Why is some of the best contemporary work on Indian religions authored by non-Indians? Is it because we are so mired in our prejudices and our condition, that we fail to develop a proper sense of perspective and therefore the objectivity required for correct analysis?  

Alfred Scheepers' overview of Buddhist thought ranging from its inception to its spread into the Far East, is easily one of the most comprehensive contemporary works on the subject And I say this despite the presence of  a host of hefty tomes on the subject lying on my desk. 

The book is written with a unique flair, a love of the subject, and although the author displays a tremendous scholarship for his material, his writing comes across as crisp and easy. Such is his masterly presentation that the entire ambit of Buddhism is dealt with within 300 pages and one never gets the feeling that the volume is only an overview.  

From Abhidharma to Hakuin, Scheepers explores, analyses and quotes with remarkable fidelity. He is careful not to impose his own values but considers the evidence with the eyes of a man seeking enlightenment. Take his treatment of the Zen contrast between prajna and vikalpa:  

"To see a thing as this particular thing, is from the outset seeing it under the limitation of a particular essence...Taking an apple is taking the whole world in the form of an apple...To see the apple in its original indetermination, one must inhibit the positing function of consciousness ....no mind. Then, after the sublating of all essences, reality (dharma) lights on.""