The New Religions

Eastern religions exploded into the US in the freedom of the 1960s. This book explores a number of those religions and their teachings, some of which are very familiar, such as Buddhism, others that are much less well known. The religions and their proponents make for interesting reading, and this book is not burdened with the esoterica that so often accompanies similar books by philosophers, so it's fun reading. It does suffer from a way too credulous manner, with the author buying into the idea that there is something terribly wrong with a scientific materialistic worldview, and that there is something wrong with the West in general, and also the idea that there is something incredibly right and wonderful about these religions. He show more does not present any of the downside, but some of the things he does say (as positives) leave one scratching their head wondering how anyone could see that as good, for instance the command for total surrender to nothingness and the isolation from the outside world. The book also demonstrates, though not noticed by the author, that these religions share the same failing of western religions - a total lack of humility in the assumption that they are superior in mind and form to those of us who have not embraced the "way". A great look at these religions, if you can keep from getting diabetes from all the syrup. show less