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| To the Buddha from the west: The book The Teachings of the Buddha are essentially a way of living with no room for beliefs, ceremonies, rewarding heavens or punishing hells. Buddhism is a religion; the Teachings are not. If Buddhism did not exist, a Buddhist would be somebody who practiced the Teachings, like a violinist is one who plays the violin and a pianist, one who plays the piano. If there is no “violinism” or “pianism”, semantically speaking there should not be "Buddhism". As good violinists or pianists, authentic Buddhists do not need to believe in metaphysical hypotheses or strange rituals; they only need to practice something. If they practice seldom, results are poor. If they practice a lot, progress is remarkable. If they practice permanently, they become virtuosos. Similarly, as musicians should abide by musical theory, Buddhists should act in accordance with the Natural Order. The Natural Order refers to those aspects of nature and experience that relate to the instructions on how to live. (Eastern languages use one single language for bothTeachings and Natural Order.) To the Buddha from the West is a rational westernized presentation of the Buddha's Teachings. Furthermore, as the result of a careful research project, the author explains the reasons why the Teachings are a way of living (not a religion) and examines them with the inquisitive microscope of contemporary thought and the most recent findings of neurology and cognitive sciences. To the Buddha from the west: The author
Gustavo Estrada graduated in chemical engineering at the National University of Bogota (Colombia) and the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden). He has worked as director and consultant of information technology projects for many years. Besides his professional interests, he has also been a serious student of Eastern philosophy and evolutionary sciences and has practiced both meditation and yoga for more for three decades. Although he has participated in dozens of seminars and retreats, Gustavo Estrada’s resume lacks some attributes that are common in the credentials of Eastern scholars: he is not affiliated to any Buddhist tradition, does not have a spiritual teacher or master, has not been secluded in any monastery, has not been re-baptised with a different name in any of the Buddhist sacred languages, has never been in Asia. Rather than harming his qualifications, these shortfalls do provide independence to the author’s efforts to take away from the Buddha’s Teachings the mysticism, myth and mystery that normally surround them. As La riqueza de la información (The wealth of information), Gustavo Estrada’s first book, To the Buddha from the west is also a management book. While the former was intended to reducing inefficiencies in business management processes, the latter aims at reducing suffering and stress in individual management matters. Gustavo lives with his wife in Atlanta, Georgia, since year 2000.
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