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Sensual Relations: Engaging the Senses in Culture and Social Theory

more extensive than this. Those concerned with Orientalist depictions of “Eastern” society would learn much regarding how to address the limitations of such work. Philosophers not acquainted with Tibetan Buddhist philosophy would likewise be drawn into the work. On another level, ethnographers from any discipline would be interested in how Liberman weds ethnographic description, detailed transcripts, and videotaped material in an analysis. Serving a number of audiences, some of which are highly specialized, means that the content of the book (especially areas in which the content of Tibetan philosophical thought is discussed) can be hard to access. This is part of the point of the approach utilized by the author. Rather than bending the phenomenon to the reader, the reader, to really understand the phenomenon, needs to immerse his or herself in the phenomenon. Reducing the phenomenon so that people understand would in essence lose it. However, even if one does not wish to devote one’s life in the way that the author has to the topic, there is still much to gain from the book. The entirety of the work is best summarized by Liberman when he asserts, “So long as we reduce other to objects, we will never witness their truth” (p.12). Rather than focusing on idealized formulations of what would constitute legitimate practice, Liberman tells readers that we need to examine the practices themselves, and allow our understanding of the phenomenon to emerge from them rather than being imposing categories on them. This is perhaps the most important message in the book. To better understand that which we are studying, we must not be afraid to take the time necessary to get close to it.