What People are Saying About This
Nancy Eberhardt
Living Buddhism is written in an engaging journalistic style. The reader shares Julia Cassaniti's struggle to come to terms with the worldview she encounters in the northern Thai village of Mae Jaeng and, like her, arrives at a hard-won appreciation of the local perspective. Cassaniti’s intimate relationships in the community allow her to provide detailed case studies that nicely illustrate the complexities of applying Buddhist concepts to everyday life.
Hazel Markus
With a beautiful blend of stories, research, and her own field experience, Julia Cassaniti unlocks the secrets of creating calmness and the power of letting go. Living Buddhism is a must-read for everyone—expert and nonexpert alike—interested in how our cultures shape our emotional lives.
Susan M. Darlington
In Living Buddhism, Julia Cassaniti convincingly shows that complex philosophical concepts are not the sole property of religious specialists but play a central role in providing lay Buddhists a means for dealing with life's difficulties as well. She integrates the fields of Buddhist studies and anthropology well, showing effectively how they inform and can learn from each other. Her storytelling makes us care about the Thai villagers and why they react the way they do to the problems and challenges in their lives.
Justin Thomas McDaniel
This book sparkles with normalcy, meaning that it neither seeks to impress the reader by hiding behind theory nor obscures the subject with overinterpretation. Julia Cassaniti laughed, danced, and cried with a small group of villagers in Northern Thailand for extended periods of time. She writes with refreshing clarity and humility about these relationships. This allows the readers to experience the abiding sense of impermanence that sustains people through everyday suffering and learn with them how to become both Thai and Buddhist without hardly noticing.
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