Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

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thecowisflying
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Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by thecowisflying »

He seems to have written quite a few books on Buddhism but I found out he converted to Catholicism later so OK that's fine. However then I found his "refutaion" sand reason for converting and it showed a rather..... poor understanding of Buddhism. Are his other world better or of the same standard?
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Aryjna
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

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thecowisflying wrote:He seems to have written quite a few books on Buddhism but I found out he converted to Catholicism later so OK that's fine. However then I found his "refutaion" sand reason for converting and it showed a rather..... poor understanding of Buddhism. Are his other world better or of the same standard?
I have not heard of him before, or read any of his works. But I just read his article on why he converted and I must say it is one of the most ridiculous things I have read lately: http://whyimcatholic.com/index.php/conv ... l-williams

I find it difficult to believe that someone who does not have the slightest clue even of the Hinayana, has been a professor of Buddhist Studies and also a Buddhist, "in the Dalai Lama's tradition' as he says, for so many years. Every single thing he says clearly shows that he never understood a word of the Dharma, and his main point is that he became a Christian because according to that very superficial understanding he feels the Christian outlook is more 'hopeful'. I would never consider reading anything written by him, even if it were only an academic text.
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Zhen Li
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by Zhen Li »

Yes. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations is a reasonably good introduction—there has yet to be a very good textbook on the topic to replace it, but a lot of good recent scholarship could go towards a different approach. Also, Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, a series which he edited, contains some very good essays.

As regards his reasons for conversion, his perspective is one which many people might end up with, and as far as I understand it, it is less about reasoning and more with emotion and perhaps some sentimentality. There are a lot of things in his book on his conversion about an attachment to Christian music and cathedrals. It also seems to stem from a desire to feel like everyone is an important and special individual. Of course, from the Buddhist perspective, we may understand that these are views that can lead to our own suffering. Sometimes it is not enough to just tell someone that, they have to experience it or be compelled in a way that is suitable to their own conditions with the appropriate skilful means. There are ways of convincing people to become Buddhists which involve sentimentality and so forth, these are skilful means. But overall, I think conversion is unlikely to happen if one has a good understanding and experience of Buddhist teachings and practice. I don't agree that Christianity offers answers that make sense from an experiential or intellectual level, but because faith is the bottom line in Christianity, that doesn't matter to them. Faith 'can' be a bottomline in Pureland Buddhism, and that works for some.

But regardless, to answer your questions, Paul Williams is not a popular or spiritual writer. He is not the kind of person to read if you are into the self-help Buddhist literature you find with people like Thích Nhất Hạnh or the Dalai Lama. He's a scholar, and from a scholastic perspective, as a scholar, he is reliable.
thecowisflying
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by thecowisflying »

Zhen Li wrote:Yes. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations is a reasonably good introduction—there has yet to be a very good textbook on the topic to replace it, but a lot of good recent scholarship could go towards a different approach. Also, Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, a series which he edited, contains some very good essays.

As regards his reasons for conversion, his perspective is one which many people might end up with, and as far as I understand it, it is less about reasoning and more with emotion and perhaps some sentimentality. There are a lot of things in his book on his conversion about an attachment to Christian music and cathedrals. It also seems to stem from a desire to feel like everyone is an important and special individual. Of course, from the Buddhist perspective, we may understand that these are views that can lead to our own suffering. Sometimes it is not enough to just tell someone that, they have to experience it or be compelled in a way that is suitable to their own conditions with the appropriate skilful means. There are ways of convincing people to become Buddhists which involve sentimentality and so forth, these are skilful means. But overall, I think conversion is unlikely to happen if one has a good understanding and experience of Buddhist teachings and practice. I don't agree that Christianity offers answers that make sense from an experiential or intellectual level, but because faith is the bottom line in Christianity, that doesn't matter to them. Faith 'can' be a bottomline in Pureland Buddhism, and that works for some.

But regardless, to answer your questions, Paul Williams is not a popular or spiritual writer. He is not the kind of person to read if you are into the self-help Buddhist literature you find with people like Thích Nhất Hạnh or the Dalai Lama. He's a scholar, and from a scholastic perspective, as a scholar, he is reliable.
Thanks I was looking for a general overview of doctrine to see how my knowledge is right now not a popular spiritual book. I kinda dislike Thich Nhat Hanhas books, they always felt a bit.... Shallow and very different to what traditional Zen is like.
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Zhen Li
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by Zhen Li »

thecowisflying wrote:Thanks I was looking for a general overview of doctrine to see how my knowledge is right now not a popular spiritual book. I kinda dislike Thich Nhat Hanhas books, they always felt a bit.... Shallow and very different to what traditional Zen is like.
Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations is a good general overview.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by Fortyeightvows »

Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations
how different is the first and second edition?
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Zhen Li
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

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Fortyeightvows wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:03 am Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations
how different is the first and second edition?
I really don't know, I have the second edition only.
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Wayfarer
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Re: Is Paul Williams and his works reliable or a good source of information?

Post by Wayfarer »

There’s some similar books by another scholar called Rupert Gethin which I have found pretty insightful and sympathetic - Foundations of Buddhism.

I too read William’s account of his conversion - actually we discussed it here a couple of years back - but the reason he gave, namely, the fear of being reborn as a cockroach, struck me as absurd. But the general consensus was at the time, good luck to him.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
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