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remote from the final production of the inferential belief (that there is a fire on thehill) for its falsity to infect the latter. Whatever the details may be, the fact doesseem to be that Gan˙ges´a’s theoretical precommitments lead him to an extremelycounterintuitive stance with respect to the ba¯spa¯numa¯na. Certainly, he appears to lack anything like Mandanamis´ra’s elaborate philosophical defense of the epistemo- There is much more of value in Saha’s book on which I have not the space here to comment. The two essays reprinted from 1986 are, perhaps, the most rewarding,but several others reinforce the main thesis that in the work of the earlier Nya¯ya andVais´esika thinkers there are to be found ideas of philosophical importance lost sight of by the later tradition. The greatest drawback of the book is the almost completeabsence of diacritics, and some further editing to eliminate repetition across chapterswould have improved its readability. Otherwise, with this volume Saha has certainlymade a valuable contribution to active ongoing explorations into the character anddevelopment of Indian epistemology.3 1 – See Jonardon Ganeri, The Concealed Art of the Soul: On Truth, Concealment and the Self in Indian Ethics and Epistemology (Oxford: Clarendon Press, July 2007), chapter 5.
3 – For which, see, for example, the Introduction to Stephen H. Phillips and N. S. Ramanuja Tatacharya, Epistemology of Perception: Gan˙ges´a’s Tattvacintamani Jewel of Reflectionon the Truth (About Epistemology), The Perception Chapter (New York: American Instituteof Buddhist Studies, 2004).
White Collar Zen: Using Zen Principles to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve YourCareer Goals. By Steven Heine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp.
ix þ 198.
Reviewed by Carol S. Gould Florida Atlantic University In these days of corporate corruption, downsizing, and outsourcing, not to mentionthe continuous cutbacks in the Academy, it is no surprise that people are open tounconventional ways of looking at life and work. Several years ago, Epicurus be-came a best-selling author in Italy, and more recently we have seen philosophicalapproaches from authors such as Alain de Botton (Consolations of Philosophy), LouMarinoff (Plato, Not Prozac), and Tom Morris (If Aristotle Ran General Motors), toname a few. Steven Heine’s White Collar Zen: Using Zen Principles to OvercomeObstacles and Achieve Your Career Goals applies as well to the academic as to thecorporate workplace.
Heine has written White Collar Zen from the standpoint of a scholar of Bud- dhism and a professional academic administrator. That he has been extremely suc- Philosophy East & West Volume 57, Number 1 January 2007 123–126 > 2007 by University of Hawai‘i Press cessful at both should make one take a serious look at this book. Given the indiffer-ence of both institutions and the natural world to human suffering (think of Enronand Hurricane Katrina), we all need survival skills, and Heine shows us how wecan acquire them in our professional lives by applying Zen philosophy. While hisexpressed purpose is not to illuminate the subtleties of Zen, the attentive nonspe-cialist reader can glean much about the tradition nonetheless and, like the Zen spe-cialist, find new paths for navigating around the foxholes in organizations.
Zen, as Heine points out, infiltrated American culture over one hundred years ago and has made its way into subcultures beyond the American-Japanese, for ex-ample the worlds of psychotherapy, the arts, medicine, and even some of the moreliberal branches of Judaism and Christianity. In case a novice feels unprepared to useZen for success, Heine points out that Zen has great flexibility, that it is not ortho-doxy. ‘‘Discover your own way . . . of ‘being Zen,’’’ he tells us (p. 10).
While it might seem clear that Zen could foster creativity, introspection, and self- understanding, the philosophical reader might raise two questions about using Zento achieve worldly power. First, how can Zen, with its well-known requirement forperiods of solitude, be a guide in the workplace? Second, is this endeavor consistentwith the Zen principles that the ego is a mirage and that desires are fruitless? Heine does not explicitly address these matters as problems, but the reader will find them resolved by the end of the book. Do not be deceived by his informal toneor his hip references to the likes of Bob Dylan. The logic of this book is carefullymapped out. As for the first issue, Heine demonstrates that the sort of isolation pre-scribed by Zen makes us more fit for organizational life. With regard to the second,human life, according to Zen, is a series of constantly vanishing moments. Success issimply survival and gaining the ability to be in each moment fully. The Zen philoso-phy, like the Heraclitean, does not shy away from the inconsistencies to which re-flection leads us. Thus, Zen does not require that we resolve the tension between thetwin needs for solitude and life with others. White Collar Zen is a guide to acceptingthis fact without anxiety.
The self, according to Zen, is not an atomic individual, but something constantly in flux and part of a whole. Everything is Buddha nature, and meditation is the wayto discover it. The Unmoving Mind is the state within each of us that can transcendthe perspective of our own desires, peculiarities, interests, and ego. To look at eventsfrom the standpoint of the Unmoving Mind is to look at them from a higher perspec-tive. It gives one tremendous freedom to choose wisely, because this cleanses theself of petty resentments. When a conflict can be resolved in a way that benefits ev-eryone, each individual will benefit. When one is glued to one’s own vantage point,it is difficult to want to act for the benefit of others, and it is almost impossible todevelop an effective strategy, because that requires an imaginative projection intothe vantage point of the other parties involved.
In order to achieve this, Heine explains, we must take inspiration from two Asian archetypes: the Hermit and the Warrior. Human life requires that we interact withothers, often with people whose interests oppose ours. It might seem impossible tolive fully in the present moment when one has to watch one’s back. As Heine emphasizes, one cannot find one’s own Buddha nature until one has been a Hermit.
To be a Hermit, however, does not mean to withdraw from society; rather, it is amental attitude that most people are capable of assuming—and many do, even ifunknowingly. It involves concentrating fully, withdrawing mentally in order to sizeup a situation without investing one’s ego or emotions. The Hermit can be in thethick of things, work with others, and alter the course of events. In a contentiousmeeting, for example, you can be a Hermit while defending an unpopular proposal.
You need not skip the meeting to be a Hermit. Heine selects an ancient Chinese say-ing that encapsulates this: ‘‘Small hermits conceal themselves in hills and thickets,great hermits conceal themselves in palaces and towns.’’ Taking stock and planning your strategy are not sufficient, for you must also em- body the Warrior. The Warrior, whose identity is tied to a group or a cause, headsinto the fray with confidence and without hesitation. Heine shows us that the War-rior, like the Hermit, must have perseverance, discipline, and concentration. TheWarrior must be a Hermit to survive, and the Hermit who is not a Warrior lives asterile life. The Warrior hones her skills through concentrated, solitary effort, just asa musician must devote much effort to practicing her instrument before performingin an ensemble. The Hermit and the Warrior, then, are not opposed, but rather twodifferent ways of Being in the World.
What is the Warrior battling, and from what does the Hermit retreat? In Japanese folklore, the usual enemy is a fox, the symbol of the cunning trickster, the cleverspeaker, the sophist, the illusionist, the femme fatale, the enchanter, and the dan-gerous charmer. Foxes can spin illusions for good or for ill, or simply for perverseenjoyment. Those conversant with the Greek tradition will recognize the fox insuch characters as Medea, Circe, Odysseus, Hephaestus, and Socrates.
How do you know when the helpful colleague or enthusiastic collaborator has sabotaged your efforts while appearing to be supportive? How do you know whenthe colleague who seems to be undermining you is actually working on your behalf?So pervasive is this insecurity, and so justifiable, that Heine has titled a chapter ‘‘Ev-eryone Must Get Foxed.’’ The key to enlightenment in the workplace is the discoverythat people are not what they seem, or, as Heine puts it, ‘‘mountains are not moun-tains.’’ The Unmoving Mind, which affords us an impartial look at situations, is es-sential for detecting the foxes in our midst.
As Heine tell us, only a fox can truly detect a fox, but to detect a fox requires Buddha-like vision. Thus, a Buddha is fox-like. Only by ‘‘standing outside’’ yourselfand seeing your own vulnerabilities can you detect a fox. Heine, apparently speak-ing from the experience of both, leads us to the Zen insight that narcissism is thegreatest impediment to gaining clarity on our surroundings. Narcissism makes usfocus on small situations and fail to see the larger picture. Heine presents a systemin chapters 5 and 6 designed as a corrective to this myopia.
This method, EPA—or Elevate, Purify, and Activate—‘‘balances’’ the Hermit’s elevated, disinterested perspective with the Warrior’s alert readiness to move or acti-vate. From an epistemological standpoint, this involves the Hermit’s balanced focuson universals and the Warrior’s attention to particulars. From this synthesis an intu- itive awareness supervenes, akin to poetic insight. As Heine more colloquiallyexpresses it in the title of chapter 5, it is ‘‘Seeing the Forest, but Not Missing theTrees.’’ He goes on to show how one can employ this adage to resolve conflicts, tosettle crises, to turn defeat to one’s advantage, and to develop powers of diplomacy.
Throughout this book, Heine balances recondite allusions to Eastern philosophy with frequent references to sports, jazz, films, and Bob Dylan lyrics. Though it is dif-ficult to make this work, Heine does. Especially persuasive is Heine’s portrayal ofPhil Jackson, the legendary professional basketball coach. Jackson, combining thebest of the Hermit and the Warrior, has a mental agility that allows him to create com-plex strategies and to coax cooperation out of incongruent and difficult personalities.
Philosophers in the Western tradition may find it interesting to see how the con- cerns of Zen address their own concerns, albeit in a different idiom. Even if one dis-agrees with the tenets of Zen Buddhism about, say, the subversive quality of all emo-tions, the futility of desire, or the inconsistency of reality, it is hard to disagree thatZen has tremendous adaptive value in the workplace. In fact, in its practical advice,White Collar Zen sounds much like Plato’s guide to the good life. Plato’s philosophy,however, is rationalistic, non-holistic, and absolute in its commitment to the realityof time, identity, and the impossibility of contradiction. That it is non-Zen at its philo-sophical core is an irony that would not be wasted on Heine’s Senpai.
Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Enquiry: Doctrine in MadhvaVedanta. By Deepak Sarma. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. Pp.
xiii þ 101.
Reviewed by Christopher Bartley Liverpool University Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Enquiry: Doctrine in MadhvaVedanta, by Deepak Sarma, purports to discuss the possibility of philosophicalevaluation of a tradition of thought and practice, in this case the Dvaita school ofVeda¯nta to which the author belongs, that upholds a ‘‘strict insider epistemology.’’(Although the work bears the subtitle ‘‘Doctrine in Madhva Vedanta,’’ for informa-tion about beliefs and epistemology the reader would be better advised to consultDeepak Sarma’s An Introduction to Madhva Vedanta [Ashgate, 2003].) The present reviewer is not privy to the ‘‘insider-outsider debate’’ apparently cur- rent in some centers of Religious Studies, and I state at the outset that I cannot seewhat all the fuss is about. If one is not a member of a private club, one probablydoesn’t care about what goes on within its walls. If a tradition is closed to nonmem-bers, successfully concealing its beliefs and practices (in the manner of some ver-sions of Freemasonry), that’s the end of the matter. If texts are really not accessible(p. 6), the activities that the philosopher can pursue are not just ‘‘severely restricted’’!If what a tradition involves is public (even allowing for esoteric elements revealedonly to initiates and for rituals of restricted participation), there are still ‘‘outsiders,’’but they are not debarred from appreciation, discussion, and critical philosophical Philosophy East & West Volume 57, Number 1 January 2007 126–128> 2007 by University of Hawai‘i Press

Source: http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-AN/an147464.pdf