William R. LaFleur gives us a book which is well made. Piece by piece Mr. LaFleur goes over the history of abortion, buddhism, family planning, sexuality attitudes and even woman's lib in Japan. By the time he reaches his conclusion, you can't help but feel like you, yourself, have also researched and processed all the information.

Near the end, when he compares the Japanese ideas to American ideas on the issue, you can't help but feel that maybe it was all a well placed trap, to get you to look at the whole mess from a different point of view, not just the pro-life/pro-choice, good/bad, yes/no, on/off American way (where every issue only has two sides and the winner gets total victory, so no mercy!)

You might not like some of the points made, but it will sure force you to think.

I can heartily recommend this book. I once took a course taught by LaFleur which was one of the best courses on understanding Japanese Buddhism and the practice of abortion. This book matches his good lecturing style.

What is interesting is that in the West abortion is viewed in primarily negative terms, as is infanticide. LaFleur's initial attitude was: How can Japanese engage in this kind of activity on such a large scale? What role does belief in reincarnation (according to Buddhism) play?

Rather than bringing in Western moral preconceptions that might prejudge his discussion, LaFleur treats this sensitive topic with great insight and sensitivity. This book will be a very interesting read for those interested in Japanese society and Buddhism.

Liquid Life is an intriging look at abortion in modern day Japan. The argument is well formulated and the publication is well researched. Liquid Life is an excellent read. Those attempting to understand Japan MUST comprehend the abortion issue in the country today. *****

This is a truly amazing study. I read it for a class I was taking on medieval Japan. The professor warned that this book was very dense and difficult to read, but I thought - No problem! It's under 200 pages, I'm a fast reader, I like the subject.

So let me restate: this book is a DENSE read. Every sentence has deep significance, and don't be surprised if you have to reread paragraphs several times, even if you're used to memorizing things with a once-over.

That said, this book was so good that it gets 5 stars despite the difficulty of reading it. LaFleur deftly weaves together strands from medieval forms of Japanese Buddhism (specifically Tendai and Shingon) during the Kamakura and Ashikaga bakufus with earlier cultural tendencies from Heian times right through to the flowering of new cultural ideas in Tokugawa Japan. He does not shy away from appreciating art or fine points of theology on their own terms, but also does not hesitate to show how the two blended together and shaped one another.

I personally enjoyed the sections on the Hojo-Ki by Chomei more than his sections on No and Kyogen, but that's personal preference. You will also gain a new understanding of major poets and monks of the era, such as Chomei, Basho, and Zeami. Rather than try and define such difficult concepts as yugen, he illustrates them through use of those individuals and their own efforts at definitions.

Read a chapter at a time or all at once, a great book.

This book is good for both those with casual interest in Japanese culture and specific interests in the field of Buddhism. Special attention is paid to the relationship between religion and the traditional theatre forms of Noh and Kyogen.

DOGEN STUDIES. Edited by William R. LaFleur. Kuroda Institute : Studies in East Asian Buddhism No.2. 165 pp. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, 1992.

Most collections of academic critical articles tend to follow a similar pattern. Among the dozen or so pieces comprising the collection, one or two will invariably prove to be of exceptional merit and interest, with the remainder, in contrast, looking like humdrum and uninspired filler. Perhaps, given the greatly varying abilities of human beings, this is inevitable. There are Scholars and scholars, and one can't go about smashing rice bowls.

Happily, the present collection of 'Dogen Studies' is that rare exception in which, not just one or two, but all of the contributions, although not perhaps of equal brilliance, are certainly interesting. I don't know whether this is because Dogen is himself such an interesting and multi-faceted thinker, or whether it's because he attracts a more interesting kind of mind, but I can assure readers that all of the pieces in the present collection are well worth reading by anyone with a serious interest in Dogen.

The collection is made up of the following eight articles : 'Design in the Academy' by William R. LaFleur ; 'Recarving the Dragon : History and Dogma in the Study of Dogen' by Carl Bielefeldt ; '"The Reason of Words and Letters" : Dogen and Koan Language' by Hee-Jin Kim ; 'The Incomparable Philosopher : Dogen on How to Read the Shobogenzo' by Thomas P. Kasulis ; 'The Oneness of Practice and Attainment : Implications for the Relation between Means and Ends' by Masao Abe ; 'The Practice of Body-Mind : Dogen's Shinjingakudo and Comparative Philosophy' by John C. Maraldo ; 'Dogen's View of Authentic Selfhood and its Socio-ethical Implications' by Francis H. Cook ; 'The Meaning of Dogen Today' by Robert N. Bellah.

The book is rounded out with a detailed List of Contributors, their affiliations, backgrounds, and main publications, and a 5-page bilingual Glossary of Chinese and Japanese Terms (with sinographs). Among the contributors are some outstanding Dogen scholars whose names will already be familiar to students of Dogen.

'Dogen Studies' is a carefully conceived and well-balanced collection, and seems to have been designed to show us something of the range of possible approaches to Dogen. Everyone will have a favorite, my own being Francis Cook's piece, an article which seems to me to be the finest and most interesting treatment of 'enlightenment' that I've ever seen. But, as I've indicated, I enjoyed all of the others too.

As an added bonus, the many translated excerpts from Dogen that are scattered throughout the book are of uniformly high quality. Here are some particularly fine lines from the 'Shobogenzo Genjo-koan' as rendered by Francis H. Cook:

"Conveying the self to the myriad beings to authenticate them is delusion; / The myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment" (page 133).

'Dogen Studies' is a book that I'm pleased to be able to recommend, as I feel sure that all serious students of Dogen will find it of real interest.

Fabulous book. I read it when I was sixteen and it was my second book on philosophy. I had to keep a dictionary beside me as I read it because the vocabulary was esoteric, but it made me want to read it more. It changed the way I thought about things and helped me see relationships between events and ideas that at first glance might seem unrelated. In seeking to understand this book, I exposed myself to a way of thinking very alien to my experience up until that point. It was very rewarding. I highly recommend it if you want to glimpse something greater of yourself. Doing nothing else unusual except reading 2/3 of this book and praying, my SAT scores leaped from 1150 to 1350. It is the best book of its kind. Truly. After reading it, most autobiographical works of modern WEstern Zen practitioners will seem flat and trite. If nothing else, you will better be able to discern what is crap in Zen literature.