Warum ich Buddhist bin und weshalb Sex, Steaks und Whisky dazugehören (German Edition)

Stephen T Asma

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Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Why I Am a Buddhist: This is a profound and amusing book that provides answers to the perennial questions: Why am I here? How can I live a meaningful life?

Where am I going? For Stephen Asma, the answers to those questions are found in Buddhism. Hardcover , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Why I Am a Buddhist , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Jun 22, Jason Pettus rated it it was amazing Shelves: For those who need catching up, I'm spending the summer reading a bunch of random books from my local library on the subject of Buddhist meditation, after starting a secular form of meditation in my own life and having a friend recently remark that my insights about the practice sounded "accidentally Buddhist" to them.

See my review of Start Here Now for the entire backstory. This is one of the last books of the reading project -- I've burned through about ten of them now, and I suspect I won't For those who need catching up, I'm spending the summer reading a bunch of random books from my local library on the subject of Buddhist meditation, after starting a secular form of meditation in my own life and having a friend recently remark that my insights about the practice sounded "accidentally Buddhist" to them.

This is one of the last books of the reading project -- I've burned through about ten of them now, and I suspect I won't find any other books in other library branches that will be too fundamentally different than the ones I read at mine -- which makes it ironic that this turned out to be the best out of all of them, or at least "best" when it comes to my specific personal goal of finding a book about Buddhism that approaches it from a decidedly secular standpoint that's friendly to atheists like me, and that uses the everyday language and vernacular of contemporary Americans instead of drowning itself in hard-to-pronounce foreign terms from thousands of years ago.

A blue-collar Chicagoan professor at Columbia College who unapologetically eats red meat and drinks liquor on a regular basis, Asma in fact seemingly wrote his book specifically with someone like me in mind, a refreshingly down-to-earth look at the philosophical real-world underpinnings behind so many of the most famous concepts in Buddhism, deliberately written with an eye towards how it can practically help in the day-to-day lives of most ordinary people, regardless of whether they're ready to convert to Buddhism or even really have much of a spiritual bent at all. This really helped me understand the self-directed insights I've been having this year, after starting to apply daily bouts of mindfulness and "gratitude journaling" into my life after first learning them in the computer-programming bootcamp I attended last year, of all places ; and it's been enlightening so to speak to realize that just the natural things I've been noticing about the world and myself because of these new activities actually have deep roots in the very heart of what Buddhism is supposed to be about.

This especially applies to what's turned out to be the most beneficial thing that's come out of my mindfulness experiments, the way it helps stabilize my mood and keeps me on an even emotional track no matter how particularly bad or good that particular day went for me; and out of all the books I've read this summer on the subject, Asma was the only one to share a well-known simile about this the "Six Animals" simile from the Samyutta Nikaya , discussed on page in Asma's book that made the entire subject just immediately sort of click into deep understanding in my brain.

Although there are of course better books out there for people seeking other things from Buddhist writings than me, I can honestly say that this was the best one specifically for those like me who are not particularly religious, who cast a skeptical eye towards all the New Age hippie baggage that usually come with American Buddhism, and who mostly want to understand this subject in terms of how it can affect just their normal, day-to-day lives out in the secular world.

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I'm grateful to have finally found a book like this before my summer reading project ended, and it comes strongly recommended to the kinds of people I just described. Oct 11, Alexis rated it really liked it Shelves: Four and a half stars. I love, love, loved this book. This was one of the books that I just pulled off the shelf during a recent visit to the library. So glad I did! Asma is a man after my own heart. He came to Buddhism the same way I did- reading about mysticism, rock music and the Beats Except he did a lot more drugs than I have ever done- hi mom! Anyway, this is a no-nonsense guide to how Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy helps him live his life and how Four and a half stars.

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Anyway, this is a no-nonsense guide to how Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy helps him live his life and how it helps him strive to be a better person. He describes the various avenues where Buddhism helps him- in his understanding of romantic relationships, his parenting, and how Buddhism and science intersect. This book is really easy to read and I would recommend it for any Western Buddhist. I found that he has written books on a variety of topics, including one on our fascination with monsters, and another on his travels in Southeast Asia. I'm going to check them out!

Sep 01, Sara rated it really liked it Shelves: This one man's rational experience with Buddhism written in an accessible, non-pious voice. His life isn't perfect, Buddhism helps him cope, and doesn't require anything in return. I enjoyed his intelligent, reasonable styl This one man's rational experience with Buddhism written in an accessible, non-pious voice. I enjoyed his intelligent, reasonable style, found his story compelling, and thought his arguments were full of common sense.

Jul 09, Tobey rated it really liked it Shelves: As a buddhist who is sick of all the books in the stores about buddhism being either zen or tibetan it is nice to read a book that is less 'new age' and more about the reality of buddhism. Jul 27, Ami rated it liked it Shelves: Certainly an interesting take on applying Buddhism in a Western context.

The first chapter is a witty narrative of his path to Buddhism, via other "high school subcultures", followed by a chapter of applying Buddhist principles like "eon perspective" to parenting. I thought he was genera Certainly an interesting take on applying Buddhism in a Western context. I thought he was generally at his best when relating aspects of his personal practice of Buddhism, although he rather cleverly skewered quantum physics-inspired "mind becomes matter" philosophies.

Although he differentiates between cultural, psychological, and philosophical aspects of Buddhism, and most squarely aligns himself with the philosophical camp, I felt that at times he had a tendency to overintellectualize. Still, his point that Buddhism is not as much a faith as a testable science indicates that he is not going to be content with belief alone, and thus the ink spilled. Oct 19, Emily rated it liked it Shelves: However, by finding a Middle Way between extremes and applying mindfulness, we can be more effective and less overwhelmed by the stress and worry of daily life.

A basic foundation of Buddhism is coedified in The Dr. All life is suffering. All suffering is caused by craving. Letting go of craving liberates us from suffering. The Eightfold Path is the way to let go of suffering. While the First Noble Truth certainly sounds awfully pessimistic, Dr. Building off the Second Noble Truth, Dr. The Third Noble Truth states that if attachment causes suffering, the way to avoid suffering is to avoid being attached.

While this may not seem to mesh very neatly with the LDS understanding of sin, I can certainly find parallels. For example, Paul's counsel to the Corinthians to avoid eating meat that had been offered as a sacrifice to idols was not because the actual act of eating the meat was in itself sinful, but because it could be a stumbling block to others see 1 Cor.

Asma has a very practical, down-to-earth approach to Buddhism, weaving this Eastern tradition into his modern Western life. He provides applicable suggestions for living a more peaceful, balanced, and mindful existence, regardless of your religion. For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.

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Mit dem Buddhismus ist das so eine Sache. Auch, wenn das viele heute annehmen. Jul 11, Sasha rated it liked it Shelves: A solid enough introduction to Buddhism for your average secular Western type. To be fair, I don't think I'm the target audience - the smug dismissal of theism, etc. There's something DIY and happily rugged individual-that-not's-an-individual in the godfree, un-handholding universe that doesn't appeal to me, but YMMV.

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Decent and even-handed discussion of meditation-heav A solid enough introduction to Buddhism for your average secular Western type. Decent and even-handed discussion of meditation-heavy Western Buddhism vs. Oct 18, Rachel rated it really liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed this book, it was funny at times, very informative and definitely opened my eyes to the possibilities of Buddhism in Contemporary Western society. If you are unsure about or skeptical about Buddhism and want to see real life examples of how it can be adapted into Western culture this is the book for you.

What questions would I like to have addressed concerning Buddhism? What perspectives would I find most helpful in better understanding Buddhist tradition and practice? What do the author and I share on our paths toward Buddhism? Let me offer a checklist and apply it to this book. How did the author first come into contact with Buddhism? Like many Western Buddhists, I first came to understand the fundamentals of the dharma by reading books. Most Western Buddhists have grown up in families that we What questions would I like to have addressed concerning Buddhism?

Most Western Buddhists have grown up in families that were monotheistic, culturally speaking, and we discovered our Buddhism via the printed word rather than at the neighborhood temple or war or shrine. How does the author perceive Buddhism? Buddhism is not a set of beliefs to be adopted by faith, but a set of practices and beliefs to be tested and then employed in our pursuit of the good life.

How does the author address the issue of temptation? The trained mind can rise above distraction and craving, but the normal mind is fraught with temptations, agitations, and diversions. The idea of not looking at a beautiful woman or man when we are clearly drawn in that direction may sound rather puritanical. But the point of the simile is not to denigrate beauty, but to isolate the tension between natural inclination and discipline. It is perfectly natural to look at beautiful people, and Buddhism doesn't require the forfeit of such trouble-free pleasures.

I suspect that our very biology ensures that we'll take a quick gander at any attractive prospect, and such radar abilities probably had some evolutionary advantages for our ancestors. But if I simply cannot help myself from gawking at a stunning model on the street, then I have overturned a division of labor inside myself. I have become the servant of my desire, rather than being the master of my desire. I am being led, rather than leading. And would I ever have such a problem?

Please, no speculations here. I disavow any admissions against interest. For mere mortals, the issue of desire is the crucial issue in life, is it not? How do we attain our desires? Should we attain our desires? How much should we pay for our desires, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of time, energy, effect on relationships, and so on? Buddhism attempts to give us a second nature-one that writes over the old genetic and psychological code. Does the author come from a religious tradition that I can identify with? I was ripe for such communion because I had been raised as a devout Catholic.

Some people think that the conventional and conservative experience of Catholicism and the eccentric, lefty spiritualism of hippy culture are worlds apart. But, in fact, Catholics have a deep sense of mystery in the very belly of their religion. Unlike most Protestants, Catholics give themselves over to the irrational mystery, miracle, and authority.

There is an undeniably conventional and institutional aspect of Catholicism, but beneath its traditionalism is a robust mystical approach to God. When I was in primary and middle school I was an altar boy and even a lector. When I began to ask philosophical questions in my early teens, my blue-collar parents knew of no other outlet for such precocious intellectualism except perhaps the priesthood.

I was dutifully driven to the local seminary to meet with priests and be interviewed to see if I had the calling. Indeed, one of my friends was once a candidate for the priesthood and now finds himself in the Buddhist camp. After all, the priest heard my confessions: Did the author explore traditions other than his native Catholicism and Buddhism?

Merton, by the way, was a Catholic monk who explored the Buddhist and Daoist traditions and wrote eloquently about his encounters with them from his position as a Trappist monk. If we reject the metaphysics of the monotheistic religions, is there another path that shows the way to a good life and that provides some sense of spiritual wholeness?

Many people like myself come to Buddhism through the arts, because crafts, arts, and even meticulous chores can be expressions of spirituality. The secular and the sacred are collapsed in Zen, and that is a very attractive integration for many of us who are dissatisfied with the two-world thesis of most religions.

Can the author explain the different types and processes of Buddhist mediation? Does the author recognize the affinity between Buddhism and some of the Western tradition, such the thought of Spinoza? In his famous Ethics part V , he says that when the mind comes to understand the real causes of things—how some things could not have been otherwise and simply lie outside the realm of our control—then we cease to worry and fret over them. Does the author recognize the affinity between Buddhism and Stoicism?

Buddhism, like Stoicism in the West, seeks to reduce suffering, in part, by managing human emotions. There are several tactics for getting one's emotions under control. One tactic that both Buddhism and Stoicism recommend is the adoption of the long-range perspective. I'll refer to this as eon perspective. When we are feeling overwhelmed by anger, or despair, or fear, the Buddha asks us to think about the impermanence of our problems and ourselves.

Similarly, Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius asks us to contemplate the human drama of families, cities, and even nations that lived hundreds of years ago. They all did just as we do. They married, worked jobs, had children, loved and lost, felt great joys, killed each other, and engaged in every other emotional human endeavor. But, Marcus Aurelius reminds us, "Of all that life, not a trace survives today.

Asma also notes an affinity with Epicurus, so gets even more points on my score chart. All of these thinkers can be very austere. I cherish my loved-ones, my family, my friends. Do I have to surrender all of these relationships and go live in a forest monastery to avoid all attachments? Does this mean that I cannot be attached to my son? Well, if that's what it means, then I wouldn't call myself a Buddhist. No, I think the Buddha is pointing out something that we all understand at some level. He means, rather, that I cannot possess my son. I know that modern science gives us the most concrete, tangible knowledge of nature.

So do I have to surrender that choice to follow a Buddhist path? One of the reasons why I'm a Buddhist is because Buddhism makes friends of the sciences, and the sciences are the best methods we have for understanding nature. For Buddhism and for science, the mind is a natural rather than a supernatural entity.

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Buddhism and science share a similar approach to phenomena, an approach that can be called naturalism. Naturalism rejects or at least brackets supernatural explanations of the world and its occupants e. Unlike many other religions, Buddhism does not find itself in the awkward position of having to reconcile the metaphysical assertions of faith with the experimental findings of science. What about karma and reincarnation?

That stuff seems pretty spooky to me, at least in some sense. For example, it is possible to say that one's early lack of mental control and discipline results in a later batch of suffering—perhaps I never disciplined my cravings for fast food as a young man, and now I'm an obese older man who lives like a slave to French-fries. Or my younger taste for drama and negative attention has resulted in a later relationship pattern wherein I only try to date married women. This more naturalized version of karma is the only one that seems reasonably defensible. Although some Western Buddhist thinkers, I believe, would argue with this limited conception of karma and reincarnation, such as B.

However, this more conservative approach is the easiest to accept and incorporate into our life and thought. What about some of the good things in life, like art? Must we surrender our appreciation for beauty and meaning to non-attachment? Appreciating art and making art are meditations that liberate us from self-absorption. I think the role of art is especially important in Buddhism, because Buddhism embraces a nondualistic metaphysics.

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