Customer Reviews

Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume

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When my mother-in-law gave me Hooked!, by Stephanie Kaza, for my birthday, I thought that I might be in for some dreadfully guilt-laden reading. A collection of 17 essays on Buddhist perspectives on greed, desire and the urge to consume, Hooked! was at first glance intriguing yet potentially upsetting. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face up to my own materialistic views.

I have always considered myself a minimalist. For many of my college years, I had only the bare minimum I needed to get by, with a few perks (a computer always being one of those perks). But the real reason that I was a minimalist, was that I spent so much time moving from place to place, that I didn't want to have to haul all my stuff around, so I kept my possessions light (except for the heavy 286 I lugged around everywhere.)

Now, I live in a house that is crammed full of stuff. Much of that stuff is mine, but it's also a lot of stuff for the kids. Mostly it's stuff that we don't use very often. I get a grand satisfaction in having garage sales and giving away bags of stuff, yet the space that giving stuff away makes is soon filled with more things. I struggle with this issue a lot, because although I don't feel that I need very much, I actually do have more stuff than I think, and that makes me uncomfortable.

So, reading Hooked! was scary for me. Fortunately, Buddhist views are generally less extreme than mainstream environmentalism and anti-consumerism. Most of the essays in Hooked! have a moderate viewpoint, and focus more on being aware, than being guilty. I found the first section of essays to be the most enlightening (pun intended), as it spoke of what makes humans, and in particular Americans, have an incessant desire to have more stuff. And not only more objects, but more money, more technology, more knowledge and generally amassing as much as we can of whatever we can. The first step to making changes in our lives, and in our world is to see things clearly, and understand the problem.

The second section I also found very useful as well. This section focused on practical tools we can use, from a Buddhist perspective of the middle way, to find a happy medium between what we want and what we truly need to survive. It also talks about making choices based on things other than status and whether something is a good deal, but rather from the perspective of who had to be hurt, who had to work hard and what had to die in order for me to have this thing. Kind of harsh because it's so "in-your-face". But one the major things it points out, is that we are so far removed from the process of creating the things that we have, that we don't have any connection to the people who did the work to make the things that we have in our possession.

The last section is about giving. From the Buddhist point of view, we get more the more we give. And by giving, we can decrease our desire for stuff. Giving away our excess stuff, time and money to people who have less than they need, or even just to people that we love (and in Buddhism, that's everyone, in theory), gives us the opportunity to appreciate what we have more, and to see that our stuff does not define who we are. This section also talks about the value of money, and how we see money in our Western society.

As much as some of the articles hurt to read (because they were honest, not sensational), I benefited greatly from having hashed it all out in my head. I think that anyone, Buddhist or not, would gain from reading many of these essays, and thinking about how we got to where we are commercially, and how our American push for a stronger market and more consumerism effects the world, including the one that we live in day to day.

Although Hooked! is chalk full of Buddhist quotes and references, the concepts are universal. And, if one has any question as to what Buddhism is all about, and wants to know more, this is a good introduction to it, by exploring something that we can all relate to from a (mostly) middle way Zen perspective.

I don't think that anyone would dispute that we are living in a chronically addicted society, in which chronic overload, habits and addictions have become the norm and are even rewarded. Many of us have written about the extraordinary rise in intemperate, narcissistic behaviors that threaten not just ourselves and our families, but the planet as a whole. This book, written by a number of prominent thinkers in the Buddhist traditions is challenging and thought provoking. It is certainly not a book just for Buddhists: the collection of essays deals with the problems of wealth, greed, excess, over-indulgence, and over-consumption.

I think that the book will likely affect anyone who reads it, by challenging us to look at how we live. To really see, feel and understand how our lifestyles affect the earth is in itself a revelation. Most of us have only intellectualized about the link. The other side of the coin is the way in which the material world challenges our spiritual development.

This is not a call for us all to become austere non-consumers, but instead a series of suggestions for becoming more conscious consumers who leave less of a footprint on the earth. What is different about this book and what so clearly differentiates it from so many environmentalist works, is that the Buddhist worldview is by its very nature based on awareness, balance and temperance. It does not tell you that you need to live in a tent and eat tofu and lentils. Though if you want to, that's obviously just fine. Instead it points you toward a more healthy and balanced way of living, while avoiding the common trap of replacing one set of addictions - say chocolate and over-consumption - with another: such as Buddhism or some other spiritual path.

The last section is about giving. An essential and sometimes forgotten part of all major ethical, spiritual and religious traditions is the importance of kindness, giving and charity. Whether or not you believe that giving is the best way of receiving, it is very welcome to see the topic given such careful and insightful coverage.

Highly recommended.

Hooked! Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume is an anthology of essays by a wide variety of learned authors that scrutinize the overpowering desire for material items from a Buddhist viewpoint. From how yearning for material things can have a corruptive influence, to the value of Buddhist tools in restoring balance to one's life and wants, to ethical principles of Buddhist consumption (ranging from how to successfully be generous in a consumerist world to Green Power in contemporary Japan) and much more, these essays strike directly to the heart of modern materialism - what it is, how much is too much, and how to put the craving in its place before it escalates into untold misery. Highly recommended; one does not have to be a Buddhist to see the value in moderation in an increasingly advertisement-saturated world.

As with all collections of essays, some selections are better than others, but the overall quality displayed in this book is superb. While I expected to see essays about the evils of materialism and rampant consumption (and I wasn't disappointed), I was pleasantly surprised that the Middle Path was represented with excellent insights on the perils of righteous self-denial. In a philosophical work, it's pretty easy to preach about the virtues of simplicity, but this book offered something more in its examination of the issues of the real world in which we live. The chapter on the practical aspects of generosity was a gem. This book is worth every penny.

First off, I'm not a kid (I'm 40) but this form is easier to submit than signing in and so forth. That said...

This book is outstanding. In fact it is one of the best books I have ever read. (No, I am not the author and I don't own stock in the publisher.) The book deals with the subjects in the subtitle comprehensively and with lots of perspective. The article by Diana Winston is one of the funniest (and best) ones in the whole book and readers will probably relate to it immediately, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. I totally recommend this book. James.

My lame title aside, this book was a solid read. Some of the writings were downright fascinating, especially the essay on time. A couple were forgettable, but most of them made you think or make points that I'd never thought of before. A good book for someone who isn't very familiar with Buddhism or it's just as good for someone who has been studying or practicing awhile. None of the essays were over my head, and most were very relate-able. Solid choice.

This is a great collection of articles on using Buddhist practice to deal with our consumerist culture. The writers come from different Buddhist traditions, so there are multiple points of view and different approaches to the same problem--that our urges to consume ultimately lead not to satisfaction, but to dissatisfaction.

However, these are all pretty realistic teachers. Overall, they recognize that most of us don't have the ability to live a monastic life, but have to find our practice within the balance of restraint and the realities of contemporary life as a homeowner, family member, employee, etc.

There is a lot of good advice here, and I think it's a great resource for those seeking a prescription to one of today's greatest sources of dis-ease.

This is a tremendous publication, in that, the message it presents is universal and not limited to any particular religious or economic philosophy. The various authors give compelling arguments regarding the negative impact rampant consumerism has had on our worldwide civilization. After reading this book I had a very clear understanding about how greed, desire, and the urge to consume has led to a significant weakening of cultures around the world, and may even be tied to the current economic recession that is now worldwide. This reader was able to draw very direct parallels between our insatiable appetite for greed, desire and the urge to consume and the current economic crisis.

If every human being took to heart the messages in these writings, and made an uncompromising commitment to make changes according to the wisdom presented in these writings, we may never have a worldwide recession/depression again.

I bought this book to help me motivate myself to keep from amassing more junk and to weed out my physical space in an attempt to declutter my mind and alleviate stress... I'm about halfway through it and am enjoying it so far, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to friends. It does get thick and weighed down with rather cryptic and sometimes confusing prose. In my search for clarity, I find I have to sift and sort through the words to the plain barebones points...

Hooked delivers a two very important messages.

First, the cycle of getting more and more does not and will never lead to the satisfaction we are seeking. "And yet, the more we seek to fill this lack by following our craving to have more and more - in short, living in the acquisitive mode - the less we are truly satisfied, and thus continue in a state of unfulfillment and frustration." This theme is repeated throught out the book. It is a lesson very few Americans truly understand. We think the next car, house, accomplishment will give us the inner satisfaction we are seeking. The book does a very good job of dispelling this myth.

Secondly, the book does a good job of showing that the consumer centered world that we have created is not capable of sustainability. We are using up precious resources at an alarming rate. "By 2005 the global colection of used cell phones may top 500 million, most destined for landfills." We have become an extremely wasteful society. We cannot continue on the wasteful path we are currently on.

Hooked is a collection of 17 essays. Some much better than others. One the one hand, it provides a lot of different views on the subject. However, I found the different voices or styles of writing a bit of an obstacle. I would have rather one central theme and thread.

Not being a Buddhist, I found it a bit distracting all the references using Buddhist terms. To me the problems are common to all and the solutions must come from and be accepted by all people.

If you are not Buddhist, or at least have a fairly good knowledge of Buddhism, you will find the reading a bit difficult at times.

While many of the writers suggested that Buddhism held many of the answers, most were very honest in acknowledging that Buddhism has not escaped the problems of the consumersim society.

I found the Middle Path the most logical approach.

The information is timely and important. Because of all the references to Buddhism, it can be a little difficult reading.