[Buddha-l] Fourth Uncle in the Mountain

[Michael Wilson]

My review on www.amazon.com of "*Fourth Uncle in the Mountain: The
Remarkable Legacy of a Buddhist Itinerant Doctor in Vietnam (Paperback)
*by Marjorie Pivar<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-9790301-2891216?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Marjorie%20Pivar>(Author),
Quang
Van Nguyen<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-9790301-2891216?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Quang%20Van%20Nguyen>(Author)

 In buddhist legend, meditation adepts attain a "samadhi fantastic beyond
description". This is Fourth Uncle. The magic, sorcery, and martial art
stories give way to the natural magic of one pointed concentration - in the
cave of the primoridal, original, and pristine mind. I enjoyed this book so
much, in spite of the tragic backdrop of pre and post Vietnamese colonial
history. There is a great human truth here, that goes beyond religions, in
the narration that radiates out through the eyes of a child coming into
adulthood. There is also a lot of what is called by aboriginal peoples,
"indigenous knowledge" about Viet Nam, which sadly may be disappearing
because of enviromental desecration. This book is also a hommage to the folk
doctor tradition. This tradition, so vital to the revitalization of the
human spirit, is also in danger of being marginalized by institutionalized
medicine. Better that it be accommodated for what it is - natural wisdom.
*
http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Uncle-Mountain-Remarkable-Itinerant/dp/0312314310/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200310734&sr=8-1
*<http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Uncle-Mountain-Remarkable-Itinerant/dp/0312314310/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200310734&sr=8-1>

Michael J. Wilson