summary of Deleuze and Buddhism by Tony See and Jeff Bradley:

Tony See and Jeff Bradley’s Deleuze and Buddhism is an ambitious and insightful comparative study that brings together the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze with Buddhist thought, showing how the two traditions, despite their very different origins, intersect around themes of becoming, impermanence, and liberation from fixed identities. The book explores how Deleuze’s metaphysics of difference, multiplicity, and process resonates with Buddhist teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā), non-self (anātman), and the interdependent nature of reality. Rather than treating Buddhism merely as a spiritual system or Deleuze as an abstract philosopher, the authors examine both as living traditions of thought that critique essentialism, challenge rigid hierarchies, and open spaces for new ways of thinking, living, and relating. They argue that just as Buddhism seeks freedom from attachment and suffering through insight into the impermanent and conditioned nature of existence, Deleuze provides a philosophical framework for understanding life as flows, assemblages, and transformations that resist being captured by fixed categories. The book highlights parallels between concepts such as Deleuze’s “rhizome” and Buddhist interdependence, his idea of “becoming” and Buddhist impermanence, as well as the transformative practices both traditions encourage for breaking free of systems of control—whether mental, social, or political. At the same time, See and Bradley do not collapse the two traditions but carefully note their differences, using them to generate a richer dialogue about ontology, ethics, and the possibilities of human freedom. Deleuze and Buddhism thus stands as both a philosophical bridge and a creative meditation, offering readers new ways of seeing how Western continental philosophy and Eastern spiritual practice can inform and expand one another, pointing toward a life oriented around openness, change, and compassion.