A Modern Buddhist Bible: Essential Readings from East and West

by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

The first book to bring together the key texts of modern Buddhism

In the last hundred years, the world, especially the West, has increasingly embraced the teachings of Buddhism. A Modern Buddhist Bible is the first anthology to bring together the writings from Buddhists, both Eastern and Western, that have redefined Buddhism for our era.

Forging a universal doctrine from the divergent traditions of China, Sri Lanka, Japan, Burma, Thailand, and Tibet, the makers of modern Buddhism saw it as a return to the origin, as renowned scholar Donald Lopez shows. Modern Buddhism is for them a homeward journey to the vision of Buddha himself. Putting far more stress on meditation and spirituality than on ritual and relics, it embraces the ordination of women and values of science, social justice, tolerance, and individual freedom.

A Modern Buddhist Bible includes writing by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, T'ai Hsu, Cheng Yen, Shaku Soen, D. T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Gary Snyder, Shunryu Suzuki, and others who have played a role in the rich and complex movement that fused Eastern insight with Western consciousness.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction

308 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2002

About the author

Donald Sewell Lopez, Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.

Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.

Reviews

[Adam Zuwerink · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't for the life of me figure out how these particular brief snippets from these particular authors were chosen to somehow represent "Modern Buddhism" of the 20th century. Using the word essential in the subtitle is a vast overstatement.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because I learned a few new things from the short biographical introductions for a few of the chosen authors.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a shame; dispersed amongst plentiful (admittedly, dry) introductions and recaps of Buddhist thought are portions of Lopez seemingly undermining prior scholars (see: Goddard; meanwhile, he opens with the charlatan herself) in an either conscious-or-not effort to assert himself as a prominent (a word strangely featured on his own, largely untouched, wiki) modern Buddhist thinker. The shame here derives from said apparency and its contradictory nature to the subject at hand.

There are more objective, promising alternatives.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

probably more accurate as modern euroarlantic buddhism. otherwise a good selection. next steps, more asian pacific stuff