{"id":3692,"date":"2017-09-25T09:28:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=3692"},"modified":"2017-09-25T09:28:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:28:04","slug":"why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html","title":{"rendered":"Why “Why Buddhism is True” Truly is an Important Book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"download\"Why Buddhism<\/a> is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment\u00a0<\/em><\/span>by\u00a0Robert Wright\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

One reason that this is an important book is obvious \u2013 at number 5 or 8 or 11 on the New York Times Best Sellers, depending what you\u2019re looking at \u2013 it\u2019s reaching a lot of people.<\/p>\n

It could, of course, be important but not a fair or positive presentation. Fortunately, after reading Wright\u2019s ambitious undertaking\u00a0Why Buddhism is True,<\/em> I can say that, in my view, it\u00a0is a sound working through of some important aspects of the buddhadharma through the lens of personal experience, the traditional teaching, and evolutionary psychology.<\/p>\n

A Summary by someone else<\/h4>\n

What does Wright have to say in a nutshell (that is, a biggish nutshell)? Antonio DaMasio in his review, \u201cAssessing the Value of Buddhism for Individuals and the World\u201d says it really well:<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, the beneficial powers of meditation come from the possibility of realizing that our emotive reactions and the consequent feelings they engender \u2014 which operate in automated fashion, outside our deliberate control \u2014 are often inappropriate and even counterproductive relative to the situations that trigger them. Second, the mismatch between causes and responses is rooted in evolution. We have inherited from our nonhuman and human forerunners a complex affect apparatus suited to life circumstances very different from ours. That apparatus \u2014 which is controlled from varied sectors of our nervous systems \u2014 was created by natural selection and assisted by genetic transmission over a long period of time. It worked well for nonhuman primates and later for human hunter gatherers, but it has worked far less well as cultures became more complex. Third, meditation allows us to realize that the idea of the self as director of our decisions is an illusion, and that the degree to which we are at the mercy of a weakly controlled system places us at a considerable disadvantage. Fourth, the awareness brought on by meditation helps the construction of a truly enlightened humanity and counters the growing tribalism of contemporary societies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flavor<\/h4>\n

DaMasio summarizes the content well, but, in my view, doesn\u2019t get the flavor.<\/p>\n

Wright is an engaging author, effectively speaking directly to the reader, while at the same time sharing his retreat experiences as a student of Vipassana\/mindfulness meditation at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. No wonder this book sells! Those interested in meditation retreats will find this aspect of the book particularly compelling, getting a glimpse of what is possible from the early stages of intensive practice.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all. This is no fluff project. Wright starts the book with the well-worn-but-worth-another-run scene from the first Matrix<\/em>\u00a0movie with Morpheus offering Neo the blue or the red pill. Wright would take the red pill, then walk through the door to illuminate the illusion of this life, at least by his earnest description, if not always through personal experience.<\/p>\n

How so? Wright digs into the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness), the teaching of nonself, and emptiness while offering\u00a0passages from the Pali Canon, even quoting the Buddha. I think that\u2019s just incredible for a best seller. Has that ever happened before? And, of course, he uses psychological research and a modern paradigm, the \u201cmodule\u201d view of the self, that supports a good deal of what the Buddha and generations of practitioners have discovered in meditation.<\/p>\n

Refreshingly and consistent with modernity, Wright also acknowledges that<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s roughly no chance that all the sayings attributed to [Shakyamuni Buddha] in Buddhist<\/a> texts were uttered by him. In fact, some scholars will tell you that there is little or nothing in these texts that we can confidently attribute to him. Like the \u201chistorical Jesus,\u201d the \u201chistorical Buddha\u201d is hard to discern through the mists of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most engaging?<\/h4>\n

I found myself most engaged in sections where Wright shares conversations he\u2019s had with some of his Vipassana teachers, particularly the well-known Joseph Goldstein and less well-known Rodney Smith (author of another excellent book, Awakening: A Paradigm Shift of the Heart<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt of one of Wright\u2019s conversations with Goldstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me see if I have this right. During meditation, you can begin to see that\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. whereas you might have thought all your life that you\u2019re thinking thoughts\u2014the thing you think of as \u2018you\u2019 is thinking thoughts\u2014it\u2019s closer to being the case that the thoughts try to capture you, the thing you think of as \u2018you.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cRight.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThey come from somewhere in your body, somewhere in your brain.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cYes.\u201d<\/em>
\nSo far so good. But then I pressed the point too far for Goldstein\u2019s taste. I said, \u201cBut whatever part of the brain or body you think of as you is more like the captive of the thoughts; the thoughts try to reach out and grab that\u2014\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThat\u2019s kind of an interesting way to describe it, and it certainly feels like that. But I would phrase it a little differently. It\u2019s just that the thoughts are arising and there\u2019s a strong habit of mind to be identified with them. So it\u2019s not so much they have the intent to reach out and capture us, but rather there\u2019s this very strong habitual identification. This is how we\u2019ve lived our lives, and it takes practice\u00a0to try to break this conditioning, to be mindful of the thought rather than be lost in it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Criticism<\/h4>\n

Wright has been criticized, along with others of his ilk (like me), for being a Modernist or Secular Buddhist. He acknowledges that he doesn\u2019t believe in rebirth, for instance, and that he is selecting aspects of Traditional Buddhism that most resonate with him and his evolutionary psychology perspective. If that\u2019s a negative for you, you might still read the book with bare attention just to beef up your practice of sympathetic joy.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that Why Buddhism is True\u00a0<\/em>plumbs the depths of the dharma ocean and will replace Dogen\u2019s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye<\/em>\u00a0or Nagarjuna\u2019s Discourse on the Middle Way.\u00a0<\/em>It is, however, an excellent introductory book, directed at a \u201cnormal\u201d reader, and covers a lot of ground that is shared, at least, by the Vipassana and Zen lineages.<\/p>\n

The main difference that I see between his presentation of practice and Zen is not in the analysis of illusion of a solid self and world, but about the skillful means to realize what\u2019s true. Wright talks a lot about detachment or nonattachment. The Zen way is through intimacy and identity action.<\/p>\n

But then\u00a0Why Buddhism is True<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t a Zen book.<\/p>\n

I hope that it points more people, suffering in the swirl of this life, to the real possibility of awakening so (to paraphrase Albert Low) instead of using Manjushri\u2019s sword to sharpen a pencil (blue-pill practice), wielding the flaming clarity of nondual wisdom to cut through illusion and benefit beings.<\/p>\n

I also hope that I live to see the day that somebody writes a Zen book that reaches as many people with such intelligence and grace as Why Buddhism is True.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment\u00a0by\u00a0Robert Wright\u00a0 One reason that this is an important book is obvious \u2013 at number 5 or 8 or 11 on the New York Times Best Sellers, depending what you\u2019re looking at \u2013 it\u2019s reaching a lot of people. It could, of course, be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[115,114,113],"class_list":["post-3692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mindfulness-meditation","tag-robert-wright","tag-why-buddhism-is-true"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy "Why Buddhism is True" Truly is an Important Book<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wright's ambitious undertaking is a sound working through of some important aspects of the buddhadharma.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why "Why Buddhism is True" Truly is an Important Book\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wright's ambitious undertaking is a sound working through of some important aspects of the buddhadharma.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-25T15:28:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/files\/2017\/09\/download.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html\",\"name\":\"Why \\\"Why Buddhism is True\\\" Truly is an Important Book\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-25T15:28:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-25T15:28:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"Wright's ambitious undertaking is a sound working through of some important aspects of the buddhadharma.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2017\/09\/why-why-buddhism-is-true-truly-is-an-important-book.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why “Why Buddhism is True” Truly is an Important Book\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. 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