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Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West
 
 
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Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West (Paperback)

by J Paine (Author) "TIBET HAD VANISHED, so far as the world's attention and concern went ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; Reprint edition (11 Feb 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0393326268
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393326260
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 775,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"...a fascinating account... Paine manages the unlikely feat of chronicling the more troubling and outlandish incidents in Tibetan Buddhism's short Western history without obscuring the positive effects its teachings appear to have had on so many adherents." Ed Halliwell, The Observer "...Paine's critically acclaimed book tells the story of Tibet's surprising recent incursion into the West's consciousness..." Publishing News "Paine's page-turner of a book is full of the uncanny, the extraordinary and mysterious, although he's careful to frame it in a way that the rationalist and the secular reader will not object to." Laurence Phelan, The Independent on Sunday, 13 February 2005

Product Description
Re-enchantment reveals the dramatic story of how, in a single generation, Tibetan Buddhism developed from the faith of a remote mountain people-associated with bizarre, almost medieval, superstitions-to a world religion and, in doing so, changed notions of what spirituality and religion are in our time.

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First Sentence
TIBET HAD VANISHED, so far as the world's attention and concern went. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars very readable and fascinating, 10 Jan 2005
By D. Proctor "dproc2001" (Kendal) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West (Hardcover)
This was a book that was hard to put down. Although it is quite long I nevertheless finished it in two nights. Tibetan Buddhism is certainly an interesting phenomena and an important one in our modern world. The Dalai Lama must surely outsell JK Rowling and Tibetan inspired centres spring up everywhere. This book may surprise some people who are not familiar with its somewhat tumultuous history. Reading about some of the characters invloved in Buddhism in America might lead one to question where exactly is the Buddhism in this religion. Just take the example of Chogyam Trungpa who, in the community he founded, had a list on which female followers could write their names if they wished to sleep with him and he would choose the 'lucky' bedfellow for that particular night. Sexual scandal has clearly plagued Buddhism as much as it has plagued Roman Catholicism, if in a different way. This is certainly not an isolated example of the bizarre history of this movement. Lama Thubten Yeshe and the Dalai Lama however show the best aspects of this religion and I found the chapters devoted to these two the most enjoyable and inspiring. They are clearly exceptionally spiritual people. One question that struck me through the book and which I would have liked the author to shed light on is the difference between Charisma (sometimes overwelming Spiritual Charisma) which Chogyam Trungpa clearly had and authentic spirituality. I must admit that I am not impressed by Spiritual powers (John of the Cross said for instance that these were attainable but to be avoided). I would say that this book is essential reading for everyone as Tibetan Buddhism is such an interesting and important 'phenomenon'. Buddhists must surely want to read it but also other religious people will be fascinated by the story. I did not always agree with what the writer had to say and I am not too sure if I like everything about about Tibetan Buddhism - I personally don't like this idea of Tulkus etc that is, re-incarnated beings who are, in some ways, superior to others. It smacks of elitism. I prefer the ideas expressed by such people as Gerard Manley Hopkins - 'what I do is me, for that I came' - and John Henry Newman, we all of us have a gift and a message for the world and we just need to look within ourselves, in our own experience to find it. I am sure that the Tibetans have a message too but perhaps we should not allow ourselves to be drenched by their obvious charisma.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging narrative of Tibetan Buddhism's arrival in the West, 13 Aug 2008
By ShriDurga (Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
Even those who already know the story will enjoy spending time between the pages of Jeffrey Paine's engaging narrative. Through profiles of four well-known teachers, plus a few lesser lights, he recounts Tibetan Buddhism's arrival in North America after being driven in mid-20th century from its native environment, a tale of cynical and world-weary westerners becoming re-enchanted with the world.

A regular contributor to national publications, Paine knows how to keep a reader's attention. The book never lags and I would guess that most readers will be unwilling to put it down at the end of the evening. When the occasion warrants, Paine also lets his sense of humor shine, as in his discussion of actor Steven Segal, the world's most unlikely reincarnated lama and the only one, Paine observes, capable of uttering _Dalai Lama_ and _motherf......_ in the same sentence.

The book's most interesting insights are found in the chapter on Hollywood, a place where many are infatuated with the Dalai Lama and where you can even find a few practicing Buddhists, most prominently Richard Gere. Paine argues that actors already share a world view consistent with Buddhism, that thoughts and actions create reality. This dovetails nicely with the American ethos of being able to reinvent oneself, to start a new life. Paine sees a correlation in the growth of Buddhism in a society raised on film. Where the Buddha declined to discuss the soul and instead focused on our moment-to-moment experience of life, so too does the cinema ignore the metaphysical in building reality from sound, motion, and feeling.

The first of the book's five sections covers what little was known about Tibet in the west before the Chinese invasion of 1951 through the story of Alexander David-Neel (1868-1969), one of the first westerners (and the first western woman) to spend years in Tibet and to return home to write about it. This is followed by chapters on two lamas who had a lasting influence on North American Buddhism: Thubten Yeshe, whose teaching tours sprouted more than a hundred study and mediation centers across the United States and Canada; and Chogyam Trungpa, who started what is today the only accredited Buddhist university in North America. From the exiles Paine moves on to profile two homegrown lamas, the first generation of western teachers: Tenzin Palmo (Diane Perry), who spent 12 years in retreat and was only the second woman to be ordained in a Tibetan tradition; and Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo (Alyce Zeoli), the world's first female western-born reincarnated lama. The fourth section traces Hollywood's infatuation with Buddhism, and the last features sketches of three work-a-day North American converts.

Except for those in the last section, the figures profiled here are quite well known and for many of those already familiar with Tibetan Buddhism in North America, Paine has little new to offer to the story. What he brings is a deft sense of narrative, as well as a sensitive and sympathetic understanding of people and Buddhism. It's not clear from the text nor from online references whether Paine is a practicing Buddhist. But his balanced treatment of some of Tibetan Buddhism's more controversial characters, ones that often invite polarized reactions, suggest more than a need to live up to journalistic standards, more than a desire to protect these figures (and by implication Buddhism) from ridicule, but a genuine Buddhist-like concern for the welfare of others and an ability to see that none of us are perfect beings.

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