Hi.
Sante Poromaa has been practising Zen
since 1983 and teaching full time since 1998. He started practice as
a student of Roshi Philip Kapleau, and he later became a student of
Kapleau's successor, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.
Together with Kanja Odland, he has been
instrumental in the creation of a full-time training temple in rural
Sweden called Zengården, as well as the growth and development of a
network of City Zen Centers in Sweden, Finland and Scotland.
The book, The net of indra, is, more or
less, an exploration of the question of whether the concept of
rebirth can be incorporated into our modern, scientific worldview.
The book is divided into four parts, he
starts off with testimonys, moves on to scientific and Buddhist
theory and ends up with “questions”-section at the end.
The questionssection has rebirth as an
common red thread, although the questions range from abortion, murder
to quantumphysics and rebirth as an Buddhist pillar. I think there could have been more
questions asked, as it is such an broad topic, but those asked were
cunningly answered.
The theorysections show a sign of great
knowledge on the authors behalf. He has gone to great lenghts to make
an wide display of all there is to show in the subject, while, at the
same time, keep an inquiring, almost critical, mindset to it all. I
think now, looking back, this mindset is what made the book so
great..
The witnesssection is a caleidoscope of
different recounts, both his own and others, mixed with scholarly
dissertations. It serves both to recount what people have experienced
but also what has been written about the separate “cases” brought
forth. These cases range from neardeathexperiences to parapsychology
and even his own experiences. The fact that he brings up his own
experiences brings another depth to an already almost fathomless sea,
and, in hindsight, I would have liked to see that section more
elaborated upon, as it is very good in and off itself.
The book The net of indra is an book
about rebirth, science and the self.
As such it is an good attempt. It has
very good ground to state its views from, and it also implores the
reader to inquire everything more. The things you lack, such as an
more elaborated survey and other small things, is well counteracted
by the fact that it is well put together, well written and implores
you to do the questioning yourself, to find out yourself.
Thank you Sante Poromaa for a good book
and for your practice.
Mtfbwy
Fugen
