Tag: Book review

Weighing the Evidence

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Fri, 12 Oct, 2018 - 10:55

Weighing the Evidence

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Fri, 12 Oct, 2018 - 10:55

We present a review by Nāgapriya of Anālayo’s recent study of the Buddhist teaching of rebirth and what evidence there might be for the truth of it:

Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

by Bhikkhu Analayo

Wisdom Publications, Somerville MA, 279pp. hb. £22.50

review by Nāgapriya

Bhikkhu Anālayo has garnered a distinguished reputation as an authoritative scholar of the Pali Canon and early Buddhism. His mastery not only of Pāli sources but also of parallels in Chinese translation has enabled him to produce a growing corpus of...

Western Buddhist Review

Welcome to Gandhāra

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Fri, 21 Sep, 2018 - 16:12

Welcome to Gandhāra

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Fri, 21 Sep, 2018 - 16:12

We present here a review by Dhīvan and Kulamitra of an important new book for the study of early Buddhist literature and history:

Richard Salomon

The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhāra: An Introduction with Selected Translations

Wisdom Publications, Somerville, MA, 2018, pb $29.95

review by Dhīvan, with a contribution by Kulamitra

In 1994, a clay pot containing ancient birch-bark scrolls appeared on the antiquities market in Pakistan, and was acquired by the British Library. Richard Salomon was one of the first scholars to inspect these fragile scrolls,...

Western Buddhist Review

Freedom and persuasion in the attention economy

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 8 Sep, 2018 - 11:32

Freedom and persuasion in the attention economy

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 8 Sep, 2018 - 11:32

We’re delighted to present a review by Akasapriya of an important new book of philosophical reflection on the effects of contemporary social media:

James Williams, Stand Out of our Light

Cambridge University Press, 2018, pb £13, or available as a free ebook

Readers of Vaddhaka’s book The Buddha on Wall Street (reviewed here) may recall that he dedicated a chapter to the attention economy. The term refers to the various ways in which internet-based companies make money, often indirectly, from the users of their services. Stand...

Western Buddhist Review

Buddhists and Stoics in the Philosophy Café

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 12 May, 2018 - 13:22

Buddhists and Stoics in the Philosophy Café

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 12 May, 2018 - 13:22

We present here a review of a new book exploring common ground between Buddhism and the philosophical tradition of Stoicism:

More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Sceptical Age

by Antonia Macaro

Icon Books, London, 2018. £12.99 hb

review by Dhīvan

I met the author of More Than Happiness, Antonia Macaro, at a mindfulness retreat in 2016 led by Ven Anālayo,[i] and then again in November 2017 at a Bodhi College weekend on ‘Philosophy as a Way of Life’. An encouragingly large number of us listened to Stephen...

Community Highlights

Book Review of Vajragupta's book 'Wild Awake'

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 23 Apr, 2018 - 14:46

Book Review of Vajragupta's book 'Wild Awake'

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 23 Apr, 2018 - 14:46

In Wild Awake: Alone, Offline and Aware in Nature Vajragupta draws on twenty-five years of experience going into nature alone. He recounts how these ‘solitary retreats’ have changed him, how he fell in love with the places he stayed in and the creatures there and includes a helpful A-Z guide on how to go about your own solitary retreat. Wild Awake is available from Windhorse Publications as a paperback or an eBook.

Here is a review of Wild Awake...

Western Buddhist Review

More Advice From the Zen Master – Read Dōgen!

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Tue, 5 Dec, 2017 - 18:27

More Advice From the Zen Master – Read Dōgen!

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Tue, 5 Dec, 2017 - 18:27

We present another review by Vidyavajra, this one of Brad Warner’s second book re-interpreting the great Zen Master Dōgen for the present day:

Brad Warner, It Came From Beyond Zen! More Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master, New World Library, 2017 (£15 pback)

review by Vidyavajra

As I start a review of another book by Brad Warner, I am conscious that, should I be so inclined, I could just rehash my previous review of Don’t Be A Jerk. Comment on the pulp sci-fi...

Western Buddhist Review

What was it like for early Buddhist women?

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 1 Oct, 2016 - 13:30

What was it like for early Buddhist women?

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Sat, 1 Oct, 2016 - 13:30

Here, Dharmacārinī Vajratārā reviews a collection of scholarly essays exploring how it was for women in early Buddhism – at a time before feminism when nevertheless women were taken seriously as dharma practitioners.

Women in Early Indian Buddhism: Comparative Textual Studies

essays by various scholars, edited and introduced by Alice Collett

Oxford University Press, USA, 2014, 274pp., hback and ebook

Reviewed by Vajratārā

What were the attitudes towards women in early Indian Buddhism? Does textual analysis of early Buddhist texts corroborate the idea that early Buddhists saw women...

Windhorse Publications

The Beautiful Story of Great Faith, Great Wisdom

By Windhorse Publi... on Thu, 30 Jun, 2016 - 12:36

The Beautiful Story of Great Faith, Great Wisdom

By Windhorse Publi... on Thu, 30 Jun, 2016 - 12:36

We would like to invite you to dive more deeply into the beautiful and imaginative world of Great Faith, Great Wisdom: Practice and Awakening in the Pure Land Sutras of Mahayana Buddhism by Ratnaguna and Śraddhāpa. Great Faith, Great Wisdom is our newest book, launched earlier this year.

Please explore the new Great Faith, Great Wisdom book site, which provides the audio reading of the sutras, an excerpt from the book, and an interview...

Western Buddhist Review

Faith and Imagination in Pure Land Buddhism

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Tue, 28 Jun, 2016 - 12:05

Faith and Imagination in Pure Land Buddhism

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Tue, 28 Jun, 2016 - 12:05

Dharmacārī Saccanāma reviews a ground-breaking new book on Pure Land Buddhism, with new translations of sūtras, and finds much to appreciate and enjoy:

Ratnaguna & Śraddhāpa

Great Faith, Great Wisdom: practice and awakening in the Pure Land sūtras of Mahāyāna Buddhism

Windhorse Publications, Cambridge 2016, £14 pback, also in ebook

Review by Saccanāma

There is a debate going on in Buddhist publishing at present: titles such as Buddhism Without Beliefs, After Buddhism and Buddhism is a Religion: You can Believe It indicate the nature of that debate. On one...

Western Buddhist Review

Advice from the Zen Master – Don’t be a Jerk

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Wed, 25 May, 2016 - 11:58

Advice from the Zen Master – Don’t be a Jerk

By Dhivan Thomas Jones on Wed, 25 May, 2016 - 11:58

In this post we present a delightful review by Vidyavajra of a new book that tries to put Dōgen’s master-work, the Shōbōgenzō, into vernacular English – with some success, it would seem.

Brad Warner, Don’t Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dōgen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master, New World Library, 2016 (£13 pback).

review by Vidyavajra

On the cover is a comic book depiction of a godzilla-like monster with beams of fire coming from its eyes, crossing a Hokusai-like sea of waves, towards a medieval Japanese village....

Tag: Book review

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