Customer Reviews
Fly like a guru - By: ShriDurga, 07 Jul 2007 
Buddhist practitioners can levitate. They can see the future. When they die, their bodies turn to light.
So claims Surya Das.
I genuinely enjoyed Awakening the Buddha Within. The book is a primer on Buddhism, with a chapter on the Four Noble Truths, & one each on the Eightfold Path, clearly explained & illustrated for the western reader making his or her first encounter with Buddhism. Surya Das' writing is breezy & conversational, an easy-to-read style that keeps you turning the pages. Das doesn't get bogged down in the minutiae of theology or philosophy & personalizes his teachings by relating relevant stories from his own life & his own search for meaning. As much "what is," the book also offers "how to" in the form of simple meditations & other exercises, such as keeping a dream journal or a journal of favorite spiritual quotations, simple steps to for helping build new awareness.
As much as I liked the book, I also found some fairly outlandish claims within, such as the section on Lucid Dreaming, in which Das writes that we can multiply our bodies, travel to heavenly realms to receive special spiritual teachings, & that he himself was able through such practices to see into the future.
He sets us up early on by letting us know that such super human powers, while manifest among the Buddhist elite, are ultimately mere distractions along the path.
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Seekers, curious about the unknown, might want to know more about levitation, conscious dying, lucid dreaming, astral travel, rainbow bodies, & clairvoyance. However, that's not finallly what it's alll about. The Buddha did perform certain miracles, but he always instructed his disciples not to demonstrate miraculous powers except to inspire faith in the skeptical. Lamas say the same thing. The magical, mysterious & occult are special effects that can be produced, but it's not the whole story. The miracle of Buddhism is a miracle of love, not levitation. [pp 12-13]
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As we're only on page 12, it might be reasonable to expect some future explication of such feats, but the only thing I recalll reading is a couple of paragraphs in the last quarter of the book, in the section on Lucid Dreaming.
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By seizing a dream we can perform spiritual activities, multiply our bodies, as well as go to pure realms of existence to receive teachings & blessings from Buddhas, transcendent Bodhisattvas, & saintly sages. In this way we train to master altered states & different ways of being, including astral travel & other out-of-body experiences.... With guidance from my teachers, ... I was able to get some indication of future events & to understand certain signs, portents & omens. [pp 330-331]
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Amazing.
Perhaps not so amazing for a Tibetan who's grown up listening to stories about such super-human feats. But Tibetans are not likely to be reading this book, at least not in large numbers. This book is for Europeans & North Americans, the people most likely on planet Earth to be skeptical - & curious - about such claims.
And yet Das provides no evidence, no proof, not even an accounting of what he experienced or what he witnessed. For over 300 pages he covers the Four Noble Truths & the Eight Fold Path, a topic that is covered by most authors in a few pages. Das' account is padded with quotations, examples, stories, & illustrations, from the lives of saints, from every day life, from his own life. But here - nothing. He fallls strangely silent.
I do not claim that such feats are impossible. They certainly may be. But Das' refusal to engage the subject makes it seem he has something to hide, which in turn casts a shadow of doubt across the rest of what is a well-written introduction to Buddhism. If he can't talk to us honestly about this, then what else can't he discuss openly? What else might he be hiding?
I know of no evidence demonstrating these powers or abilities. If Das does, then he owes it to his readers to explain.
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Tibetan Buddhism for Beginners - By: Beth Hamilton, 09 Mar 2002 Lama Surya Das does a good job of introducing the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to the West. Many people see Buddhism as an exotic Eastern tradition without any relevance to our lives here & now. However, one need not embrace Buddhism to gain much from Buddhist concepts. This book is a little soft on certain concepts (like reincarnation). However, this book is meant for one not already deeply involved in the practice of Buddhism, so maybe it's better that way. I also highly recommend "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Book of Eastern Wisdom" by Taro Gold. Excellent.
A book for those who believe that there must be more - By: , 18 Jul 2001 
I have read this book several times till today & I think I will reread it, because it simply has offered to me a new perspective about the meaning of life & our daily issues. This perspective was at the beginning in some ways quite new to me, but I noticed that from the beginning on, it started to change my life,my behavior patterns & help me a great deal. This book does not only provide an insight to how we live our lives & what make us suffer here but also encourages & shows us how we can get in touch with our innate nature , purify our minds & improve our ways to live "our lives". This is exciting & worth to try.
Everyone needs to read this book! - By: neil.goodson@hotmail.com, 28 Aug 2000 If everyone read this book, the world would be a better place to live. You can become a better you & look at things in a completely different light. Buddhism removes itself from the judgement & fear of Christianity, it just enlightens.
I have read several books by the Dalai Lama & this book provides more references & gives a less general synopsis.
A joy to read a clear and sympathetic guide - By: , 25 Aug 1999 Although I have not ready widely concerning the topic of buddhism, I was pleased that this book was recommended to me by one of the staff at a bookshop in Central London. It is, in my view, a satisfying guide to the way in which buddhism can assist day to day with problems that I face. I would recommend this book to anyone with a skimpy knowledge of the subject & a yet an interest.
