Hardcover, 235 pages, New York 1989, as new
This work brings together in a single volume the translated essays of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, the major interpreter of Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia.
"This is an excellent exposition of present day Theravada Buddhism by a native Thai master. A book of this nature is quite rare to find, especially coming from a living scholar and practitioner. Buddhadasa's interpretation is innovative and thus controversial to traditionalists but it deals frankly with contemporary issues of the world, such as wars, social unrest and ecology. The topic is as old as Buddhism--the focus on the non-self (anatman) doctrine, but its contemporary orientation and analysis is excellent in introducing new approaches and slants relative to the issues at hand."
-- Kenneth K. Inada, State University of New York at Buffalo
"It makes Buddhism accessible to a Western audience by presenting translations of an appealing cross-section of essays from one of Thailand's leading monks. Buddhadasa's strength, attested to by his enormous lay following, is that his essays are designed for a general audience and many are directed specifically at Westerners. This and the fluidity of the translation makes the difficult and 'exotic' topic of Theravada Buddhism accessible to a Western audience."
-- Christine E. Gray, Temple University
Donald K. Swearer is Professor and Chair of Religion at Swarthmore College. He has written Buddhism and Society in Southeast Asia, For the Sake of the World, and with Patrick Henry, Spirit of Buddhist and Christian Monasticism.