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5 comments about Buddha.

1. This book of beautifully presented Buddha images captures the true ambience that surrounds the temples.



2. This book is so delightful. The photographs from all over the Bhuddist world will inspire and calm you.
   
   The printing is great, and it will look great on your bookshelf or coffee table.
   
   Everyone who comes over our house gravitates right to this wonderful book.
   
   Do not hesitate to add this to your Eastern collection. You will not regret it.



3. The Buddha's message sends shivers down ancient spines, moving them towards a vast creativity spanning thousands of years. The supreme manifestations of that spiritual inspiration, statues and temples, found in sometimes remote parts of Asia, are energetically accessed and photographed with consummate skill, an unerring eye, and understanding. Glowing with a radiant cover, this is a compelling invitation to contemplate the spiritual essence within...the beating heart of Buddhism, speaking to our desire for a more compassionate and reverent existence. Can you tell I am quite taken with this beautiful chunk of a book? Whether or not you think of yourself as a Buddhist, a seeker, or even a spiritual person, you have to admire these incredible images and the spirit that infuses them.



4. Like a precious stone. This book is small while its value is great. I suspect they made it that size to keep it very affordable and portable. After the first time I thumbed through it I already had a list of friends that I knew would love to have it. The translations of the verses from the Dhammapada are stunning. The wisdom deep and simple. One need not be Buddhist to feel the depth and draw from the wisdom.

   But the real luster and light that make up the "facets" of this particular precious stone are the photographs of the Buddhas and Buddhists. The lengths that Ortner must have gone to, the rareness of the images (many of the Buddhas in this book are in places where very few outsiders are allowed to go and in places very difficult to get to) are a tribute--an offering if you will--to his own devotion toward achieving and sharing the incredible beauty he seems so greatly drawn to.

   It is our good fortune that this book, filled with radiance and simplicity, is so affordable. Like the gift of prayer flags, both giver and receiver will feel blessed.




5. In offering this window into a sacred world, Ortner has done a dharma - a service or duty - for us all.

   Each image is unique and yet over the course of this extraordinary, visionary book one distills out a basic, fundamental Buddha. While most of the Buddhas are pristine - others are ancient and untended - and yet every one of these extraordinary, resonant images of a living god is unique and at the very pinnacle of Himalayan sacred art. Coupled with the perfectly matched sacred writings, the effect is more direct and more spiritual - more transformative - than other books on Asia and Buddhism. Certainly, texts on the Buddha come nowhere near the presence and deep connection created by the Ortner book.

   Some of the locations are recognizable to anyone who has traveled in Asia, but many remote, little-known shrines are included - such as Kakku, Po Win Daung Caves and Kyaiktiyo in Myanmar, Pak Ou Caves in Laos, and Beng Mealea in Cambodia. Only a lucky few who have journeyed to these sacred places can understand the difficulties that Ortner must have faced and overcome, as well as the years of research and personal exploration necessary to understand the meaning of these historically- and spiritually-charged sites.

   The production values in this book match its sacred subject and Ortner's crystal-clear, brilliant color images. This art-object book is beautifully designed in an orange satin cover (the saffron of a monk's robe) featuring a gold-stamped lotus, the symbol of Buddhist purity. The company chosen to reproduce these superb color photographs, Toppan, as evidenced by the exquisite clarity and color fidelity, is yet another sign of the top-to-bottom care taken with this gem. Also worthy of note are the spare, uncluttered translations of the Dhammapada by Oxford scholar, Thomas Byrom, offering the wisdom of the Buddha, in his own words, without the usual religious dogma that gets between the reader and the Buddha's actual message.

   This book was clearly meant to be a precious object: small enough to be held in your hands, it is the very personal photographic expression of what shines through as Ortner's own quest: the artistic expression of spiritual wisdom through his extraordinary images. This volume succeeds beautifully, perfectly, on all its levels and is a true contribution to our cultural, personal and spiritual development. Most highly recommended - a beautiful, jewel of a book.

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