Customer Reviews

The Four Noble Truths

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This book is a disappointment. I really treasure Lobsang Gyatso's other small tome, "The Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising", and in general I have found some really wonderful Dharma texts in small volumes like this, such as Bhikkhu Bodhi's "The Noble Eightfold Path", which seems like it might even have made a nice thematic companion volume to this one if this one had been better written. Hoping for something really worthwhile, I sent off for this book. It is really not worthwhile. Let me say why.

My primary complaint is with the format, and the consequences of the format. Snow Lion and other Dharma publishers often end up printing books that were not actually written, but are instead transcriptions (and more or-less skillful re-workings) of talks by this or that Lama/Tulku/Teacher. As in great Western philosophy (Aristotle, Epictetus, Kant) and theology (Meister Eckhart & St. Francis de Sales come to mind), these can sometimes be quite effective. But often in the case of the Buddha Dharma they are just plain lame. This book, for instance, is derived from two talks given by the author: I cannot vouch for the original talks, but the product at hand is simply not useful. A different format, a more thoughtful book, actually conceived and written as a book, with a specific voice and a specific audience in mind, might have come across as more helpful and pleasing.

What do you get for your money? After the usual preliminary stuff, the actual text only spans pages 13 to 73. Then there are two appendices that span three more pages, covering two previous points, no better, but more in outline form. Then a perfunctory four page glossary, two pages of notes, and an index, and then you're done. Why bother? It is too dense and too advanced to be a primer. It is too wordy to be an outline. It is sort of like a boringly written Cliff Notes version of the standard Intermediate Scope Lamrim teachings. But why in the world would you settle for Cliff Notes when you can more pleasurably and profitably read the same material in any standard Lamrim text? Who's interested in Buddhist Cliff Notes? I just don't get it. I don't see the purpose of this book. Don't get me wrong: the teachings are all accurate, pretty routine fare. But you can get all this and much more, and much better presented, by spending a bit more money and buying, say, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's "Joyful Path of Good Fortune" (which, BTW, has the material in outline form at the back for quick review and memorization) or another good Lamrim text of your choosing. Basically, your money and time are better spent elsewhere.

this is a clear and concise presentation of the four noble truths from the tibetan buddhist perspective. by far one of the most useful books on the topic available.