The Middle Way: Faith Grounded in Reason

What I like about the Dalai Lama's books is that he goes far beyond treating the material as a philosophical object of interest. In the Dalai Lama's view, the teachings are tools for developing compassion, relieving suffering and attaining enlightenment. The Dalai Lama speaks of spiritual phenomena as matter of fact realities that are in the same continuum of knowledge and experience as the detailed logical analyses that are the subject of this book. There's a reason for reason, and that is to support spiritual development. The Dalai Lama's authority, credibility, personal conviction, and mastery of the material are always underspoken...he knows, and he describes what he knows with such caring that we should understand. I found Guy Newland's "Introduction to Emptiness" and Jay Garfield's translation of Nagarjuna's "Fundamental Stanzas of the Middle Way" to be excellent philosophical works, that gave me great insight into the philosphy of the Middle Way, and that were transformative to my thinking and perception. "Faith Grounded in Reason" gives me something much closer to the experience of what can be done with those insights and transformations.

The Dalai Lama explores ideas of karma, reincarnation, and the like, along with the totality of Buddhist beliefs and practices. As you can imagine by the subtitle, the testing of beliefs through reason, our intellects, is most important, a most impressive work! Buddhism is followed by many around the world, but it has been much like most religions: if born into a family we follow it as our parents have done. But on closer study we find our beliefs are not founded on reason, more on blind faith with little certainty. If we can bear it the Dalai Lama states in language that many can understand just what Reality is, how 'steam of consciousness' comes to be a continuum of conscious from 'nothing' to multiplicity, how the 'eternal' changes as the effects change. To read such requires us to understand what words mean.

In "The Middle Way" His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama takes on the daunting task of explaining works by two of the greatest figures in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, NagarjunaThe Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika and Tsongkhapa. His explication of their ideas is both clear and concise. The evident good heart and humor in his voice comes through the written word, and will be familiar to anyone who has had the good fortune to attend any of his teachings. As usual, he begins with an overview of the basics of Buddhism, which helps to make the overall work more accessible to those without an extensive background in Buddhist philosophy or practice. None the less, this is probably not the best choice for an overall introduction to Buddhism. Thupten Jinpa, his long time translator, and a distinguished scholar in his own right, once again shows his facility for finding the right blend of technical accuracy and readability.

I bought his book for my wife and myself, she loves it so far, and I can't wait to start it myself. We have never read a bad book by the Dalai Lama, and this one definitely does not disappoint