Reviews | Wise Attention

The Book of Enlightened Masters

Posted by Vishvapani on Dec 27, 2011 in Buddhist World, Featured, Reviews | 0 comments

The Book of Enlightened Masters is a fascinating guide to the westerners who have become teachers in Eastern traditions. Book review by Vishvapani

Guru Trouble

Posted by Vishvapani on Oct 30, 2011 in Buddhism in the West, Reviews | 0 comments

Wise men, eccentrics, geniuses and charlatans. Gurus have featured large as Buddhism has come the West. What should we make of them? Reviews of Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: Theosophy and the Emergence of the Western Guru by Peter Washington; Riding the Tiger by Lama Ole Nydahl; Zen In America by Helen Tworkov

Review: The Origin of Buddhist Meditation

Posted by Vishvapani on Sep 30, 2011 in Buddha, Buddhism, Reviews | 0 comments

What, if anything, do we ‘know’ about the Buddha? This recent book employs scholarly detective work to 'prove' that certain elements in the ancient Pali scriptures are true. It casts fresh light on the world the Buddha inhabited and the meditation practices he was learned as a young man. More intriguing still, this suggests the changes he made when he came to teach meditation himself.

David Breuer Weil: Radical Visionary

Posted by Vishvapani on Sep 22, 2011 in arts, Reviews | 0 comments

David Breuer Weil is a powerful artistic presence: heir to London-based Jewish like Freud and Epstein. As a new book and exhibition showcase his work, I reflect on my own friendship with David and the significance of his monumental images