Tricky book to read and to review... I remember reading it about ten years ago, disliking it and giving my copy away. After a conversation with my friend Amanda, to whom this book was recommended by a fairly reliable source, I wanted to check it out again. Maybe I had read it wrong the first time?



I understand that Khyentse wanted to take some erroneous Western misconceptions about Buddhism and Buddhists and debunk them, and I find that both interesting and important. There are a lot of really we

Tricky book to read and to review... I remember reading it about ten years ago, disliking it and giving my copy away. After a conversation with my friend Amanda, to whom this book was recommended by a fairly reliable source, I wanted to check it out again. Maybe I had read it wrong the first time?



I understand that Khyentse wanted to take some erroneous Western misconceptions about Buddhism and Buddhists and debunk them, and I find that both interesting and important. There are a lot of really weird ideas kicking around about what Buddhism is and what it isn't, which I suppose was bound to happen when a philosophy becomes mainstreamed. For example, the word nirvana is used incorrectly so often it makes my ears burn: sorry folks, but there's no Heaven or Hell in Buddhism. Nirvana is a state of being. And vegetarianism, while strongly recommended, is also not a mandatory life-choice when practicing Buddhism. Sure, it's better if you are, but the core idea is that you must do the very best with the circumstances in which you find yourself. For instance, if you know anything about Tibet, you'll know there isn't much arable land there, and growing vegetables is super difficult. So Tibetans, including the Buddhist ones, eat meat. Because they have to; there's nothing else! If you are in a situation where you have the option not to eat meat, the choice is between you and your conscience, and that's that (His Holiness the Dalai-Lama changed his diet to vegetarianism when he arrived in India, but when he lived in Tibet, he ate meat too - just sayin').



It's important to note that many famous Buddhist teachers have often done weird things that might seem very un-Buddhist by some standards (check out Chogyam Trungpa's biography when you get a minute, it's fascinating), so I think it can be really tricky to draw some lines about what Buddhists do and don't do (to stick with the example of the aforementioned Chogyam Trungpa, many people don't seem to think drinking and sleeping around invalidated his teachings). And one must also remember that the rules for living are very different for someone who has taken monastic vows and someone who is simply a lay practitioner. Not all Buddhists are monks and being a Buddhist does not mean you need to start acting like a monk!



So now that my rant is over, what does Khyentse have to say about all this? To him, a Buddhist is someone who acknowledges the Four Seals as truth. He describes the Four Seals as follows:



All compounded things are impermanent

All emotions are pain

All things have no inherent existence

Nirvana is beyond concept



He then goes on to elaborate what the four seals mean with detailed examples - both from historical and current events, with a bit of pop culture thrown in there for good measure. I have to say, his explanations are really clear and straight-forward, and for those who wonder, there is no actual check list of things Buddhists do and things they don't do up until the conclusion. And even then, it's more an explanation as to why the Four Seals ultimately lead practitioners to acts of generosity, non-violence and vegetarianism.



I ended up enjoying the book and finding it much more interesting than on my first, long ago, read; I wonder if that might be because then my practice was less mature back then? Hard to say, but I appreciate a lot of Khyentse's insights and explanations. It's challenging book, with a lot of very pragmatic explanations - which is something I really like. He demystifies the more supernatural sounding Buddhism stories and fables and explains the metaphor behind them, the skillful teachings hidden under the magical-sounding stories.



That being said, the tone is also occasionally weird and judgmental; even at his most irreverent, Brad Warner never comes across as a judgy douche. I also felt it sets a really odd tone when the author describes himself as a Buddhist fanatic on the very first page; the choice of word here is problematic for many reasons, one of which is that it makes the reader feel like Khyentse draws a pretty hard line in the sand and only he gets to decide who stands on which side...



But the real snag for me in this book was the downplaying of the importance of meditation. Dude, really? That's what the entire practice of Buddhism hinges on!! If you believe in the Four Seals but don't meditate, I wonder what you are up to... But Khyentse clearly feels that anything you do that's motivated by a true understanding of the Four Seals is following the path of the Buddha; he mentions meditation as the easiest and safest practice, but doesn't elaborate on the topic any further.



Keep in mind that this book is not trying to be a how-to manual on Buddhism, so if that's what you want, maybe skip it entirely - I would definitely not recommend it for beginners. But on the other hand, more experienced practitioners would already know most of the stuff in here, so who is this book for? People who want to be able to tell the difference between pop-Buddhism and the genuine article, I guess. In any case, it is very thought-provoking and I might have to read it again eventually.



Did I come out of this reading experience with a clearer idea of what makes you not a Buddhist? I don't know. But I do feel like an understanding of the Four Seals that is not strictly intellectual can only be achieved through meditation practice, so maybe get on your cushions, y'all?