Who Are We? Buddhism, Identity, and the Dream of America.
Who are we? Buddhism has always looked deeply into this question. In “The Buddha and the Dream of America”, author James Hilgendorf ‘s new book, our deepest identity is at the very core of the answer – an identity that looks beyond the more common ways we identify ourselves, by religion, by gender, by ethnicity, by nationality, to reach that deeper region where we all become comrades and brothers and sisters.
Buddhism finds humanity’s roots and identity in the deepest realm of life, in the life of the universe itself, in a place that is always present in the eternal heart of the universe itself.
The Dream of America has traditionally meant the opportunity and freedom to build a business, to be free to worship in the manner one pleases, to be free to speak out, to forge one’s own path in life.
In sixty poetic pieces, the author writes about what he feels is the real meaning of the term of the dream of america – an emerging spiritual revolution that is laying the basis for an entirely new spiritual civilization. He sees this new identity everywhere, in people everywhere, growing, sprouting, coming to fruition; and he sees Buddhism – and, in particular, the Buddhism of the SGI, or Soka Gakkai International – as a leading force for this unprecedented change.
"The Buddha and The Dream of America", a new book by James Hilgendorf.
“The Buddha and the Dream of America” is available from The Tribute Series, or through Amazon.com, in either paperback or ebook form. James Hilgendorf’s other books, “Life & Death: A Buddhist Perspective”; “The New Superpower”; and “The Great New Emerging Civilization”, are also available through these two sources, or through bookstores.