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Synopsis
Roy (international studies, Bunkyo U., Japan) explores the Western desire to ground oneself or make oneself feel more real, arising from a self-conscious ungroundedness which we experience as a sense of lack . Using a contemporary Buddhist perspective, the author discusses ways that our understandin
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a history that does more than tell a story: it gives an explanation of why we in the West have arrived at where we are now and why we are, as a society, still deeply unsatisfied and unfufilled despite being phenomenally wealthy and powerful, and freer in political and socio-economic terms relative to most other periods of history and most other societies. Most of us, if we are aware enough, can testify to having a feeling that something is 'lacking' from modern day life. David Loy has developed this concept of 'lack', through his integration of the insights of Western psychoanalysis and psychology with the insights of traditional Buddhism (especially its insights into the lack of inherent existence of all things as defined and explained by the paramount Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna) in previous writings of his, and he has applied this concept to Western history in a way that makes Buddhism itself a lot more accessible to Western readers as well as makes Western history more relevant to the existential concerns of those same readers. So relevant, in fact, that I would argue that the book can help the reader with making fundamental changes in one's life, especially as in the last chapter Loy provides us with a superbly original presentation of the Buddhist solution to all our problems. And despite the immense scholarship Loy brings to this book, it is very readable indeed, although I suggest reading it slowly and carefully in order to savour its depth and its implications for one's own life. And if you believe in helping to build bridges between Buddhism and Western culture, this book is an essential resource.
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4 reviews
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Bringing Buddhism Back Home
21 Feb 2002
Format:Paperback
For Westerners who've had a taste of Buddhist practice or insights, there comes a moment when we must look back on our own cultural heritage and wonder, "What the hell happened?" Why this long 2,500 year detour into dominating nature and building social empires? Why this absorbtion into disconnected individualism? Loy's book is exciting trailblazing into the emerging field of putting Buddhist concepts to work to decode history. Highly recommended. Gassho.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Studies in Lack
30 Nov 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Freedom, progress, fame, money, the nation-state, corporate capitalism, mechanistic science, civil society, consumerism; hardly new themes, but this inquiry into the origins of our preoccupation with them casts them in a different light. Loy's lack approach has not attempted a "balanced" evaluation that weighs the positive against the negative consequences for our historical development - whatever that might mean. Instead, the argument has been that each is problematical in a way that has been little noticed, if at all.
If the argument is valid, what does it mean for us today? Our ever-growing technological powers imply that it is increasingly dangerous for us to be motivated by an unconscious drive for "being", for a grounding that can never be attained in the way we seek it.
From a traditional religious perspective, the most important characteristic of the modern world is its secularity, more precisely our understanding of ourselves as motivated by solely this-worldly possibilities. After lack itself, therefore, the most important thread that winds its way through all the chapters is the notion that a lack of perspective vitiates our usual distinction between sacred and secular. If the problem provided by our sense of lack cannot be avoided, the difference between sacred and secular is reduced to where we think our lack can be resolved. This leaves us, finally, with an urgent question: What does this critique mean for those of us now reluctant to believe in mythological notions of transcendence? If our "secular" responses are not working to assuage our lack, as Loy has argued, then what solutions are possible for those agnostic of other "higher" worlds? The author concludes his study with some reflections on this, which amplify some hints scattered here and there in the chapters.
If the argument is valid, what does it mean for us today? Our ever-growing technological powers imply that it is increasingly dangerous for us to be motivated by an unconscious drive for "being", for a grounding that can never be attained in the way we seek it.
From a traditional religious perspective, the most important characteristic of the modern world is its secularity, more precisely our understanding of ourselves as motivated by solely this-worldly possibilities. After lack itself, therefore, the most important thread that winds its way through all the chapters is the notion that a lack of perspective vitiates our usual distinction between sacred and secular. If the problem provided by our sense of lack cannot be avoided, the difference between sacred and secular is reduced to where we think our lack can be resolved. This leaves us, finally, with an urgent question: What does this critique mean for those of us now reluctant to believe in mythological notions of transcendence? If our "secular" responses are not working to assuage our lack, as Loy has argued, then what solutions are possible for those agnostic of other "higher" worlds? The author concludes his study with some reflections on this, which amplify some hints scattered here and there in the chapters.
10 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Highly Recommended
10 July 2003
Format:Paperback
This is an incredibly insightful contribution to our understanding of why Western institutions have become so destuctive of the world around us while generally failing to provide people with a sense of meaning, direction, or pleasure in life. As Loy so clearly articulates, Buddhism offers a perspective that can transform our lives and, perhaps, our self-destructive culture.
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