Page 64 - EH67

62 EASTERN HORIZON | BOOKS IN BRIEF

BOOKS IN BRIEF

Beth Jacobs, The Original Buddhist Psychology. Elizabeth J. Harris. Buddhism in 5 Minutes. Equinox
What the Abhidharma Tells Us about How We Publishing: UK, 2021. pp 390.

Think, Feel, and Experience Life. North Atlantic
www.equinoxpub.com/home/buddhism-5m/
Books: Berkeley, SA. 2017. pp187.
www.northatlanticbooks.com In Buddhism in Five Minutes, academic specialists
offer answers to 75 questions about Buddhism that
Drawing on decades of experience, a psychotherapist people curious about Buddhism might ask. The
and Zen practitioner makes the Abhidharma--the questions cover the Buddha, what the Buddha taught,
original psychological system of Buddhism--accessible Buddhist monasticism and the role of lay people,
to a general audience for the first time. the historical development of Buddhism, Buddhist
art, Buddhist ethics, Buddhist responses to other
The Abhidharma, one of the three major text collections religions, and Buddhist thought on contemporary
of the original Buddhist canon, explores the critical issues. They include: Who is the fat Buddha figure? Can
juncture of Buddhist thought and the therapeutic we know what the historical Buddha taught? What is
aspects of the religion and meditation. It frames the Nirvāṇa? Why do Buddhists meditate? Does Buddhism
psychological system of Buddhism, explaining the support gender equality? What is Zen Buddhism? Are
workings of reality and the nature of the human mind. Buddhists pacifist? What do Buddhists think about
those who are LGBTQI? Are alcohol and drugs ever
Composed of detailed matrixes and lists that outline acceptable to Buddhists? How do Buddhists view
the interaction of consciousness and reality, The Artificial Intelligence? Taken together the questions
Abhidharma explores the essence of perception and cover most aspects of Buddhist belief and practice in
experience, and the reasons and methods behind the contemporary world.
mindfulness and meditation.
The collection is sponsored by the UK Association for
Because of its complexity, the Abhidharma has Buddhist Studies but contributors are drawn from
traditionally been reserved only for academic or Asia, North America and Latin America, as well as
monastic study; now, for the first time, clinical Europe. The questions are answered in accessible, non-
psychologist Beth Jacobs makes this dynamic, specialist language without too many footnotes. Each
important text and its teachings available to general should take not much more than five minutes to read.
readers, using practical explanation, personal stories, EH
and vivid examples to gently untangle the technical
aspects of the Abhidharma.

Jacobs’ work illuminates this classic of Buddhist
thought, highlighting the ways it can broaden and
deepen our experience of the human psyche and
offering profound insights into spiritual practice. EH