Customer Reviews

The Gods Drink Whiskey: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment in the Land of the Tattered Buddha

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was first drawn to this book by the awesome title, and I was not disappointed. The jacket copy makes the book seem like it's going to be a lightweight and sensationalistic story, but don't be fooled. Right from the start the author digs into what he calls "philosophical journalism." He tells a riveting story about his adventures in Southeast Asia (page turning stuff, as a travelogue ), but all the while he is weaving in more and more of the deep ideas of Buddhism. The author actually moved to Cambodia for a while to teach and study Buddhism, and his "outsider" status gives rise to some funny cultural episodes. But he's also got one foot back in the States, and gives us some interesting comparisons of East and West. Without really noticing it, you are learning a lot about the fundamentals and the idiosyncrasies of the region's spiritual traditions -but Asma does this by telling stories rather than lecturing the reader (although a few times he cuts loose on some pretty funny rants -like his comparison of American pop-culture and Southeast Asian youth culture). The author is such a comical travel companion (he barfs at a sacred shrine from food poisoning, and sings bad karaoke at a bar, and gets high on hemp pizza, etc.) that you don't realize you're slowly wading into deeper issues of self-identity and ultimate reality. This book makes me want to visit Bangkok and Angkor Wat and many of the other locations, but it also makes me want to try my hand at some serious meditation. I'm very happy to have "stumbled" on to this book.

You wouldn't think that an adventure set in the land of the Killing Fields could be humorous, but the author gives us a side of Cambodia that many of us have never seen. Without downplaying the violence and chaos, Asma shows us that there is far more to this part of the world than just misery. The local people he meets are warm, hopeful, and deeply spiritual people, and the expats are quirky characters that make you laugh one minute and horrify the next. The Buddhism here is complex too and Asma proves an excellent guide.

I've been interested in Buddhism since I was in Highschool (I'm in my 40s now), but I've always been annoyed by the "cliquish" quality of other Buddhist practitioners. Maybe I've had some bad luck, but everytime I find a little sangha, I seem to end up in a smug clique of people who want to out-meditate and out-enlighten the others in the group. I'm really thankful for Asma's no-nonsense approach to the ideas in this book. I read him as a kind of "outsider" who's honestly grappling with his own confusions/inspirations about Buddhism and Cambodia, etc.. Asma's approach seems unorthodox in that healthy way that reformers often pursue.

I found his description of the political assasination that he witnessed to be rather moving. Plus, if you're interested in traveling to the region, Asma's book might make good preparation material --then again, it might scare the hell out of you too!

Apparently the forms of Buddhism known in America represent only the smallest fraction of Buddhism worldwide. This author journeys to Cambodia to teach and learn more about the oldest and purest form of Buddhism: Theravada. As in his other books, he puts himself squarely into the story, and his own personal travails deepen the intent and content of the book. I now want to learn more about Theravada Buddhism, and I will use his references in the back of the book to find more to read. Interestingly, Thomas Jefferson's search for what he called "happiness," combined with his interest in death, seems strikingly consistent with many aspects of Buddhism. Thank you, Steven, for another great book. Your honesty is refreshing in an age of duplicity.

Browsing the section on Buddhism, I chanced upon a curiously titled book that was missing its jacket cover and appeared misplaced. In retrospect, this was a fortuitous event that subsequently allowed me the great pleasure of immersing myself in Dr. Asma's absorbing work. He impresses with both his erudition and extraordinary capacity for conveying mise-en-scene.

I will not attempt to recapitulate some of the already eloquently articulated comments presented by a number of previous individuals (refer, especially, to Mike Choe's review) except to say that Dr. Asma's ability to communicate some of the richness and influence of Theravada, within the specific cultural context of Cambodian society, is truly remarkable. Not only does he comment generously from a social and interpersonal perspective, but from an intrapersonal mindset as well. He shares a number of thought provoking insights, alternating smoothly between witticism and sobriety.

Ultimately, I found this book to be an extremely satisfying read and one which made a most significant and, hopefully, lasting impact on me. I can say unreservedly, that it ranks as one of my all time favorites.

My sincerest thanks to Dr. Asma for taking the time to author this exceptional writing.

I have just finished reading this book for the second
time. The first was about one year ago after a trip to
Southeast Asia and then again when I had returned from
another trip to Cambodia and Thailand. Cambodia is a
truly remarkable place and I am also an avid Buddhism
student, and I can say that on both of these fronts
Dr. Asma has done an excellent and thoroughly
entertaining job. His Cambodian stories all rang true
to my experiences there and had me alternating between
laughing out loud and in tears with memories of the
people I met and the places I had visited. The
Buddhism discussions are excellent at explaining
complex ideas in an understandable manner. I TRULY
enjoyed both aspects of this book and highly recommend
it for anyone interested in Buddhism, or anyone who plans to,
or already has traveled to Cambodia (a truly great
place with wonderful people, who have had more than
their share of suffering)

I purchased this book expecting a detailed account of Buddhism in South East Asia. While a third of this book is that, another third is a general introduction to Buddhist philosophy and the final third is the author using this book as a soap box to express some of his views regarding not just Buddhism, but politics, education, feminism, postmodernism, and other topics as well. While the author's explaination of Abhidhamma was surprisingly lucid and his political rants never without humor and actually downright convincing, I would have preferred a more ethnographic approach with more detail about Cambodian Buddhist practice. Still, if you want to read about how people born into a Buddhist culture actually practice, this is probably the book to get.

I've read most of the reviews for this book, and the most common critiques seem to be that Asma is smug and condescending, and that he insults the dhamma and the Buddha by making sweeping generalizations about Buddhist populations. I'm not sure that is entirely accurate. Asma is looking through a very specific lens here, that of Theradava Buddhism, the oldest and most philsophically rigid of the various sects. Because of the unique stance of this school that enlightenment is entirely self-driven, many other sects will automatically feel threatened. Both Tibetan and Mayahayana Buddhism as well as their followers will feel threatened when Asma speaks disdainfully of notions like karma.

All in all, a good read. I especially enjoyed the setting of Asma's book. It lent an engaging feel not found in other Buddhism books written by Westerners. He writes from Southeast Asia, the hotspot of Theradava Buddhism, and it's interesting to see how natives in places like Cambodia and Thailand both bolster and weaken their Buddhist practice in ways very similar to us Westerners and our Christianity. Thumbs up!

Dr. Asma has done the worlds of anthropology, Buddhist studies, and nonfiction writing an amazing service with this book. Every page reveals a new discovery, and you actually feel that you're along with Asma as he investigates a world not covered in the media the way Tibet is. I read it in paperback, then bought it in hardcover because I needed it to have a place of honor on my bookshelf. It's that good.

This book provided me with some new insights into both Buddhism specifically, and religion in general.

There are many Buddhisms and this book helped me to understand that here in the West we are mostly concerned with some of the more fringe elements of Buddhism. Here we see Zen and Tibetan Buddhism as being representative of mainstream Buddhism, when in fact they really are not. It is as if Christianity were to be represented by 7th Day Adventist. Nothing wrong with any of those faiths, but they differ radically from other ways of understanding their respective faith traditions. Also, it really drove home the point that every religion has its magical populist side which defies both reason and orthodoxy (according to scriptural sources and older traditions). Then, there is the very real issue of why a perfectly good religion, name one, fails to create a more ideal society as adherents give lip service to their faith, but in reality deny their faith in everyday action. In other words, Thailand is a Buddhist country that fails to live up to the Buddhist ideal, just as America fails to live up to the Judeo-Christian ideals that are often seen as a basis of our existence.

More than anything this book helped me to realize that there are universal ideals in religion which are imperfectly translated to everyday life, it helped me realize that the debates and controversies in one religion are mirrored in other religions, and that there is not one true faith but the ultimate faith we all seek in this journey.

Back to the book though. It does not fit into any standard category. It is a different book, and well worth reading although there are some frustrating flaws. However, those flaws are indeed minor when compared to the overall merit of this work which provides us with much insight into the nature of ourselves, faith, and the world we live in. If you are stuck in a narrow minded interpretation of the Divine or of religion, then this is not the book for you. If you want to learn more about Buddhism, are interested in comparative religion, and would like a bit of a travelogue added on for good measure, you will probably like this effort. There is some history and philosophy thrown in too at no extra cost.