Table Of ContentBUDDHISM / CURRENT EVENTS
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TIMELY AND AUDACIOUS, BUDDHA AT THE APOCALYPSE
u
challenges us to look directly at the devastating assumptions
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underlying the very mechanisms of the modern world—and d
offers a clarion call to awaken from a pervasive culture of h
destruction into a natural, sustainable, and sane peace. a
a
t
“BuddhaattheApocalypseiseasygoing,wellwritten,andsolidlyreasoned—andlivelyintheway
itinterweavesBiblicalanalysis,Zenliterature,andWesternphilosophyandsociologywithpop- t
ularcultureanddeepwisdom.Iamdelightedtogreetthisimportantandmeaningfulwork.” h
—fromtheforewordbyRobertA.F.Thurman,authorofWhytheDalaiLamaMatters
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“Theself-centereddreamfromwhichKurtSpellmeyerstrivestoawakenusisnot A
simplythedreamofourindividualegobutthedreamofhistory.Wemustawakenfromtime p
itself, from beginnings, from progress, from goals, and from visions of the end of time.
o
Buddha at the Apocalypse challenges our assumptions about who we are, where we come
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from,andwherewearegoing—inourlifeandinourspiritualpractice.”
—BarryMagid,authorofEndingthePursuitofHappinessandOrdinaryMind a
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“Spellmeyerpresentsafascinatingandwide-ranginganalysisoftheconsequencesofWestern y
civilization’s assumptions about the very nature of reality. Yet even when provocative, p
Spellmeyer’stoneisgentle,writingwithanappealingclarityandaccessibilitythatattesttohis s
ownwarmthandkindnessasalong-timeZenpractitionerandteacher.” e
—RokoSherryChayat,abbessoftheZenCenterofSyracuse,andeditorofEloquentSilence
“Aboldinvestigationintotheroleofreligionin,amongotherthings,thecreationoftheenvi-
ronmentalcrisis.Spellmeyer’swritingiscrispandhonest,andrefreshinglydirectevenashe
raiseshardquestions.”—RichardK.Payne,editorofHowMuchisEnough?
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“ThisbookhelpedmetoseeWesternculturemoreclearly,andinspiredmetorebelagainst E
theapocalypticparadigmwithrenewedvigor.”—NoahLevine,authorofDharmaPunx L
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KURTSPELLMEYERisanaward-winningteacherandscholarintheEnglishdepartment Y
atRutgersUniversity.HewasalsoauthorizedtoteachZenbyKanganGlennWebbin E
1985,andnowleadstheColdMountainSanghainNewJersey.HeistheauthorofArtsof R
Living:ReinventingtheHumanitiesfortheTwenty-firstCenturyandseveralotherbooks.
ISBN978-086171-582-4US$16.95
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Spellmeyer,Kurt.
Buddhaattheapocalypse:awakeningfromacultureofdestruction/KurtSpellmeyer;fore-
wordbyRobertA.F.Thurman.
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-86171-582-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Time—Religiousaspects—Buddhism.2. Buddhism—Doctrines.3. Time—Philosophy.
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1413121110
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B UOD CD AHLAYAPT TSHEE
A P
A W A K E N I N G F R O M A
C U L T U R E O F D E S T R U C T I O N
K U R T S P E L L M E Y E R
FOREWORD BY R OBERT A.F. THURMAN
WISDOM PUBLICATIONS • BOSTON
Asinglemeditationcushion,andoneiscompletelyprotected,
Earthmaycrumble,heavencollapse—buthereoneisatpeace.
—Xinggang,
inDaughtersofEmptiness:
PoemsofChineseBuddhistNuns
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ForewordbyRobertA.F.Thurman IX
Preface XI
Introduction:WelcometotheApocalypse 1
PART I: WORLD DESPISING
Chapter1: IntheBeginningofHistory 19
Chapter2:WorldDespisingandtheOriginsoftheModernWorld 33
PART II: WORLD EMBRACING
Chapter3: AnEndtoHistory,anEndtoSuffering 51
Chapter4: OneBody—TheHiddenGroundofLiberation 69
Chapter5: FromRevolutionaryThinkingtoanEcologyofMind 87
Chapter6: ImagesofOrderinaComplexWorld 105
Chapter7: OnandOfftheRoadofHistory 123
Conclusion:BuddhaattheApocalypse 139
Notes 151
Index 167
AbouttheAuthor 179
FOREWORD
I
nacriticalsceneinJamesCameron’sblockbustermovieAvatar,ahuman
characterwarnsthealiensoftheplanetPandoraofthedangerhispeople
represent to all Pandoran life. “There’s no green there,” he says of his
ownhomeworld.“They’vekilledtheirplanet,theirmother.”And,hesays,
they’ll do that to Pandora as well. It’s a powerful artistic evocation of a
futurewerecklesslyracetobringabout.
Butwhyisthisso?Whydoboththemassesandourdominanteliteinsist
onself-destructioninthenameof“progress”?Whydowerushlemming-like
towardtheprecipiceofecocide,genocide,andsuicide?
In this truly apocalyptic era, Kurt Spellmeyer has combined his broad
anddeepunderstandingofWesternreligiousandphilosophicalliteratures
with his Zen learning and meditational practice to illuminate part of the
answerofhowwegothere.Hehasproducedaninsightfulanalysisofwhat
heidentifiesasan“apocalypticorientation”towardtimeitselfthathasbuilt
a“mentalarchitecturethatcontinuestoshapemodernlife.”
BuddhaattheApocalypseiseasygoing,wellwritten,andsolidlyreasoned—
and lively in the way it interweaves Biblical analysis, Zen literature, and
Westernphilosophyandsociologywithpopularcultureanddeepwisdom.
I am delighted to greet this important and meaningful work and wish its
authorandmanyreadersafruitfulwalkinitsgardenofperceptiveinsights
andheartfeltadvice.
RobertA.F.Thurman
Description:Timely and audacious, Buddha at the Apocalypse challenges us to look directly at the devastating assumptions underlying the very mechanisms of the modern world. We believe with certainty in the inevitable forward march of progress, in the natural rightness of humankind’s control of the environment