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eBook Category: Spiritual/Religion/Self Improvement
eBook Description: HoloBuddhism presents a complete description of reality. It answers the questions "Why am I here?" and "What is the nature of the universe?" The book discusses, in a clear and easily understandable way: the main principles of Buddhism, modern physics, time, space, and thought. All of these concepts come together in the end to explain the Buddhist term, enlightenment. While the book attempts to describe enlightenment, it does so with the realization that it is taking on an impossible task. Enlightenment is something which can not be described. Once you try to describe it or think about it, it is gone. Enlightenment is something which can only be experienced. But, sometimes, reading and thinking about enlightenment can trick your mind out of its linear and logical stance. It is my hope that this book will help that happen for you.

eBook Publisher: SynergEbooks, Published: SynergEbooks, 2001
Fictionwise Release Date: October 2004

12 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [346 KB], eReader (PDB) [46 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [46 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [42 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [60 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [107 KB], hiebook (KML) [124 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [82 KB], iSilo (PDB) [38 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [48 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [66 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [67 KB]
Words: 15672
Reading time: 44-62 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 0-7443-0365-6

"Got Enlightenment? I read this book ten times before I sat down to review it. I had to. I still don't quite know what to say, except that HoloBuddhism is a departure from the ordinary, for works of this type. I'm not referring to the subject matter of Buddhism itself, but instead, to the unique way it has been presented by author Derek Kittle. Broaching concepts including Oneness, Nowness, Karma, Death, Compassion, Attachment, and how coming to terms with all of these components, and more, can lead to Enlightenment--the author takes your mind, and quite deliberately turns it into pizza dough. Throwing it up in the air, spinning it around, letting it hit the bench, then kneading it, rolling it flat, and turning what you thought you knew, into something altogether different. The ideas here, will almost certainly numb your brain momentarily, before you eventually come to grips with them. But all of that bending and twisting of convention will ultimately result in an immensely satisfying massage for your thought process. I must underline--the book demands to be read the first time to be digested, then reread to be appreciated. The author stresses that the mere act of reading the book will not itself lead you to nirvana, and that no book on the subject of Buddhism can do that, as there are no shortcuts to Enlightenment--that is a journey one must experience for oneself. The book won't give you the meaning of life on the last page, either: fair enough, I suppose--that would be cheating. Don't be disappointed though, as it does, however, point you in the right direction for getting started with Buddhism. HoloBuddhism is essentially for those with an open mind who wish to open it further. Neither a self-help, or how-to book, HoloBuddhism is a gentle nudge forward on the path to inner peace. The author, to his credit, assumes that his reader is intelligent, and resists the urge to pontificate. He poses questions you'll spend the rest of your life trying to answer, and you'll be better off for it. If you've been thinking of employing Buddhism as way of making sense of yourself, and what surrounds you, then having this volume on your shelf is, most assuredly, a solid place to start."--Bradley Brian Drain

When I started thinking about this book, I felt that I was describing a new philosophy or religion. But the more I understood about what I was describing, the more I realized that all of my "new ideas" were actually a part of Buddhism. I wanted to call them mine because of my attachment to myself; and to some extent, because I tend to explain them very differently from the way they are described in the Buddhist texts that I have read.

In the past, this realization would have dismayed me. The fact that I did not come up with these ideas would have lessened their value to me. But now I rejoice, even though I did not discover them first. And I will still write the book, precisely because of the differences in the way I describe the ideas. I feel that people who grew up in America will understand the concepts better through HoloBuddhism, rather than through the way they are described in most texts.

The name "HoloBuddhism" comes from a union of the words holograms and Buddhism, since originally the book was going to focus on a synthesis of these two things. And now, even though the holograms have become less important to the discussion, I keep the title because I think it provides a useful analogy (And because I like it!).

As you will see, HoloBuddhism presents a complete view of reality. What I am saying is that, intellectually, it explains everything. And while the concepts are readily understandable by most people, this sort of intellectual understanding is largely meaningless: which is to say, that neither thinking nor understanding is a part of Buddhism.

The hope is that, after you understand everything, there will be no need to think about anything anymore. When focus on thought ceases, experience and practice become your way of life, and you begin to practice Buddhism. For you see, Buddhism is an experience, a practice--not a philosophical idea.

As you read this book, keep in mind that none of the writings about Buddhism or enlightenment are Buddhism or enlightenment. They are only vehicles toward the experience, just as writings about science and the nature of the universe are only metaphors of reality, and not the reality itself.

Reality can never be described. Reality just is. And if you add the word "now," you get the phrase "reality just is now," which is what I will go on to describe in many different ways, in the hope that one of them will resonate with you. It may be summed up in a single quote: "No time, No space, No importance to human thought."

After reading through the whole book, I suggest that you come back to the chapter on Buddhism and see if it is different the second time around.

To begin with repetition: Buddhism is not something to think about, it is something to do. Buddhism is a practice. Enlightenment and Nirvana are experiences, not ideas. Any ideas you may have about them are what we call philosophies, and no matter how clever, they do no justice to the experience itself.

While everything you do is Zen practice, Zazen (unthinking meditation) is the "most important" aspect of your practice. I put the words "most important" in quotes, because everything is equally important to one who exists in the reality of enlightenment. But for one who is not enlightened, some things, like Zazen, are more important. Later on, you will understand what I mean by this. For now, reading two of the books in my notes, Questions to a Zen Master, and The Three Pillars of Zen, should give you a good introduction to Zazen.