I am not a Buddhist

We rated this book:

$14.99


Charity Seraphina Fields, author of I am not a Buddhist practices Buddhism, but doesn’t consider herself a Buddhist (thus the title of her book.) In fact, she doesn’t think there are any actual Buddhists–just people practicing it. Her book is an outline of her thoughts on Buddhism and some of her story about her own experiences with Buddhism. So there isn’t much explanation on Buddhism, but mostly aimed at why Buddha actually preached what he did. The bulk of the argument is summed up with “Buddhism is not the answer to the question: Why am I suffering without all those things I want? Buddhism is the answer to the question: Why am I still suffering even though I have everything I want?”

The concept is that most people are concerned with “mundane” suffering, that which causes problems or pain, but can be alleviated. Buddha, according to Fields, was concerned with “profound” suffering, which one really can’t focus on until they don’t have any “mundane” suffering to deal with. Who does this leave to worry about “profound” suffering? The wealthy who have all their needs met, and those who have reached a place of peace with their life and station therein. Along the way, Fields explores various concepts in Buddhism that may end up discussing alien life or quantum physics.

I am not a Buddhist is an interesting, different look at Buddhism and written in an accessible format, baring the occasional digressions.


Reviewed By:

Author
Star Count 4/5
Format Trade
Page Count 240 pages
Publisher ICG
Publish Date 04-Jul-2012
ISBN 9781475085662
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue July 2013
Category Spirituality & Inspiration
Share

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “I am not a Buddhist”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.