The American Dream and Buddhism: A Mystical Connection?

May 21, 2011 - PRLog -- A vision of the American Dream was born in early America during the American Renaissance with the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and our greatest poet, Walt Whitman.  

This was a vision embodying the very best hopes and dreams for the future of America - an America rising far beyond what we normally think of when we use the phrase The American Dream.  

It was an America of great ordinary men and women.  It was an America of justice and compassion.  It was, above all, an America of the spirit.  

"The Buddha and the Dream of America", the latest book by author James Hilgendorf, explores once again the American Dream, but attempts to approach a discussion of that dream from a totally different perspective - that of Buddhism.

He writes:

"The roots of America go back farther and deeper than anyone has heretofore imagined.

"Many modern-day Americans argue that the foundation of this country was laid in bedrock by our Christian forefathers.

"Others see the true progenitors of our race in our native Indians, whose trail stretches back twelve or thirteen thousand years, when they crossed over to present day Alaska from Siberia, and slowly moved down an opening in glaciers to reach present day America.

"Even then the truth about our founding past has not been uncovered.

"In the January 1944 issue of the Dial magazine, the publication of the New England Transcendentalist Club, Thoreau introduced a translation of the 'Parable of the Medicinal Herbs' chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the core and heart of all the Buddhist teachings.

"This introduction went mostly unnoticed, but it was a moment of deep significance."

The author goes on:

"This is the depth of Time from which this land of America has begun to emerge.  This is the source and shape of a continent never before seen.  This is the founding smithy of this mystic land."

This book goes on, in poetic prose, to argue that Buddhism is a religion that can serve as the great spiritual foundation of an America and a Dream of America that up until now has not been given its fullest expression.  This is an America that is at the core of a great new emerging global civilization.

James Hilgendorf''s books are available through bookstores, and online in paperback or ebook format through Amazon.com and through the publisher, The Tribute Series, at:
http://www.tributeseries.com/books2.html.

The blog, "Buddhism and the Dream of America" can be seen at:
http://www.buddhism-and-the-american-dream.com

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The Tribute Series is the producer of a series of highly-acclaimed travel videos. The company also produces corporate videos for domestic and international sales. The company also publishes the book of James Hilgendorf. The Tribute Series website is at:
http://www.tributeseries.com.