The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation

Wes Nisker has here presented a rather light-hearted account of his own spiritual journey into Buddhism. He takes us through the Beat, Hippie, and New Age movements to the present, more mature, spiritual association with Eastern philosophy and Buddhism in particular. While not a deep book, it does give some insight into the history of the Buddhist movement in the United States and why Buddhism is as popular as it is now. To a large degree this popularity is due to the common sense approach of Buddhism to every day life and the unspectacular claims it makes. It also does not require exact literal belief and is thus quite open to science. In essence we are told that there is nothing to be gained because we have the ability for enlightenment within each of us. We need only connect to that awareness within. Despite this apparent simplicity, the practice of Buddhist meditation is far from easy. It requires commitment that takes time to develop, yet is open to everyone. I do not agree with Nisker on every detail (it would be unusual if I did). For example, I'm not sure that I would quite give the blank check he gives to the evolutionary psychologists. This is, however, a minor quibble. I don't expect him to be one with all of the scientific arguments of the day. All in all this book is a very enjoyable read and I very much recommend it to be read if you are on an airplane as I was when I read it.

Wes "Scoop" Nisker, a self-professed Buddhist traces the spiritual history of a generation from the questioning of our parents values to living under the current George W. Bush conservative climate. He cover the beatniks, hippies, drugs, the importance of music, the disillusionment with the sixties, the turn towards introspection and fascination with eastern philosophies, the "me" decade of the eighties and the subsequent current apathy. This is a fine documentation of a unique generation that grew up during a time of unprecedented prosperity and had trouble figuring out what to do with it. The author is not only a witness to this process but is also a participant and shares many personal stories from each many eras. As a former disk jockey from the once very progressive San Francisco KSAN radio station, he met and interacted with key players who influenced this generation like Allen Watts. He is also honest enough to write about his own doubts, misgivings and personal confusion, which is symbolic of this generation.In many ways this generation path, in this reviewer's opinion, was predicted by the psychology of Abraham H. Maslow who postulated a hierarchy of needs (this used to be taught in Psych. 101 courses, I wonder if it still is?). A human being is always in dynamic interaction with its environment and once basic needs such as air, water, food and shelter have been met, then new needs emerge; belonging, relationships, the need for self expression and the need to understand our relationship to the rest of the universe. It's easy to understand when your hungry and you need food, however it is not as easy to understand what you need when you seemingly have everything and yet have an underlying feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Indeed, there is no universal agreement about the meaning of one of Maslow's most famous postulation, the need for "self actualization".Scoop's book does a nice job of capturing the essence of a generation faced with dealing with questions that were mostly unprecedented, at least on a mass scale, by any previous generation. Unfortunately, it seems like the beginning of the new century is more about dwindling resources and back to the concerns of basic survival needs. The subtitle of this book could also have been, in the words of rock star-philosopher David Crosby, (It Was) " A Long Time coming, Gonna Be A Long Time Gone".

I found this book to be hilarious, insightful, fun and informative. The sheer scope of Mr. Nisker's life experiences is mind-boggling and his retelling of these adventures and explorations makes for a very entertaining experience for the reader. I'm at the tail end of the Boomer generation but I found plenty to relate to. Music, politics, religion, mysticism, culture...it's all there. And Mr. Nisker's wonderful sense of humor shines through every page. At times laugh-out-loud-funny, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in popular culture and world events.