In a perfect world, this forum would have a moderator who knew a lot more about eastern religion/philosophy than I do. I am trying to do my part and rectify this situation.
One of the difficulties I am encountering is that almost every web-page or book I have found assumes a fairly sophisticated understanding of the specialized vocabulary used in eastern thought.

Anyone have suggestions for on-line or treeware resources that would help 'bring me up to speed'? If it has to be a '...for Dummies' book, I suppose that will do, but I'd prefer an online source or at least a more creatively named book.

Originally posted by MadMordigan:

Anyone have suggestions for on-line or treeware resources that would help 'bring me up to speed'? If it has to be a '...for Dummies' book, I suppose that will do, but I'd prefer an online source or at least a more creatively named book.


Yes. You might try the second volume of Needham's Science and Civilization in China. This 19 or 20 volume work covers all of Chinese science and technology, and the 2nd volume covers all the philosophies of China, with an eye to their scientific application. It's not nearly broad enough, being focused on science, and it covers only China, but there is an extensive discussion of Daoism, and it covers all Chinese belief systems -- Confucianists, Mohists, Daoists, etc. Terms are defined, the prose is very clear and written from a sympathetic point of view for an educated non-specialist.

Michael

Maybe I could give you alittle help, if you're interested (I'm in the East ) but you will have to let me have some time to response as my sources will have to come from my local libraries & most likely I'll have abit of problem translating them into English (sometimes it is quite hard to translate from Chinese into English).

BTW don't ever presume my views as typically eastern. My real views are alittle "strange" but usually I present a more conservative one to fool human beings.

ohwilleke

I know what you mean. I would really appreciate something longer than the five page summary of all world religions, and shorter than a full length book. Have you tried encyclopedia britannica online? I think I may give it a try beginnging at this site:

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=64745

[This message has been edited by ohwilleke (edited May 22, 2001).]

Mad,

Forget reading volumes of stuff. Simple pick up a translation of the Tao Te Ching and you are off.

I might suggest Zen and the Art of Archery also. There is no need to get into volumes of historical this and that to simply start getting exposed to the fine details.

DC

Hah...
It's taken me 25 yrs of reading and meditation and you want IT in a day!
You young ones are so impatient.

I would start with these books:
The Book-Alan Watts
This Is It--Alan Watts
The Only Dance There Is---Ram Dass

These three get into Zen, taoism, Vedanta and bring it into context for the westerner.

namaste,
Say one word with your mouth shut.
zen saying....

Please Madmorgan!!

I beg of you.

Avoid Alan Watts and Ram Dass. They are the Deepak Chopra of their days.

DC

LOL....Grasshopper you are so wrong. One will never get the flavor of 'what is' from academics like Huston Smith or others though I found their books interesting 25yrs ago. Watts and Ram Dass practiced what they spoke of for many yrs and were not just dilletantes like Chopra and his ilk. Comparing Watts/Ram Dass to Chopra is like comparing Bob Dylan to Britney Spears. If you can name a better transmitter for the western seeker...name him or her. I would also recommend D.T.Suzuki or Kapleau on zen and Buddhism in general. Try Autobiography Of A Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda for Vedic insights. There is also an excellent compilation of Buddhist writings called The Buddhist Bible by Goddard which has Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan sources and a summary of the Buddhas Dharma at the end. You will learn nothing about eastern paths from 'textbooks'by professors...don't waste your time.
Of course after an intro from those authors I would recommend one reads Tao te Ching, Upanishads, Dhammapadha, and other source wisdom and of course personal meditation.

namaste, 'Don't seek to follow in the footsteps of the masters, seek instead what they sought.' Basho


[This message has been edited by dr wu (edited May 23, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by dr wu (edited May 23, 2001).]

I don't know enough about Smith. Herrlee Creel is good and so is Yu-Lan Fung who worte, "History of Chinese Philosophy."

So what?

Here we agree completely!

I haven't read the entire thing. It is very interesting though. I'm told his interpretations should not be taken as authoritative.

DC

[This message has been edited by DChicken (edited May 23, 2001).]

I would like to second (or is it third?) those who have recommended D.T. Suzuki.

I also would suggest at least taking a look at A Concise History of Buddhism by Andrew Skilton. It is not perfect and tends to race by significant developments of Buddhism (i.e. the section on Japanese Buddhism is only 5 and a half pages long!!) but I guess that is what happens with survey books. It does go into decent detail on the original development of the faith in India. Out of all the major religions of the world I find Buddhism to be the most beautiful and have teetered on the edge of embracing it several times.

Of course with Hinduism one should go directly to the sources, the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and so on.

The Tao Te Ching is another good source for Chinese thought.

For Shinto, there are several good books out there. I would suggest A Year In The Life Of A Shinto Shrine by John K. Nelson (one of my former professors). It goes into several Shinto rituals and places them in the context of an actual community that practices them. At the beginning of the book there is some discussion of Shinto in case the reader does not know the first thing about it.

regards,

red dawn