The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
• Published by: Inner Traditions February 1, 1996
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0892815531
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0892815531
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

Product Review
Evola . . . had a clarity of mind and a gift for explaining awesomely difficult concepts in nonacademic language. His account of the niddana-chain (the twelve stages of conditioned genesis) is a masterpiece. It equips the reader for a whole new understanding, not only of Buddhism, but of the human state in general. -- Gnosis Magazine

Evola's is the most original book I've ever read on Buddhism. -- Dan Byrnes, New Dawn, March/April 2002

In essence, the Buddhist "Doctrine of Awakening" is, for Evola, the cultivation of a pure, naked, transcendent consciousness, and his book shines in describing the stages leading to this consciousness. -- Richard Smoley, Parabola

Product Review
"Evola had a clarity of mind and a gift for explaining awesomely difficult concepts in nonacademic language. His account of the niddana-chain (the twelve stages of conditioned genesis) is a masterpiece. It equips the reader for a whole new understanding, not only of Buddhism, but of the human state in general."
(

Gnosis Magazine )

"In essence, the Buddhist 'Doctrine of Awakening' is, for Evola, the cultivation of a pure, naked, transcendent consciousness, and his book shines in describing the stages leading to this consciousness."
(

Richard Smoley, Parabola )

"Evola engages in a well-graduated exposition of Buddhist techniques as seen in this ascetic light, with discussion of the mental/spiritual states encountered. Evola's is the most original book I've ever read on Buddhism."
(

Dan Byrnes, New Dawn, March/April 2002 )

Reader Reviews
Students and admirers of Evola will, of course, wish to read this significant part of the Evola canon. However, for those interested in, but unfamiliar with, Evola should start with his magnum opus, Revolt Against the Modern World, to better understand his decidedly complex and unusual world view. This book is a poor choice for someone looking for an introduction to Buddhism or meditation. The subtitle: "The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts" suggests that this is something of a practice manual--it certainly is not. Rather, the book purports to set forth the fundamental ascesis of early Buddhism before it degenerated into a religion of the masses. Whether he has succeeded, I leave to the judgment of scholars of Buddhism. I believe that advanced students of Buddhism (or other serious spiritual disciplines)who are unintimidated by dry, scholarly, intellectually demanding writing will find this work to be fascinating and useful. But, of necessity, this is a very small audience. Evola, the unabashed elitist and aristocrat, would not be disappointed to have a limited, but discerning audience.