Perry Garfinkel

Buddha or Bust went a long way toward giving me some background on both the historical origins of and current trends in Buddhism. It recounts the travels of National Geographic writer Perry Garfinkel in search of socially engaged Buddhism. He follows the historical path of Buddhism from India to Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and Japan, then back to U.S. and Europe. The historical background is interspersed with first-person accounts of visiting the temples and holy sites on the dharma path and, although slow-going in places, doesn't bog down the narrative for long. The writer's life experiences, namely being born Jewish and learning from Eastern religious teachers around the world since the 1960s, give him a unique perspective on the way Americans are influencing Buddhism in the Asian world. The book provided enough context that I did not find it all surprising that Buddhists from China are now looking to U.S. institutions such as Naropa University in Boulder for best practice models of Buddhist education.

I left the book feeling I had a basic understanding of how historical Buddhism transformed into the Zen practices of Japan, why traditional Asian Buddhism focuses more on group chanting and ritual rather than the private contemplative practices common in the West, and the conflict between the transcendent worldview of Buddhism and the social activism and outreach coming to the forefront of Buddhism today. I found the chapter on the author's experiences at a Buddhist retreat at Auschwitz very moving and the chapter on Sri Lanka very enlightening (probably reflecting my own ignorance about the country more than anything else). The book concludes with the author's triumph in securing interviews with both Thich Nhat Hahn and the Dalai Lama and falling in love again. Overall, the book is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in knowing a little bit more about Buddhism.… (meer)