Though the scope of Buddhism as used in this book is bounded it is nonetheless a deep and thorough treatment of the philosophical tenets and assumptions of Buddhism. To his credit, and to the greater clarity of the book, Wright admits candidly that he doesn't actually call himself a Buddhist because there are so many aspects of the tradition that he hasn't adopted. The title signals Wright's answer readily enough and his preface makes it clear: 'Buddhism's diagnosis of the human predicament is fundamentally correct, and.its prescription is deeply valid and urgently important.' But, it's a very specific kind of Buddhism that he has in view, namely the philosophical secular Buddhism that has came into vogue in the West in the second half of the last century.

The world's major religious traditions undertook this reflective work centuries before the many gifts of science and technology could join the conversation and it raises a powerful question: In light of what science and technology tell us about ourselves, can it be said in any meaningful way that one of these religious traditions has a better understanding of our predicament than others? Is there a religious tradition that has a more effective answer to our problem? On that admittedly pragmatic definition of 'true,' Robert Wright, bestselling author and professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York claims that the answer is yes. However differently they might identify the causes of that problem and however varied their prescribed courses of treatment, the world's religions speak with one voice about a deep restlessness at our core and an ever-present sense that something within us and among us isn't right.

What is easy to overlook is the extent to which the world's religious traditions are unified in finding a profound problem at the core of our humanity.

Each tradition takes a deep sense of 'how we are' as humans and outlines a path to something better, something that takes us beyond – that transcends – the condition that we find ourselves in. Religious traditions build on an assessment of the human condition.

Why buddhism is true