IT’S EASIER THAN YOU THINK  (The Buddhist Way to Happiness)

Sylvia Boorstein

 Review: Jim Abbott 2-23-06

  Buddhism is gradually becoming more American-adaptable.  It began with a popularization of Zen (Japanese Buddhism) through books like Zen and Motorcycle Maintenance, and more recently through widespread news coverage of the Dahli lama (how does he keep smiling?) and Tibetan Buddhism--(including movies with Brad Pitt!)

  To most Americans, however, there remains an aura of foreign mystery to Buddhism--an inseperable association with hermitage, long robes and shaved heads. Peeks at Buddhist texts by the “original” Buddha, Gautama, 500 BC, often give first impressions of a hard-to-comprehend “4 Noble Truths” and a similarly difficult “8 fold path.”

  Sylvia Boorstein, Eastern Religion instructor, Grandmother, and fully American, puts to rest much of these mysteries and apprehensions. She cites Buddha-like wisdom from her grandfather, her father-in-law, and neighbors she has known. Common sense, patience, and kindness are all Buddhist “right actions” and “right mindfulness” but achieved by others in their own way.

 “Neither Mr. Cory nor my grandfather ever heard of meditation. I think they paid attention to their lives and became wise. For those of us who don’t arrive at wisdom naturally, meditation is one way to get there through practice.”

  Sylvia uses common vernacular in explaining the Buddha’s teachings and does so in a series of short, easily digestible passages. Simple, homey, but receiver of good reviews by more famous American Buddhists Ram Dass and Jack Kornfeild. And…drew acclaim at the Stowe UU book club and the Montgomery Library Saturday morning reading. Check it out.