The Book of Wisdom: The Heart of Tibetan Buddhism
Readers unfamiliar with Osho may remember him by his earlier name, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and by the image of him grinning from behind the window of one of his many Rolls-Royces at the ashram he founded in Oregon. Controversy and legal problems led him to return to his native India and eventually to change his name to Osho. The author died in 1990, but his followers carry on his teachings and continue to publish his voluminous writings. This book takes the Seven Points of Mind Training by Atisha, an 11th-century Tibetan mystic, as the starting point for Osho's reflections. The title is misleading, since the text and the question-and-answer sessions have more to do with Osho's own point of view than Tibetan Buddhism, and his is, at times, a very eccentric perspective. Mixed in with some fairly standard insights into spiritual practice are overt criticisms of many religious traditions and their followers as well as a peculiar penchant for jokes, many of them off-color. It seems the title is designed to cash in on the current interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and it would be a shame if it distracts the curious from the many worthy titles on the subject currently available. Not recommended.DMark Woodhouse, Elmira Coll., NYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.