Book Description
"A highly entertaining personal account of one man's surprising journey into the mystical heart of Judaism."--Kirkus Reviews
Customer Reviews:
Nice.......2007-01-04
This was a very nice and interesting account of a visit paid by a group of Jewish rabbis to the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama had expressed interest in the mystical tradition of Judaism (Kabbala). Thus, a group of them went to Dharamsala in 1990 in order to teach and learn. Some of them were very liberal, progressive, open and inclusivist thinkers, such as Rebbe Zalman, who does not shy away from incorporating elements from other religions in his practice of Judaism. Others in the group were more conservative and traditionalist.
The Dalai Lama inquired at length about the secret of the Jewish spirit's resilience and endurance during the exile. He asked how to keep religion relevant with the new generations; how to renew without ever losing continuity. Similarities were noted between sunnyata and the kabblaist Ain Sof; the teaching of rebirth; emanation; the common visualization practices used in "thought transformation"; and belief in spiritual entities (angels, devas). Check this out! Tibetan monks spend 5-10 hours a day, studying and debating basic texts for 20 years or more..
The issue of "Jubus" came out, namely of Jews who abandon the practice of their religion and become interested in the practical, spiritual and empirical methods of development offered by Buddhism. Even liberal Jews such as Zalman felt an ache for the "loss" of such intelligent and spiritually oriented people.
Two interesting things:
a)A warning not to compare an idealized version of a particular religion with a worn out version of one own's religion
b)The Dalai Lama pointing out to the windows and saying that "out there," on the mountains, there are individuals who concentrate soleley on individual practice(p. 223)
Almost Kabalic.......2006-04-08
A Jewish spiritual journey of interfaith connection that is unpoetic as it claims and connects in no other way then that it is a communication between people. It is apparent that two religions will always remain to have many perspectives. Read it for its spirituality context and for its religious zen like experiance.
a chance to learn along with Kamenetz.......2005-06-22
It's clear that Kamenetz himself learned a lot during the events he writes of, and the book makes it possible to ride on his shoulders through that both the meeting between the Dalai Lama and a delegation from across the spectrum of Judaism and his digestion of those events afterwards. The book is centered more on Judaism than about Buddhism, and covers issues such as the principles of Kabbalah in an authentic, nontrendy form and how it fits into mainstream Judaism; the commonalities and differences between Jewish and Buddhist views of the world; the failures of current Jewish religious education, and the effects of the Holocaust on modern Judaism (not just the people killed, but ho it has changed the focus of the religion). It addresses some of the same concerns about assimilation as Anne Roiphe's Generation Without Memory, but by contrasting Judaism to Buddhism and examining some of the people who are in a spectrum between the two ("JuBus") comes closer to finding some answers.
A creative encounter.......2005-03-12
In 1990 the Dalai Lama invited a cross-section of American rabbis to Dharamsala to discover what Buddhism and Judaism have in common and what they can learn from one another. The author, a more or less secular Jew until that experience, was a member of the group. His book is a little long, but I found it absorbing, although I neither want to nor could myself share this longing for spirituality, let alone for mysticism. But it was moving to read of the Dalai Lama's openness, and of one or two rabbis in the group. It must have been a great experience for them all.
Jews & Buddhists finding common ground.......2004-11-28
My friend Sue recommended this book to me. We have had many conversations about her life as a Jew in America. We've talked about and explored the differences in how we were brought up and our approaches to life because of our religions. She thought Kamenetz's ecumenical experience in India would appeal to me. She was right. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
In so many ways, the world and worldview of Buddhism and Judaism seem so different as to be unbridgeable. Yet there is something that exists in Buddhism to draw so many Jews to the mystical life found in Tibetan Buddhism. Ram Dass and Alan Ginsberg are only two of the most famous Jews who found spiritual solace by moving from Judaism to Buddhism. After making that observation, a group of Jewish rabbis travelled to Dharamsala, India to visit and engage in dialog with the Dalai Lama.
It was October 1990. India was in the midst of one of the recurring dramas of confrontation between Hindus and Muslims. The rabbis made their way through some tense military scenes to get to Dharamsala. There they found a community of exiles, a community not unlike that Jews had been experiencing for hundreds of years. This theme of commonality was to come up over and over again as the Dalai Lama looked to his Jewish visitors for keys to maintaining an identity after fleeing his country and the Chinese invaders.
Through conversations with the Dalai Lama, the rabbis, accustomed to their differences, were forced to look at themselves anew and examine some of their most cherished beliefs. For many it was a life-changing experience.
It's a fascinating read and a great journey. For us non-Jews and non-Buddhists, Kamenetz offers a though-provoking look at ecumenism among two faiths that would seem to have little in common.
Book Description
When Sophy goes to stay with her cousins in Berkeley Square, she finds them in a sad tangle of affairs – some romantic and others of a more pecuniary nature. Perhaps the Grand Sophy has arrived just in time to save them.
Customer Reviews:
Required reading.......2007-09-09
I had carefully avoided anything to do with Regency Romances, formula romances, and the like, until a friend (who knew me pretty well, as it turned out) insisted I give 'The Grand Sophy' a try. What a hoot--I loved this book. It really should be required reading for any student of comic literature. The final scene is classic kaleidoscopic comedy at its best. I then went on to read other Georgette Heyer books, but I think this is her finest hour. As it turned out--Heyer, along with Margery Sharp, Angela Thirkell, and others, proved to be inspirational for my own work, 'Composing Molly'. I hope that someday Georgette Heyer gets the credit she deserves for her clever, innovative style.Composing Molly
An ugly run of antisemiticism ruins this lark........2007-08-30
Much as it grieves me, I can't recommend this book for the insulting description of the Jewish moneylenders which is the big ugly elephant in the room. It is simply a racist chapter in an otherwise delightful book.
Sophy is Grand.......2006-07-03
This is one of the best of Georgette Heyer's novels. For anyone unfamiliar with her works, she is Jane Austen with an even strong sense of the absurd and the wit to see through people's pretensions. Sophy is the "not-so-little any more" niece of Lady Ombersley, whose arrival promptly sets the family's well ordered world on its ear. Her cousin, Charles, is at first infuriated and then gradually charmed by her no-nonsense ways, and it is clear that the family is in dire need of someone like Sophy to get them out of the doldrums. Charles' intended fiancee, Eugenia, who has a very fine opinion of herself and a very low opinion of everyone else, is one of those prim and proper young ladies who delight in point out others faults "so that they may improve". His younger sister, Cecilia, is in the midst of forming a disasterous relationship with a pretentious young man who writes very bad poetry, and his brother, Hubert, is into gambling debts up to his eyebrows. Sophy, very much the managing female she's accused of being, decides she's arrived in the nick of time to save the family from a disasterous ruin.
This is one of Heyer's most delightful books, full of fun and amusing characters, including Sophy's soon to be mama, Sancia, who seems to be straying from her desire to marry Sophy's papa. Through it all, Sophy maintains a firm hand on the reins, steering the family from the brink of disaster until all of them, most especially Charles, realize what a prize they have in Sophy. For anyone who's never read a really well-written Regancy novel, I highly recommend they start with The Grand Sophy. It's one of the very best.
A Georgette Heyer "Keeper".......2006-03-11
The Grand Sophy is one of my favorite Heyer books - funny, touching sometimes, with a keen discernment of the absurdities of the Regency world. Heyer used a detailed knowledge of the manners and thinking of the day, even to the slang currently in use or deplored, as the case might be.
Brilliant, wonderful and hilarious!.......2005-12-10
Having read The Convenient Marriage, I had to give another Georgette Heyer novel a whirl. I heard wonderful things about The Grand Sophy and thought I should give it a go. This is one of the funniest, most historically accurate and endearing Regency romances I have ever read! The language, situations and characters reminded me a great deal of Jane Austen. The second Sophia Stanton-Lacy enters the Rivenhall household, nothing is ever the same. They expected a small, shy girl and got an amazonian, spirited, witty and challenging young woman instead. Sophy decides to fix the lives of the Rivenhalls as soon as she gets there. She wants her cousin Cecilia to marry her true love and wants Charles Rivenhall, her handsome, imposing cousin, who is now in charge of the finances and all decisions in the household despite the fact that his father is still alive, to marry someone other than the prim and proper Miss Wraxton. However, all of her good intentions are either ill-timed, disastrous or misunderstood, bringing in hilarious results. There are various twists throughout the novel.
I don't know when exactly this book was first published. The book says it was copyrighted in 1950, so I'll go with that. I am impressed with Heyer's ability to create a laugh-a-minute romance with great historical accuracy to boot. The details and references are quite precise. I also enjoyed how well written the development of the feelings between Sophy and Charles is. The scene where she drives his horse carriage after he forbade her to do it summed up these characters' personalities and how different they are and how unlike Sophy is from his lady-like, etiquette-obsessed betrothed. Sophy causes so much mayhem that you will not be bored throughout the novel. She annoyed me at times, but it was refreshing to read about a heroine who doesn't have one ninny bone in her body. Charles is wonderful and alpha male-ish. He reminded me of Mr. Darcy at times. In fact, this novel, to me, was a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Heyer had a very Jane Austen style to her writing, but with some very unique touches of her own. Aside from the fact that the protagonists are kissing cousins and that the author stereotyped nationalities, The Grand Sophy is one of the best Regency novels I have read. I now see why so many readers swear on this classic. I look forward to reading more Georgette Heyer novels.
Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer.......2007-02-06
The Grand Sophy is another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer - a book to enjoy again and again.
Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. However, Sir Horace is travelling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with an iron fist and a lack of humour and Charles' betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into these situations, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he completely loses his temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations well-plotted and the characters just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way that Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged catching of mumps, and how Sophy manages to goad Charles into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and although one that I didn't initially enjoy as much as others it has grown on me massively and I often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion you'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will certainly love The Grand Sophy.
Average customer rating:
- Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer
|
The Grand Sophy
Georgette Heyer
Manufacturer: William Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B0000CHQWZ |
Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer.......2007-02-06
The Grand Sophy is another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer - a book to enjoy again and again.
Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. However, Sir Horace is travelling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with an iron fist and a lack of humour and Charles' betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into these situations, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he completely loses his temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations well-plotted and the characters just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way that Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged catching of mumps, and how Sophy manages to goad Charles into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and although one that I didn't initially enjoy as much as others it has grown on me massively and I often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion you'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will certainly love The Grand Sophy.
Average customer rating:
- Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer
|
The Grand Sophy (Large-Type Edition)
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0425021823 |
Product Description
When Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy went off to Brazil on a diplomatic mission, he entrusted his 18-year-old-daughter Sophia to the care of his sister, Lady Ombersley. From the moment Sophy arrived, it was clear that she was no ordinary girl. She was The Grand Sophy -- impulsive, direct, fearless, and a scandal to the proper society of London.But Sophy's energy, wit, and courage revitalized the entire family, especially her steely cousin, Charles Rivenhall. Saddled with the responsibility of playing his father's debts and keeping his younger brothers and sisters out of trouble, he was engaged to a pious and prim young woman -- until Sophy came along.
Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer.......2007-02-06
The Grand Sophy is another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer - a book to enjoy again and again.
Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. However, Sir Horace is travelling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with an iron fist and a lack of humour and Charles' betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into these situations, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he completely loses his temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations well-plotted and the characters just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way that Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged catching of mumps, and how Sophy manages to goad Charles into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and although one that I didn't initially enjoy as much as others it has grown on me massively and I often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion you'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will certainly love The Grand Sophy.
Product Description
5 mass market paperbacks. 5 Georgette Heyer Titles - Grand Sophy - Corinthian - Blackmoth - Sprig Muslin - The Old Shades
Average customer rating:
- Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer
|
THE GRAND SOPHY
Georgette Heyer
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GLE30G |
Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer.......2007-02-06
The Grand Sophy is another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer - a book to enjoy again and again.
Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. However, Sir Horace is travelling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with an iron fist and a lack of humour and Charles' betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into these situations, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he completely loses his temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations well-plotted and the characters just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way that Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged catching of mumps, and how Sophy manages to goad Charles into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and although one that I didn't initially enjoy as much as others it has grown on me massively and I often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion you'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will certainly love The Grand Sophy.
Average customer rating:
|
The Grand Sophy
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000G8JS4U |
Average customer rating:
- Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer
|
The Grand Sophy
Heyer Georgette
Manufacturer: BERKELY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000JPNK5I |
Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer.......2007-02-06
The Grand Sophy is another wonderful Regency from Georgette Heyer - a book to enjoy again and again.
Sophy Stanton-Lacy has been brought up by her diplomat father, Sir Horace, in continental Europe. However, Sir Horace is travelling to South America and so he arranges for Sophy to stay with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in London. His sister agrees to look after his "little" Sophy who is sweet and good and kind.
As soon as Sophy arrives there is mayhem. She's not "little" at all but a tall lady with a dog and a monkey and her own ideas about how to behave. She arrives in the Ombersley household like a whirlwind - and proceeds to turn their ordered and dull lives upside down. The eldest son, Charles Rivenhall, is running the house (his father is a hopeless gambler) with an iron fist and a lack of humour and Charles' betrothed, Miss Wraxton, keeps poking her nose into the younger Rivenhalls' business; Cecilia Rivenhall, surrounded by suitors, looks to be choosing the wrong one; Hubert, up at Oxford, is getting himself into serious trouble with gambling and poor young Amabel comes down with a serious illness. Sophie inserts herself into these situations, bringing them all to positive resolutions and along the way bringing Charles Rivenhall to many occasions where he completely loses his temper.
As with all other Heyer books the writing is masterful, the situations well-plotted and the characters just brilliant, even the minor ones. I loved the way that Lord Charlbury is scolded by Sophy for his ill-judged catching of mumps, and how Sophy manages to goad Charles into firing her pistol inside the house. The events all work up to the final scene at Lacy Manor, Sophy's father's house in Sussex, where two inappropriate engagements are broken, Sophy shoots a man in the arm and a lot of ducklings get involved. It's a brilliant read, of course, and although one that I didn't initially enjoy as much as others it has grown on me massively and I often turn to it for a re-read. If you liked Cotillion you'll enjoy this one, and if you like a good read you will certainly love The Grand Sophy.
Average customer rating:
|
Scardown
Elizabeth Bear
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Worldwired
-
Hammered
-
The World Before
-
Carnival
-
Crossing the Line
ASIN: 055358751X
Release Date: 2005-06-28 |
Book Description
The year is 2062, and after years on the run, Jenny Casey is back in the Canadian armed forces. Those who were once her enemies are now her allies, and at fifty, she’s been handpicked for the most important mission of her life–a mission for which her artificially reconstructed body is perfectly suited. With the earth capable of sustaining life for just another century, Jenny–as pilot of the starship Montreal–must discover brave new worlds. And with time running out, she must succeed where others have failed.
Now Jenny is caught in a desperate battle where old resentments become bitter betrayals and justice takes the cruelest forms of vengeance. With the help of a brilliant AI, an ex—crime lord, and the man she loves, Jenny may just get her chance to save the world. If it doesn’t come to an end first…
Download Description
Elizabeth Bear shares a birthday with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. This, coupled with a tendency to read the dictionary as a child, doomed her early to penury, intransigence, friendlessness, and the writing of speculative fiction. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and grew up in central Connecticut with the exception of two years (which she was too young to remember very well) spent in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, in the last house with electricity before the Canadian border. She currently lives in the Mojave Desert near Las Vegas, Nevada, but she's trying to escape. Her recent and forthcoming appearances include: SCIFICTION, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, On Spec, H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Chiaroscuro, Ideomancer, The Fortean Bureau, Polish fantasy magazine Nowa Fantastyka, and the anthologies Shadows Over Baker Street (Del Rey, 2003) and All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories (Wheatland Press, 2004). She's a second-generation Swede, a third-generation Ukrainian, and a third-generation Transylvanian, with some Irish, English, Scots, Cherokee, and German thrown in for leavening. Elizabeth Bear is her real name, but not all of it. Her dogs outweigh her, and she is much beset by her cats.
From the Paperback edition.
Book Description
This book is a comprehensive introduction to Buddhist tradition as it has developed in three major cultural areas in Asia, and to Buddhism as it is now developing in the West. It is intended to be a textbook for students of religious and Asian studies, but it will also be of interest to those who want a general survey of Buddhism and its beliefs. Unlike many other general books about Buddhism, it not only explores the world views of the religion but also attempts to show how Buddhism functions as a set of practices. It thus includes chapters on devotion, ethics, monastic practices and meditation. Such practices are related to Buddhist teachings and historical developments. Emphasizing as it does the diversity found within different Buddhist traditions, the book aims throughout to underline common threads of belief, practice and historical continuities which unify the Buddhist world. Dr. Harvey answers questions that are often asked by people on first meeting the tradition, and in his section on Nirvana offers a novel interpretation of this ultimate, transcendent mystery.
Customer Reviews:
Simple Introduction.......2006-11-05
This book gives a basic introduction for university or high school students of Buddhism. My one criticism is that it almost completely ignores doctrine and instead focuses on practices and monastic life. However, it treats these subjects thoroughly and does include some information on doctrine.
OK for text book use.......2006-06-01
I read this book hoping for a clear understanding of Buddhism. This book is written very bland. Very few pictures too. I find it difficult to read and follow.
Not what Gotama the Buddha taught, but what Vajrayana teaches.......2006-03-16
Without resorting to unintelligent baseless claims and conjectures like Mr. Harvey has done, the facts of the book as presented do not reflect what Gotama taught. If Mr. Harvey, in his book, had presented his book as "the view of X school of tibetan Vajrayana", that would suffice, however the book itself presupposes to be "what Gotama taught", which is utterly without scriptural representation.
Anatta in sutra is synonymous and interchangeable with the terms dukkha (suffering) and anicca (impermanent), and all three terms are often used in triplet in making a blanket statement as regards any and all phenomena. "All these aggregates are anicca, dukkha, and anatta."
Anatta refers only to the absence of the permanent soul as pertains any one of the psycho-physical (namo-rupa) attributes, or Khandhas (skandhas, aggregates). Anatta/Anatman in the earliest Buddhist texts, the Nikayas, is an adjective, (A is anatta, B is anatta, C is anatta). The commonly held belief to wit that: "Anatta means no-soul, therefore Buddhism taught that there was no soul" is a concept, which cannot be found or doctrinally substantiated by means of the Nikayas, the sutras, of Buddhism.
It is of course true that the Buddha denied the existence of the mere empirical "self" in the very meaning of "my-self" (this person so-and-so, namo-rupa, an-atta), one might say in accordance with the command `denegat seipsum, [Mark VII.34]; but this is not what modern writers mean to say, or are understood by their readers to say; what they mean to say is that the Buddha denied the immortal (amata), the unborn (ajata) and Supreme-Self (mahatta') of the Upanishads. And that is palpably false, for he frequently speaks of this Self, or Spirit (mahapurisha), and nowhere more clearly than in the too often repeated formula 'na me so atta', "This/these are not my Soul" (na me so atta'= anatta/anatman), excluding body (rupa) and the components of empirical consciousness (vinnana/ nama), a statement to which the words of Sankhara are peculiarly apposite, "Whenever we deny something unreal, is it in reference to something real"[Br. Sutra III.2.22]. It was not for the Buddha but for the nihilist (natthika) to deny the Soul.
In fact the phrase "Doctrine of anatta", or "Anatmavada" is a concept utterly foreign to Buddhist Sutra, existing in only non-doctrinal Theravada and Madhyamika commentaries. As the saying goes, a "lie repeated often enough over time becomes the truth". Those interested parties to Buddhism incapable of pouring through endless piles of Buddhist doctrine have defacto accepted the notion of a "Doctrine of anatta" as key to Buddhism itself, when in fact there exists not one citation of this concept in either the Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara, or Khuddaka Nikayas. Unless evoking a fallacy, we must stick strictly to sutra as reference, wherein the usage of anatta never falls outside of the parameter of merely denying Self or Soul to the profane and transitory phenomena of temporal and samsaric life which is "subject to arising and passing", and which is most certain not (AN) our Soul (ATTA). Certainly the most simple philosophical logic would lead anyone to conclude that no part of this frail body is "my Self, is That which I am", is "not my Soul", of which Gotama the Buddha was wholeheartedly in agreement that no part of it was the Soul, i.e. was in fact anatta.
The perfect contextual usage of anatta is: "Whatever form, feelings, perceptions, experiences, or consciousness there is (the five aggregates), these he sees to be without permanence, as suffering, as ill, as a plague, a boil, a sting, a pain, an affliction, as foreign, as otherness, as empty (suññato), as Selfless (anattato). So he turns his mind away from these and gathers his mind/will within the realm of Immortality (amataya dhatuya). This is tranquility; this is that which is most excellent!" [MN 1.436]
The term anatman is found not only in Buddhist sutras, but also in the Upanishads and lavishly so in the writings of Samkara, the founder of Advaita Vedanta. Anatman is a common via negativa (neti neti, not this, not that) teaching method common to Vedanta, Neoplatonism, early Christian mystics, and others, wherein nothing affirmative can be said of what is "beyond speculation, beyond words, and concepts" thereby eliminating all positive characteristics that might be thought to apply to the Soul, or be attributed to it; to wit that the Subjective ontological Self-Nature (svabhava) can never be known objectively, but only thru "the denial of all things which it (the Soul) is not"- Meister Eckhart. This doctrine is also called by the Greeks Apophasis.
----Mr. Harveys book is, unfortunately, little more than a secular pseudo-intellectual attempt to "take Christ out of Christianity", or in this case to take the "only refuge (the Soul/Atman), out of Buddhism"
A very good introduction to Buddhism.......2006-03-16
Peter Harvey gives an excellent sympathetic introduction to Buddhism in his book. The text is informative and encompassing in scope. My only complaint is his extensive use of Sanskrit and Pali terms forcing the English language reader to mentally translate, or even refer back in the book to recall the meaning of some of these words. Overall, the book is a very good introduction and I recommend it.
All the Buddhism, Minus the Spark.......2000-12-02
Peter Harvey's book is dull but extremely useful for those wanting help in learning about the history, practices, and divisions of Buddhism. If a comprehensive, encyclopedia-like reader is wanting you are needing, then this book is your answer, although I would advise taking "no dose" while reading it. Harvy sets forth a historical explanation for all elements of Buddhism and presents the sanskrit form of names and terms. I personally found Harvey's review of Tantra and Zen Buddhism to be particularly helpful. Too often, books and documentaries emphasize the sexual aspects of Tantra and the meditation of Zen without clearly stating what each denomination believes and, more importantly, why they believe such things. Also, before this book, I had trouble finding where to begin in learning about Buddhism, and this book leads its reader by the hand and into the most important issues of Buddhism, escaping the confusion caused by a western interest in Buddhism since the 1960's.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Journal of the American Oriental Society, published by American Oriental Society on October 1, 1992. The length of the article is 794 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. (book reviews)
Author: Collett Cox
Publication:
The Journal of the American Oriental Society (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 1992
Publisher: American Oriental Society
Volume: v112
Issue: n4
Page: p665(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Last Ten Percent
- The Love of a Good Woman : Stories
- The Mango Season
- The Mike Hammer Collection Volume 1
- The Mosquito Coast
- The Pool of Two Moons: Witches of Eileanen Book 2 (Witches of Eileanan)
- The Price of Pleasure
- The Skull of the World: Witches of Eileanan #5 (Witches of Eileanan)
- The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Everyman's Library (Cloth))
- The Ways of White Folks: Stories
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Truman
- Ready, Set, Grow!: A What's Happening to My Body
- Katerina: A Novel
- How the Experts Win at Bridge
- Magic Hour, The: The Convergence of Art and Las Vegas
- MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications 2nd Edition
- Men's Health: The Book of Muscle--The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body
- Journal of a Tour through Pegu & Martaban
- GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars of a Cultural Phenomenon
- The Challenges to Trade Unions in Europe: Innovation or Adaption
That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist
One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi
Jewish With Feeling : A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Practice
Stalking Elijah: Adventures with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters
Letters to a Buddhist Jew
