Buddhism Plain and Simple (Steve Hagen)
Pop Zen Masquerading as Zen Buddhism
[My 1-star Amazon review (March 1, 2013) Buddhism Plain ans Simple: The practice of Being Aware Right Now, Every Day by Steve Hagen.]
I have written a couple of books deconstructing Eckhart Tolle’s dumbed-down Dharma, but Steve Hagen’s text makes Tolle’s teachings seem esoteric by comparison. I know that this is supposed to a beginner’s guide to Buddhism, but it’s really just an insipid introduction to pop Zen. Hagen probably sat down with his literary advisor, whom he credits in his Acknowledgements, and together they had a “satori” experience and realized that a pop Zen version of “Buddhism for Dummies” was where the money was at—and presto!—“Buddhism, Plain and Simple” becomes a best seller, unjustly praised by the clueless crowd.
I have devoted the past forty years of my life to the study and practice of original, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. And when I read Hagen’s book, I cringe at the sheer banality. For example, he writes, “The point of Buddhism is to “’just see.’” On another page, he informs us: “And just as your state of mind changed once you saw what the picture was, when you suddenly the situation you’re in, you experience certainty. Things clear up. This is called enlightenment, or awakening.” Hagen manages to reduce spiritual enlightenment to a pop New Age epiphany, to no longer ignoring what one “sees.” In his words, “Our only problem is that we ignore what we ‘see.’”
Not only does Hagen reduces the Buddha’s profound original Dharma to a single out-of-context, and poorly explained, theme —“seeing” or awareness—he ignores virtually every other important component of the Teaching. For example, there is nothing about reincarnation, nothing about the various states of meditation (jhanas) that, necessarily, precede enlightenment, and nothing about the Buddha’s views with regard to sex, women, and numerous other important topics. In fact—and this is the key the point I want to make—there is very little of the Buddha’s teachings in this book, just Steve Hagen’s poor pop Zen interpretation of them. If you want to know what Buddhism is really about, what the Buddha really taught, read the Buddha’s own words. Get yourself a copy of “In the Buddha’ s Words,” by Bhikku Bodhi, or my favorite Buddhism book, “Some Sayings of the Buddha, According to the Pali Canon,” by F.L Woodward. If you read either of these texts and compare it to Hagen’s, you’ll “see” the truth—that Buddhism Plain and Simple is nothing more than pop Zen masquerading as Buddhism.
[My 1-star Amazon review (March 1, 2013) Buddhism Plain ans Simple: The practice of Being Aware Right Now, Every Day by Steve Hagen.]
I have written a couple of books deconstructing Eckhart Tolle’s dumbed-down Dharma, but Steve Hagen’s text makes Tolle’s teachings seem esoteric by comparison. I know that this is supposed to a beginner’s guide to Buddhism, but it’s really just an insipid introduction to pop Zen. Hagen probably sat down with his literary advisor, whom he credits in his Acknowledgements, and together they had a “satori” experience and realized that a pop Zen version of “Buddhism for Dummies” was where the money was at—and presto!—“Buddhism, Plain and Simple” becomes a best seller, unjustly praised by the clueless crowd.
I have devoted the past forty years of my life to the study and practice of original, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. And when I read Hagen’s book, I cringe at the sheer banality. For example, he writes, “The point of Buddhism is to “’just see.’” On another page, he informs us: “And just as your state of mind changed once you saw what the picture was, when you suddenly the situation you’re in, you experience certainty. Things clear up. This is called enlightenment, or awakening.” Hagen manages to reduce spiritual enlightenment to a pop New Age epiphany, to no longer ignoring what one “sees.” In his words, “Our only problem is that we ignore what we ‘see.’”
Not only does Hagen reduces the Buddha’s profound original Dharma to a single out-of-context, and poorly explained, theme —“seeing” or awareness—he ignores virtually every other important component of the Teaching. For example, there is nothing about reincarnation, nothing about the various states of meditation (jhanas) that, necessarily, precede enlightenment, and nothing about the Buddha’s views with regard to sex, women, and numerous other important topics. In fact—and this is the key the point I want to make—there is very little of the Buddha’s teachings in this book, just Steve Hagen’s poor pop Zen interpretation of them. If you want to know what Buddhism is really about, what the Buddha really taught, read the Buddha’s own words. Get yourself a copy of “In the Buddha’ s Words,” by Bhikku Bodhi, or my favorite Buddhism book, “Some Sayings of the Buddha, According to the Pali Canon,” by F.L Woodward. If you read either of these texts and compare it to Hagen’s, you’ll “see” the truth—that Buddhism Plain and Simple is nothing more than pop Zen masquerading as Buddhism.
