Author:  Lama Surya DAS

Subtitle:  A Buddhist Response to Life’s Most Challenging Mysteries.

This is a very readable book for those who enjoy Buddhist, or Eastern philosophy.  Lama S, is obviously a Buddhist, but he was born in the United States (former name Jeffrey Miller) so he writes in a way that is very understandable to Westerners and he knows first hand of the problems that beset the Western world.  He writes from a Buddhist perspective of course, but he has such a wide-ranging perspective that the reader would not regard the book as being about Buddhism, nor is he in any way preachy.

His Big Questions include: What is the meaning of life; Does God exist; What is enlightenment; Can a spiritual life include sexual passion, meat drugs and alcohol; From a spiritual point of view is homosexuality wrong – and more. 

As one would expect from someone who has been a Buddhist for over 35 years, his answers are compassionate, wise and lacking in the dogmatic certainty that can be found in some of the more strident traditions.  He writes with humour and a wide-ranging understanding of the problems of modern day societies. 

Lama S, is the author of eight books apart from this one, including Awakening the Buddha Within.