Posted by sigismund on July 15, 2010, at 23:16:08
In reply to Re: Is there life after psychoanalysis? (trigger), posted by sigismund on July 15, 2010, at 23:07:24
This review, the most negative is outrageous
"The WORST book on this subject EVER
This review is from: The Foundations of Buddhism (OPUS) (Paperback)
This autor is writing about some other religion. Its the only explanation. Not one thing he says in the first 20 pages is factually correct. I stopped reading shortly after he says "The Gods gathered on the day the Buddha achieved enlightenment as if they knew something important was going to happen". All I could think was, "what gods?", because there are no gods in Buddhism. The very idea of a God or Gods goes against everything the Buddha ever taught.
The writing is dreadful. The author goes on and on giving dates as facts, only to turn around 2 sentences later and explain how those facts are disputed and probably wrong. He spent at least 5 pages talking about events 1500 years before Buddhism that had absolutely nothing to do with Buddhism itself.I skimmed ahead and saw page after page after page listing date after date as if any of it was relevant, regardless of the Buddhas teaching about the poison arrow. If you know the Buddhas teaching of the poison arrow you will know what I mean. Those dates are irrelevant at best. The fact that there is no proof they are accurate is dangerous.
Do not buy this book. Buy "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula. It's generally considered the standard introduction to Buddhism in the west."
It was so lucid that I managed to understand dependent arising for a short time there.
poster:sigismund
thread:954254
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100706/msgs/954636.html