![The Faithful Buddhist by [Pepper, Tom]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51czbLKhaSL._SX260_.jpg)
I came across a link to this book on Tom's website, and it seemed like a worthwhile read. I'm an avid meditater and have read dozens of books that explore Buddhism and other 'spiritual' themes. However, I haven't read much in the area of 'applied Buddhism,' and I was curious as to how a 'faithful Buddhist' might use Buddhism to look at macro-issues. This book seemed to fit the profile perfectly; it muses on the intersection of Buddhism with political and social issues- or rather aims to explore how and whether a Buddhist approach can be used to bring about social and political change.
Tom comes across as intelligent, well-read, and writes very clearly. Unfortunately, he seems to have (deliberately) missed the entire thrust of Buddhism, which is about ending personal suffering. Period. All of the ideas and practices that are associated with Buddhism - meditation, insight, virtue - are certainly worthwhile to engage in and think about, but they are somewhat tangential to the ultimate goal, which is to transcend suffering.
Tom seems to get it precisely backwards, and seems to argue that working for social change will necessarily result in a more enlightened populace. I suppose that Tom's intentions are noble enough - and social justice is certainly an admirable goal - but it has very little to do with the spiritual path, as far as I understand it. I know plenty of social activists, and many of them are petty, mean-spirited, and not particularly friendly. If that's Buddhism, frankly, I want no part of it. Buddhist practice is about working on oneself, mainly through a process of meditative observation that should ultimately lead to insight into the way things really are.
Building a better society which is just and fair and respectful of human dignity is certainly a worthwhile pursuit. But this kind of society would not magically result in instant enlightenment for all of its citizens- which is why every good Buddhist teacher (including the Buddha himself:) devote most of their teachings to spiritual work, rather than to fulminating about societal injustice. Moreover - and this is an important part - spiritual work has very little to do with 'thinking' or discursive analysis. Using this approach would be extremely unlikely to result in real spiritual insight, and is probably even counter-productive. That doesn't mean that to embark on the Buddhist path is to stop using one's mind/brain - far from it! But rather to see that the mind/brain is a tool, and one that must be deployed in a very specific (and somewhat counter-intuitive) way if one is to achieve real insight.
On a related note, Tom comes across as someone who embodies none of the qualities of a 'faithful Buddhist,' the way most people would probably understand this idea. In his writing, he shows no compassion, and is arrogant, contemptuous, and closed-minded. In a particularly distasteful section, he seems to mock David Foster Wallace for embodying views that he disagrees with, and then gloats over his eventual suicide. In short, I think Tom should consider spending more time looking inward, and less time analyzing and criticizing.
- File Size: 808 KB
- Print Length: 245 pages
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
- Publication Date: June 10, 2014
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00KXFTNLY
- Text-to-Speech:
Enabled
- Word Wise: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,067,847 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #2855 in Buddhism (Kindle Store)
- #978 in Religious Studies - Philosophy
- #3271 in Religion & Philosophy
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