When I look back at my life, I hope I have the presence of mind to realize how good I've had it, even though I grumble far too much about what are admittedly little things. The book I review below really ought to help with that, at least in part. The guy had some good ideas. We could all use a little more deep thought and pursuit of harmony in ourselves and our environment. And a nap. I could use one of those right now. Totally.
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| Source: Amazon.com |
From the book’s cover:
With such bestsellers as A History of God and Islam, Karen Armstrong has consistently delivered penetrating, readable, and prescient (The New York Times) works that have lucidly engaged a wide range of religions and religious issues. In Buddha she turns to a figure whose thought is still reverberating throughout the world 2,500 years after his death.
Many know the Buddha only from seeing countless serene, iconic images. But what of the man himself and the world he lived in? What did he actually do in his roughly eighty years on earth that spawned one of the greatest religions in world history? Armstrong tackles these questions and more by examining the life and times of the Buddha in this engrossing philosophical biography. Against the tumultuous cultural background of his world, she blends history, philosophy, mythology, and biography to create a compelling and illuminating portrait of a man whose awakening continues to inspire millions.
Synopsis:
It’s tough to review a book about a major religious figure. I’m quickly learning that fact, as this is the first time I’ve really attempted it. It would seem especially daunting since the book is written from a western perspective, and the author is attempting to do a biographical sketch of someone who lived over 2500 years ago.
So I’m going to approach this one in as brief and simplistic a manner as possible. The prime reason for that is because I am not of the Buddhist faith system, and so I can’t clearly review the religious elements for veracity, nor am I acquainted to any adequate degree with the events surrounding this particular figure in history. So I am kinda coming in blind here.
On the other hand, a situation like the one I’ve described potentially makes me a good non-partisan observer, when it comes to the contents of the book itself. So I’ll do what I can from that and then let this one be. And beg the pardon of anyone who might take offense to my pathetic attempt at impartiality or my ignorance. Apologies up front.
In short, Buddha, by Karen Armstrong, covers the life and times of Siddhārtha Gautama, who became known as Gautama Buddha (“Buddha” being a religious title meaning the first awakened being in an era) after he achieved enlightenment and all its associated virtues. The Buddha was a man who came from well off circumstances, but found himself disgusted with the gross excess of his life style. He decided to become a practicing monk and renounce his worldly ways, but later discovered from personal experience that the extreme asceticism of the monk’s life brought him no closer to inner peace than life as a rich man had.
This is when the Buddha came up with what he called “The Middle Way.” I will summarize this, badly, I’m afraid, by saying that it combines the best of Yoga practices and asceticism - the renouncing of worldly pleasures - with strong mental and physical control and a great sense of harmony and charity toward all other beings. As I said, my summary of the Buddha’s teachings is not perfect, but if you want to know more, there are many available sources to learn Buddhist doctrines. I would not recommend this book as a source of them however. But more on that later.
Armstrong also takes great efforts to explain the historical context of the Buddha’s lifetime, which we do not have very accurate records of. She comments at one point that, unlike the life of Jesus of Nazareth, there is a lot about Buddha’s pre-ministry life that we know about, but just the opposite about his life after he achieved enlightenment and became “The Buddha.” It is important to note that the documents we do possess were not actually written until centuries after the Buddha’s death, and are full of artifacts which most modern western scholars would consider to be embellishments for effect (such as the presence and common interaction of various deities, and other miraculous happenings).
Buddha is chock full of historical interpretations involving the period in which the titular individual lived. Armstrong compares Buddha’s life to that of other philosophical figures of the time, and explains how this period in which he lived was known in several parts of the world as the “axial age” since other great religious and philosophical minds were also at work during this period. These include the founder of the Zoroastrian faith in the region today known as Iran, and also Socrates in ancient Greece. She indicates that this was period in history when there were some major paradigm shifts in philosophical/religious thought, and how that has affected us even up to the modern day.
The book follows the recorded history of the Buddha from birth to death, and tries to explain the various details that we have record of. This is done primarily from a Western point of view, as the book seems geared toward Western readers who are unfamiliar with the basics of the Buddha’s life, even though they may be aware of the most basic tenets of Buddhism. For the most part, the book tries to focus on the events of the Buddha’s life, but it does journey somewhat into the religious/philosophical aspects of Buddhism as well, and this is to be easily understood. After all, it would be very difficult to write a biographical text on a figure such as the Buddha without covering the major impact his life had on world events.
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| The author, Karen Armstrong. I believe I recall from the book's introduction that she was a nun in the Catholic faith at one point. / Source NYTimes.com |
What I liked about it:
Ok, so I took a little while longer to summarize the book than I meant to. So in turn, I’ll keep my pros and cons short. On the positive side, the book was informative, well researched (as far as I can tell), and probably fits a “need.” Much has been done on the teachings of the Buddha, but an analytical approach to the life of the Buddha doesn’t seem like a common subject. Armstrong is noted for her various works on religion and religious figures, so she seems well suited for this book.
I thought the book did a good job of both expounding on the belief system of Buddhists, via its approach to where those beliefs originate, and also in being respectful to the belief system itself. And the work put in is obvious; the author , as I am fond of saying lately, did her homework.
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| Sadly, I didn't make this graph, but it does reflect the majority of my understanding of Buddhism prior to reading Armstrong's book. / Source: MrJam.Typepad.com |
What I didn’t like about it:
I can’t say I didn’t like a lot about this book, though there are a couple of things. I have to be especially careful here. Some of the material about the Buddha specifically leads me to say I don’t adhere to him as a fully inspired religious figure, per-se. For instance, the fact that he left his wife and child to go be a monk flies in the face of my modern Western outlook. This is especially true when considering that I feel myself to be of the Christian faith. Though it should be noted, Armstrong does comment on this concern, as it is one shared by many in my circumstances, and how views on responsibility toward family were different in the fifth century BC on the Indian subcontinent than they generally are in twenty first century America.
As a re-state, it's tough to write this review, as some of the things about the founder of the faith do not cause me to feel that Buddhism has any more moral justification, based on the actions of its leader and how those actions may or may not have influenced his later epiphanies, than any other faith out there. Please don’t mistake me, I found much of great value in the ideas that were espoused by the Buddha and his followers. Nor would I feel justified in saying that a person following the Buddhist way was deluded in their beliefs, as it is easy to do when you are presented with a religious point of view that you do not subscribe to. But... well, this book wouldn’t have made me a believer. Good thing I don’t think this was its message.
So I suppose this goes to what I said earlier about the book not being a good way for someone to judge the relative merit of Buddhism in general. It is, by its nature, not concrete enough when based on the fact that not enough hard evidence is available to really make a clear judgment on somebody's life that was lived 2500 years ago. But for what the book was, it did the job well enough. Just don’t pick this up and expect it to be a way to learn about Buddhism in a clear light.
And speaking of that, and this may just be me and my lack of full understanding on the concepts being discussed, there is some next level stuff here that kinda made me... well, it’s deep philosophical material. It might hurt your head. From time to time, it made mine hurt. But I’m not as bright as I propound to be.
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| According to the news site I took this image from, this is China's oldest statue of the Buddha, dating from approximately the sixth century AD. I find it fascinating that a faith that originated in India should have such an impact on the Chinese and other Sino-Asian peoples, as I typically see the Indians and Chinese especially as not harmonious neighbors, as Buddhist tenets would seem to encourage. Just goes to show how little I know. / Source: AT0086.com (China Service Mall) |
What I learned, if anything:
I definitely learned more about what historical evidence we have on the Buddha, and I learned more about the concepts behind a faith that billions have lived their lives according to. I have a greater appreciation for those things, though as I noted above in What I Didn’t Like, I am not planning to convert anytime soon (not just because of the character flaws the book pointed out - judged as flaws by my western point of view - but because I wasn’t convinced that pure Buddhism is any better than Christianity, though it does have some stuff we could certainly use in our Western ways).
Recommendation:
Yes, I’d recommend the text. I would recommend first that you take into account the better part of my review, discounting the fact that I’m both naturally bias due to my upbringing and life choices and also that I’m not anywhere close to up to speed on the subject in general. But if you want to learn more about the Buddha himself, especially if you wish to look at him from a more historical point of view and not from a religious/philosophical slant, than this book is for you. But be ready for the “next level” I mentioned. It’s not light reading.
Learn more about Buddha, by Karen Armstrong, on Amazon.com
The parting comment:
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| Source: WisdomQuarterly.Blogspot.com |
I can only grin at this one. I wonder what a Buddhist monk's sense of humor is really like. I'll have to get out of my comfort zone some time and try to find out.
How can your mp3 player let you down when you loaded the music that is on it? Just silliness I say.
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