Author Information University of Georgia, Athens, GA
摘要
This tract by an acclaimed Zen specialist is a succinct exposition of what Buddhism is and is not. Faure's audience includes “the average person on the street.” The book's twenty‐four counter‐arguments are arranged to address common misconceptions of Buddhism. The first two sections address general tropes, from “Buddhism is an atheistic religion” to “All Buddhists are seeking to achieve Awakening.” The third section focuses on misunderstandings in Western society (e.g., “Buddhism is compatible with science,” or “Buddhism advocates a strict vegetarianism.”). Faure's knowledgeability is unquestionable. And his complaint that Buddhism has been misunderstood by Westerners is unarguable: “Only by adopting a critical and well‐informed approach can we avoid the drift towards the ‘Neo‐Buddhism’ … which seems to be conquering the minds (and bodies) of many Western followers in the wake of the New Age trend.” But he seems uncertain whether that is theoretically possible: “The question remains as to why this spirituality still claims to represent Buddhism … ? On the other hand, what reason is there to refuse the title of Buddhist to anyone who claims to represent Buddhism?” There have been historical Buddhists over the centuries who have raised the same clamor, but found grounds to keep from throwing the baby out with the bathwater. To rant, however accurately, against misappropriation while ultimately finding no basis from which to defend Buddhism's “truth” may raise more problems than it solves about “understanding Buddhism.”
