Ponlop, part of the global diaspora, argues for Buddhism removed from the Asian decorations that cloak its power. He presents an accessible program of self-liberation from mental constructs and religious dogma. He expands upon two lectures that present dharma teachings with nearly no Buddhist vocabulary or Tibetan references. He explains how Buddhism in a globalized era demands freedom from exotic rituals, colorful trappings, or hidebound formulas that hold back both jaded Easterners and gullible Westerners from the essence of what the rebellious Buddha taught as a science of the mind.
Coming from the Himalayas, Ponlop finds that his northeastern Indian childhood prepares him as another global citizen. Distrusting outmoded forms of outward conformity to Buddhist tradition that may have exhausted their initial energy, Ponlop looks to the mind as the place to overcome confusion.
He re-orients the path to freedom, the way that follows Buddha's ancient and time-tested map, as aligned with samathi-vipassana (calm abiding-insight) meditation grounded in analytical forms of philosophical training. Self-discipline, meditation itself, and a shift to higher knowledge characterize his model. No easy solutions arrive. Logic and reason, contrary to what many may think Buddhism advocates, serve as the foundation for self-inquiry. Undoing the causes of one's suffering makes this self-analytical and then self-dissolving meditation a rigorous, recuperative therapy rather than an indulgent, navel-gazing posture.
"Look at your mind when you wake up in the morning and discover that there's no milk for your coffee, it's raining again, the car needs gas, and your kids have the headphones on and are refusing to speak to you. In that moment, where is your equanimity, your compassion? If you need reminders that will urge you toward practice, you can easily find them in your own life."
His book fills with comparisons. He speaks about working on an assembly line, visiting Disney World, and "hiring a bad hitman." He suggests moving the dharma teachings through another reboot, to refresh the tired system and to purge it of malware and viruses. He seeks to reclaim the living tradition behind the ornamentation, the mantras, and the distractions.
The results told here can be uneven. Cultural adaptations for Western Buddhism are assumed more than discussed, and the conflation can be awkward of the two lecture series as appended and revised here. Ponlop fails to elaborate upon as much of the cultural and especially political renewal that the original Buddhist ideals encouraged as he indicated at the outset. This book may, as its contexts show, work better for those already grounded in basic dharma teaching, although given the lack of "Buddhist" terminology throughout, contrarily it may be more accessible to those uneasy about a more explicitly stated conventional primer. An appendix offers brief advice about meditating; this overview may motivate hesitant or brave readers to try out Ponlop's down-to-earth, non-dogmatic, and gently encouraging strategies.
(P.S. See my reviews of Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism without Beliefs" & "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" for other postmodern comparisons; also my reviews of Dinty Moore's "The Accidental Buddhist" and especially, for meditators seeking liberation from rigid postures, Jason Siff's "Unlearning Meditation.")
