Hooked!

January 24, 2005
Kaza, who co-edited the environmental Buddhist collection Dharma Rain
, gathers key Buddhist thinkers to reflect upon aspects of consumerism, greed and economics. Certainly, many other authors have examined consumerism from the lens of their religious traditions, but this book's Buddhist perspective is unusual, and its pairing of consumerist critiques with core Buddhist concepts is generally fruitful. Buddhism assumes, for example, that the very foundation of suffering is desire—a core teaching that has obvious applications to consumerism, whose goal is to multiply and intensify desire. Moreover, Buddhism stresses the impermanence of all things, providing a valuable perspective on the transient nature of goods. Several of the authors in this cogent anthology draw upon the metaphor of the "hungry ghost" of Buddhism to describe the ethos of consumerism: with their enormous bellies and tiny mouths, hungry ghosts are incapable of ever being satisfied. Some of the book's most helpful essays draw on Buddhism not merely to diagnose the problem, but to prescribe solutions on individual, local or global levels. Second-generation Zen American Sumi Loundon seeks the Buddha's middle way as a viable compromise between the consumer desires of her heart and the austerity of her antimaterialist childhood, while Vermont Zen Center teacher Sunyana Graef discusses taking refuge in the Three Jewels as an antidote to selfishness and excess.

March 1, 2005
One need only stroll down a supermarket or department store aisle to observe the staggering array of choices available to the average consumer. According to Buddhist teaching, this hallmark of Western culture is driven by an underlying cycle of acquisition and amassing that ultimately leaves us unsatisfied. While we are led to believe that more choice is always better, such a competitive marketing environment demands an ever-present "hook" to keep consumers in a constant state of readiness to buy. Kaza (environmental studies, Univ. of Vermont) here gathers a group of prominent Buddhist authors to focus on various compulsive aspects of modern consumerism, presenting insights for practical application. This collection of writings elucidates the scope and magnitude of the compelling malaise of craving that afflicts so many people in modern Western society. Appropriate for public libraries, especially those with Eastern studies collections. -Dina Komuves, Collingswood, NJ

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.