Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I've never heard of Budhism like this, May 11, 2007
I was on a plane from Japan to the US when I first read this book, and it literally took my breath away. This book is a very honest and direct book. The author(s) say things as they are. This book describes life as we know it. The book is broken up into two sections. Part one is the easier read. It deals with everyday life. It describes the troubles that life deals us, and how happiness is never stable. Chapter 6 is gut wrenching. Many of the statistics are sad, but true; quotes taken from other books and sources are brilliant and meaningful and add tremendously to the book. One line that sums up this section for me is on page 12, "it is not ease that we crave, but meaning and purpose." The theme is about seeking for the purpose of life. No one has been able to answer this question, but in this book, the authors attempt to give direction.
Part 1 is easy to read. Part 2 is much more difficult, but no less enthralling. The book goes into the words of a Japanese monk, Shinran, who taught Buddhism in Japan some 800 years ago, and his search for the meaning of life, and his experiences after attaining it. The authors quote from his works a lot, and then give their interpretation. It's very deep and heavy, but fascinating and very enlightening. It's not something that you could read once and get it, it's something that would need to be read and re-read many times.
The content in this book was new to me. It does not go into the common ideas on Buddhism, such as peace and compassion. Before I met this teaching that's what I thought Buddhism was. I have a much different idea now after reading this book. This book is revolutionary. And from reading what this book has to say about Shinran, he was a revolutionary, too -- a spiritual one. For anyone who is interested in asking the eternal questions of why we are here and what we are to do with our time on this planet, you might find this book a help. I did.
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21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Purpose of this Book?, October 20, 2007
I had trouble deciding how many stars to give this book. I considered one, since half way through the book I just didn't see much of any use up to that point. There are a few good tidbits scattered throughout that are "worth" three stars, if you can mine them out of the chafe. But not enough, in my opinion, to give a full three stars to the book as a whole. So I settled on two stars.
In case you don't want to read a long review, which follows below, I'll just summarize a few things quickly here:
The book is VERY repetitive and MUCH longer than it needs to be. It could easily have been a short magazine article. It starts off explaining how the world is a horrible place with awful suffering. This goes on and on and on chapter after chapter. And how everyone is full of evil and terrible passions.
It then explains how you should not rely on the worlds transitory things.
The purpose of life is to find eternal happiness via Amida's Vow by eradicating the "darkness of mind" (doubt).
And it explains how great Shinran is and how he taught the only true Buddhism. So it is rather cultic in that way.
That's about it. If you expect it to explain HOW to find that purpose of life, HOW to tap into Amida's Vow, you will be disappointed. It never happens.
And now for the long review:
The first several chapters are very depressing as they lay out examples of how horrible life is, how much suffering is possible. It is fine to point out the suffering inherent in life, but there is a lot of depressing exaggeration in this book. Why? I suppose to try to motivate the reader to a greater purpose, but it doesn't come off in my opinion.
Also, I find a lot of what is trying to be communicated to be vague and uncertain. The writing style is not very clear and direct when it needs to be.
I'm also not very sure how the philosophy here fits Buddhism's main premise about living in the present moment, no matter what the circumstance - chop wood, carry water. For instance, they say "the college student who takes a part-time job to pay for a trip abroad wears away his or her life by just that much." Wears away life by what? Working? Traveling? Is there something inherently wrong with working or entertainment? Chop wood, carry water; enlightenment can be found in doing the dishes.
Chapter after chapter at the beginning is stories of how much suffering might happen to a person. Losing loved ones, jobs, pensions, growing old and decrepit. It is useful to point out that life contains suffering, but enough exaggeration already! I get the point, but when is the book going to move on and get to the point of the book? Unless the point is to depress the heck out of us. It is not motivating.
In part two I thought the horror stories in part one would be finally left behind as the book (hopefully) got to its point. Wrong! Part two continues the horror stories of some of the worst crimes in the world as if they are happening to you and me every day of our lives. I feel the way I do after watching a vicious TV program or ultra violent movie. Again, what's the point of beating a dead horse? If the book ever gets beyond this graphic disturbance and gets to a point it sure is taking it's time. So far this book is like reading a series of the worst of the worst news headlines. Beware!
As part two progresses, the authors cannot seem to leave part one behind. They keep rehashing over and over and over again how horrible life is. And if you think my review is going on and on and on about this, that is a perfect reflection of this book.
Yes, life is suffering and we are wrong if we think the next acquisition will quell our desires and make us happy. You don't need 100 pages to say that.
Finally, the book starts delving into the source of suffering - doubt mind, or the "darkness of mind". If we have doubt about what happens to us after death, the darkness of that perceived future will darken our present. Finally one good point, but it could have been made 100 pages ago. The book has a few good and important messages. I just feel it could have been done in a few pages but they felt compelled to stretch it into 200 pages. I guess they want money also, even though they claim it doesn't bring happiness and seeking it is foolish.
If you are drawn to the title of this book, hoping for some insight into what your purpose is, here it is: to find happiness and eradicate the darkness of mind. Ok, now you don't have to buy the book. Why? Because it doesn't tell you HOW to do this.
Then the book moves on to some classic stories or myths from the Buddha's time. Unfortunately they do not tie very well to the books topic. It is not clear what purpose these stories have to the topic at hand. Not only that, but like the first part of the book, it goes on and on and I start to lose the thread of the books point. The stories were nice, but far too long to make a simple point. Again, stretching the book far longer than it needed to be.
Now the book explains how joyful and wonderful it is to get on the "ship of Amida's compassion" which eradicates the "darkness of mind". And yet again, it goes on and on repetitively saying the same thing over and over again until boredom sets in and one begins to wonder if it'll move on, hopefully to explain before the book ends HOW to get on that ship, HOW to eradiate the darkness of mind (it never does, believe it or not!).
We must learn to know oneself. The darkness of the mind must be dispelled. What it is, what is revealed? How terrible we are and full of lust, desire for fame and wealth, greed, etc. The book goes on to explain how evil we all are. Selfish egos. True enough. The point is well taken that we are all capable of evil we won't admit to, but again, it exaggerates out of all proportion. Basically it says we all delight in the tragedy of others, we are tickled when we see others suffer. We would laugh if another's house was on fire, etc. Really? Don't you try to catch someone if they fall? Wouldn't you try to help if you were in a position to if you saw an accident, or call 911 if you saw a fire? Not according to this book; you would cherish it. I know they are trying to make a point about our underlying selfishness and egoity, but come on! Enough with the exaggeration and extremism.
Another thing that bothers me is the constant interpretations and rephrasing of quotes that are already in simple and clear English for anyone to understand. It's not as if they are in vague poetry or Sanskrit! Many times the rephrasing is hardly any different or more clear. It's like saying "today is Monday". In other words "today is Monday, the first day of the work week". Oh, thanks for clearing that up! I guess it's just another way to make the book repetitive and much longer than it has to be.
I'm struggling to continue reading due to the extraordinary repetitiveness. It's like every time I pick it up I'm reading the same chapter over again. Can anyone say "Groundhog Day"? Yawn. But I have to see how it ends - does it say anything about HOW to practice in order to achieve the meaning of life it professes? (It does not, sadly enough).
There are a few good points in the book. Like Shinrans radical departure from the usual Buddhist monasticism, his making a statement that anyone can become free even if they are not vegetarians and celibate. Not that there is anything wrong with monastic practice, but it's good when a teacher undermines rote or empty ritual for truth. I like the way Shinran flaunts authority and says what's true to him. The way he even flouts Buddhist tradition, like the burial ceremonies, if they are empty ritual. And the teaching that all of us are evil and full of negative selfish desire and other passions is useful to contemplate and understand.
So there are a few good tidbits in the book but overall I'm stumped about the usefulness of this book. I waited and patiently read to the end, expecting some revelation about HOW to acquire the "vow of Amida". It never came. So what is the point of the book? A few antidotes that could have been gotten across in a small article instead of a full book?
Maybe it's just this particular sect of Buddhism - Pure Land Buddhism - that doesn't resonate with me. Maybe this book will be of use to others. We all have our own propensities and are drawn to different ways.
One more thing I need to say that bothered me about this book: the flavor of cultism. Unlike any of the other many books on Buddhism I've read over the years, this one focuses on one "guru", Shinran, in a way that professes that he has the only way to salvation. This is a major turn-off. It's sort of like the only "fundamentalist Buddhism" I've ever run across. Shinran sounds like a truly great man but it sounds like his devotees turned him into a cult figure, even today, claiming his way is the only way.
There is one reason I am glad I read this book - it shows me that the faith based, devotional way of Pure Land Buddhism is not for me.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you are interested in Shinran . . . ., June 4, 2008
If you are interested in Shinran, the second half of this book is terrific. In a very compelling way, they show how Shinran's faith in the Other Power of the Amida Buddha served as the basis of his faith. For people who are interested in exploring the roots of Naikan, I would highly recommend it to see the roots of 'Gratitude'.
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