Why Lazarus Laughed: The Essential Doctrine

by Wei Wu Wei

Why Lazarus Laughed explicates the essential doctrine shared by the traditions of Zen Buddhism, Advaita, and Tantra. Wei Wu Wei has become an underground spiritual favorite whose fans anxiously await each reissued book.

Genres: Philosophy, Buddhism, Zen, Nonfiction

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Terence James Stannus Gray was a theatre producer who created the Cambridge Festival Theatre as an experimental theatre in Cambridge. He produced over 100 plays there between 1926 and 1933. Later in life, under the pen name Wei Wu Wei, he published several books on Taoist philosophy.

Reviews

[Audrey Greathouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a lot like milkshake in that it was thick, rich, and I loved it. I'm really glad I had some background on non-dualism, and I would not recommend even picking it up until you've read through some of the source texts it draws on, like the Tao te Ching. Non-dualism runs counter to everything I have ever learned in order to function practically in a physical world, but it is wonderful food for thought and I think there is value in it. While the idea that there is only one universal consciousness and no individual "egos" within it is pretty dang far out, I feel like anything that truly captures the nature of human thought would HAVE to be far out. As long as you don't confuse it for physics and science, metaphysics and pseudo-science have a lot of interesting thoughts worth exploring. This was a great book because it took very foreign Eastern concepts and put them through the filter of a twentieth-century Westerner, which made it a little easier for me to understand, culturally and stylistically. I look forward to diving deeper into primary sources after reading this introduction.

[Philo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gem. I would consider it essential Advaita reading and intend to reread this again and again. It is deep wisdom and well worth the effort to take in what is being pointed to.
Wei Wu Wei has lifted me up on his shoulders so I can get a glimpse of what he is able to perceive. And I am so grateful for this gift.

[Pat Wendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's quite difficult to review a book like this... Like all of WwW's work his arguments are clearer when he uses less words, and somewhat contrived when he's doing long form exposition. The theory ranges from simple and inspired to mechanical and contrived. Despite this, he's still WwW and still the best writer on modern spiritual no-mind/all-is, and all his work deserves 5 stars.

[Hal Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could read again.