WHY BUDDHISM? - WESTENERS IN SEARCH OF WISDOM

Vicki Mackenzie, bestselling author of Cave in the Snow, investigates this question with the insight of a journalist who has explored Buddhism for 25 years. Among those who speak candidly about the effects of Buddhism in their lives are counselors and writers, a woman lama, a terminal cancer patient, a diamond merchant, composer Philip Glass, Professor Robert Thurman, and Buddhist luminaries Sharon Salzberg and Stephen Batchelor. The stories present intriguing responses to the Buddhist way -- to its ideas about consciousness and compassion, work and worldly success, family and relationships, nature and death, reincarnation, and other faiths. At a time when Western culture seems overwhelmed by materialism and individualism, Buddhism is attracting thoughtful people seeking a wiser way to live, inspiring them with tolerant and practical ethics and joyful spirituality.