Category: Non fiction

  • Siddhartha

    Herman Hesse

    Somewhere in Pankaj Mishra’s ‘The Romantics’, there’s a conversation about ‘Siddhartha’ and it being a reason for a Westerner’s interest in Buddhism and India. A conversation, not my view 🙂 That, and the fact that it also finds mention in Mishra’s other book ‘An End to suffering’ is primarily what led me to the book.
    The book is best described as the story of an alternate version of the Buddha, and the Buddha features in the story too, including a conversation.
    The message is perhaps like a quote I read somewhere, which amounts to “There are many ways to the top of the mountain, but once there, the view is the same”
    The arguments are compelling, and makes you think, not just about the end, but also about the ways in which you get there. I especially liked the thoughts on the concept of time, the ‘goal vision’ obscuring everything else, and ‘the opposite of every truth is also true’.
    Forget Buddhism, it is an excellent read on life, what we strive for, and my favourite paradox – the meaningfulness and the meaninglessness of our existence.

  • An End to Suffering

    Pankaj Mishra

    I’ve always been a fan of Pankaj Mishra’s melancholic way of writing, which just borders on cynicism. This book, while a study on the evolution of Buddhism, is also a travelogue of sorts. It even manages to touch upon the author’s personal growth – material and spiritual, and the gradual growth in his confidence, which was necessary for the book to be written.
    It focuses a lot on Buddha’s teachings, the way it has been transformed in various regions and times in which it has been practised, and also manages an analysis of how it could still be pertinent in a world that has changed much, since the time he lived in. The book simplifies Buddhism to an extent, and while it cannot be a complete guide to the Buddha (that wasn’t the idea anyway), it does manage to chronicle the times that the Buddha lived in, and makes you curious enough not only to read up more on the subject, but also check out the works of David Hume, and Nietzsche, who have been extensively quoted.
    A good start for those who seek to understand themselves.