Santa Barbara Science Project
November 2001