One of the best spiritual books, I have ever read. Those interested in Buddhism and especially Pure Land should consider adding this book to their list.
Dharmavidya is the dharma name of the author -- D.J. Brazier, who heads a fairly new organization in the U.K. called The Amida Trust.
The book works on several levels:
*It is the story of a devoted son's caring for his mother during the time preceding her death.
* It is a story of how faith helps both the caregiver and the care recipient deal with a serious and emotion filled time -- the ending of life.
* It is a book which intersperses the above two strands with a very interesting and helpful discussion of Amidism (Pure Land Buddhism) as it has developed in The Amida Trust.
Pure Land is not a single Buddhist path. Most Westerners may be familiar with Jodo ShinShu, whose founder was Shinran. The Amida Trust seems to share aspects of several parts of the Pure Land tradition. I found the author's exposition very attractive and am considering joining The Trust in an informal way. Particularly appealing to me is their acceptance of human emotion, and their outreach to those in need of help whether it be with food, education, health, etc.
This book is very well written.
I give this volume a whole hearted five stars!
Caroline Brazier's THE OTHER BUDDHISM arrived from Amazon two days before David Brazier's WHO LOVES DIES WELL. In four days I read them both. I thought THE OTHER BUDDHISM was an excellent, psychologically-based introduction to Amida Pureland Buddhism, and I commended it highly in a review. For other reasons entirely I highly commend WHO LOVES DIES WELL.
Written from a deeply personal perspective occasioned both by repeated requests for an introduction to Amidism (Amida Pureland Buddhism) and the author's experience of the last week of his mother's life, WHO LOVES DIES WELL is an unique book. It is about Amidism, and it is about dying, and it is about love, but it is above all a testament to lives translucent to grace. As such it qualifies as inspirational literature, but its excellence lies above all in its honesty, depth of emotion, and surprising lack of an easy sentimentality. I've read nothing quite like it, especially in Buddhist writing.
Amida Pureland Buddhism is a recent evolution of Jodo Buddhism, the oldest Pure Land school in Japan. As such, there are presently few Amidist sanghas in existence, and those mostly in Europe. Whether Amidism will appeal to greater numbers worldwide is unknown. But as a spirituality, Amidism may well influence Buddhists who congregate with -- say -- Quakers or Unitarian Universalists.
Of the two dozen or so books on Buddhism I've read, WHO LOVES DIES WELL comes closer than any to a true testament to infinite light and life of grace.
P.S. This book really blossoms with a second reading. For the first, you are present for the death and liberation of a noble spirit. While you encounter Pureland Buddhism through the telling of this tale you experience it more as a supporting player. On the second reading, once you've lived through this week in the life of Irene Brazier and The Buddhist House, the Pureland faith itself becomes the subject. That is when Dharmavidya David Brazier's passion for eternal life in the face of death rises from the page and you -- the reader -- become swept up in the expanse of his vision.
