Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Prolific Tibetan Buddhist scholar Lopez wonderfully advances his argument for framing a contemporary understanding of Buddhism that is rooted in history and pays attention to texts as well as practice. This "Bible" is a selection of 20th-century texts that have shaped modern Western-American Buddhism, which Lopez considers a sect in the same way that Thai or Tibetan Buddhism is a sect. The author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West assembles a canon for modern Buddhism, noting the interconnection of influential figures who form a kind of Buddhist lineage. The cast of characters includes some surprises, such as Theosophist Helena Blavatsky, as well as such usual suspects as Paul Carus, Alan Watts and W.Y. Evans-Wentz, who made The Tibetan Book of the Dead an accessible text. The selections are themselves diverse. The earlier 20th century writers provide fascinating views of the beginnings of the modern Asian-Western encounter of belief systems in the context of evolving postcolonial political awareness. An astute essay by Watts from 1959 on "Beat Zen, Square Zen and Zen" might be worth the price of the book. Poems written by Allen Ginsberg about the death of maverick Tibetan Buddhist guru Trungpa Rinpoche simply resonate. The book is a great contribution to bridging the gap between the text-and-language camp of academic Buddhists and the practice, practice, practice camp of modern Buddhist adepts. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This intriguing new work does not, as the title suggests, present canonical texts of ancient Buddhism to modern readers. Rather, Lopez, an academic and author of the superb Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, seeks to define "modern Buddhism" through the writings of 31 authors who came to prominence between 1873 and 1980. From early seekers such as Madame Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott to more contemporary and recognizable sages such as Alan Watts, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama, illuminating extracts follow brief biographical sketches. The interpretive introduction ties the diverse authors together into a "lineage" of modern Buddhism, seen by Lopez as a new sect neither bound by location nor the product of evolution but rather harking back some 2500 years to the Buddha's original vision. An important contribution to the literature of contemporary Buddhism as explored in David Brazier's New Buddhism and Joseph Goldstein's One Dharma. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.-James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of North Carolina Lib., Asheville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
