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BOOK REVIEW:
By Douglas Durham THERE IS AN OLD German saying: What is the use of running, if you are not on the right way? This book, like Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of MotorcycleMaintenance," has that question as its theme. The two books are similar in three ways: A small group is on a journey; There is a description of the journey itself; Interspersed are serious talks. The millions who responded strongly to Pirsig's work will remember that the book caused them to address two questions: Thurman and Wise are on the journey to Mount Kailas, in both physical and metaphorical senses. Thurman, whose daughter Uma is well-known movie star, is a professor of Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University. A close friend of the Dalai Lama, Thurman provides the serious talks about the mental journey. Tad Wise, author of the novel Tesla, was a student Thurman's and, like Thurman, is a native of Woodstock, New York. Wise provides the description of the physical journey, lasting 25 days, going from Nepal to Tibet back to Nepal. He also provides his own responses to Thurman's talks. Located in remote Tibet, Kailas represents for each man the long soughtafter goal of profound personal transformation. Like Pirsig's book, the physical journey is away from the familiar habits of home and provides the setting for the metaphorical journey. That mental (or metaphorical) journey also takes one away from accustomed responses. Its objective is to achieve the dissolution of the ego and achieve freedom from socially conditioned and personally constructed bonds.The serious talks all deal with aspects of dissolving the ego and achieving such freedom. This book differs from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanencen" in that the thoughtful talks in Pirsig's book However, substantial portions of these talks are accessible and might help you find your own Mount Kailas.
Douglas J. Durham has practiced under a Theravada Buddhist monk for seven years.
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