Snowboarding to Nirvana

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: After finishing this book I said outloud, "What a stupid book!" If indeed the author had these experiences, he could have elaborated so much more and changed the dialogue a bit. The dialogue is one of a "hey, dude...like da." He uses so many cliches and is extremely unoriginal. The only good parts were the exerpts he included from an enlightenment handbook...some good meditaion techniques. The rest of the book was ....

Rating:
Summary: controversial but enlightening
Review: After reading the first few pages of Snowboarding to Nirvana, I pledged to myself to only read it on the toilet. So I flipped through it as I sat and read various stages in the silly and predictable plot. My girlfriend and I would often read to each other delightfully amusing segments, laughing at the terrible prose which is the worst I've read since high school english. I was amazed at the writer's complete inability to tell a story. Take, for example, the first chapter. The book opens with an exciting snowboard run down a steep Himalian Mountain. Such a chapter could be bristling with description: the sting of the cold air on your face, the crush of snow under the board as the rider shifts weight from one edge to another. Instead, Lentz gives what amounts to a synopsis, a simple "I boarded down the hill," and his idea of a flourish: "It was good." This aparent laziness of writing continues with his simplifications of buddhist teachings and ridiculous dialogue, a good example being when the Narrator keeps asking Master Fwap questions such as "that's great, but can you give me an example that fits into my own experiences?" Who really says that? Nobody. Trendy allusions to "extreme" sports and an outdated cover photo may be enough to sell it at the Wal Mart, but I though this book was good for little more than a few chuckles.

Rating:
Summary: Buddhist Revelations from the Snowboard...
Review: Of course I was going to buy ths book! I read the first release, Surfing the Himalayas, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. The first book explained meditation and mindfulness in a more clear and entertaining way than any other Buddhist or Eastern philosphy-type book I've ever read.The second go 'round of Frederick Lenz's intense adventures in the snow covered peaks of the world's largest snowboard park had me crazily wanting to go there myself. I started boarding after reading the first book, and it has effected my whole life - literally. The second volume of Tantric Buddhist knowledge and wisdom is a western Buddhists crown jewel! These days, people who practice self discovery need something different to re-inspire their journey to enlightenment. If you want a new slant on ancient Buddhist teachings, this is what you've been looking for. It's easy to say, but the messages were so clear that I'm literally a changed person because of them. If you read this, Thank you, Frederick Lenz! I love snowboarding, and I love your books! THANK YOU! I am eagerly awaiting your next epic.

Rating:
Summary: Dont' read this book - it might change your life!!
Review: Snowboarding to Nirvana is so exciting that I finished it in only 2 nights - I couldn't put it down. There are really cool spiritual lessons in this book that I will never forget. I've read plenty of books on Eastern philosophy and religion but this one is by far the most fun and inspiring. The meditation techniques explained in the book are great - they are easy to practice and they really work. My intuition is stronger, I feel I'm more energetic throughout the day, I'm happier and more optimistic, and negative feelings and anxieties don't stick around as much! On top of that, the book is full of many adventures and romantic encounters intertwined with some really cool tips on this awesome sport - snowboarding. After reading this book I had to give it a shot! For the women out there - you gotta try it! Read this book and get on the slopes. But beware - you'll get hooked!

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening, bright and fun!
Review: The story had it's interesting points, once you got around his snowboarder bravado. I hang out with snowboarders so I've already heard know how amazing you are, and how extreme you are, and how many girls you've scored with, and how gorgeous they all were and how many pushups you can do... I didn't need to read this book to hear another self-involved, conceited blowhard. And as far as the parts about snowboarding, either he is terrible at descriptive writing or doesn't have the first clue. Snowboarding seems to be one of those activites where the less someone talks about themselves the better they must be.

Beyond that I did like the book. Scholarly it was not, but interesting light reading it was. Although, pg. 134 was interesting, Master Fwap mentions how Westerners come for enlightenment, to which Buddhist monks tell them what they want to hear and brush them off. Sometimes these Westerners go back to teach and/or write books about Buddhism. Really...

Glad I read it, but I would recommend looking elsewhere to get a look into Buddhism.

Rating:
Summary: Book is great, author was dangerous
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read on Tantic Buddhism. In order to improve mentally you just need to simply meditate and see where it goes unstead of spending your money on book after book on how to improve your life. The strange thing is that the author killed himself in 1998 after it was discovered that he was running a semi-Jim Jones type cult and was responsible for a lot of mind control and sexual exploitation. It is strange that since, he was known to start of with good intentions in the 70's that such a good book came out as late as the ninties when he was in full swing with his cult. One would think that anything of quality would've came out before his ego got the best of him with the money homes and cars.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book, but misses the mark.
Review: When I read this book, I thought that I finally found a book that made sense out of buddhism. I was right, but it doesnt tell the full story. The book is about some guy who stumbled upon some enlightened masters who told him what buddhism was really like. What do I mean? Buddhism is a very profound religion. It deals with the causes of suffering and how to get out of it. However, there are contradictions with what Buddha taught and the way some people interpret his teachings. For instance, Buddha taught that Nirvana was within ourselves and that by gaining Nirvana one is free of suffering. If one has gained Nirvana one is free of death, illness, etc. yet we read of those who claim to have gained it... and die! This makes no sense. In this book, and regardless if it is fiction based on reality or not, we have some truth. The masters in this book do amazing things such as levitation, lighting up a mountain and so on. This is consistent with the infinite buddha nature that one has. Master Fwap gives a discourse that says there are many false taoist, buddhist and hindu yoga masters which makes sense. Many of these psuedo teachers and masters have no idea of what enlightenment is and cant even levitate a pencil, much less claim to have endless knowledge, power and freedom from suffering. At least in this book we have some outstanding teachings that are consistent with what Buddha taught. This in stark contrast to the mind numbing vaugeness of most buddhist books and magazines. However there are problems with the book, and this is why I dont give it five stars. The main problem is with Lenzs claim that master fwap and oracle attained Nirvana. According to an excellent book called the 'Questions of King Milinda' someone who has attained Nirvana has ALL his desires fulfilled. In other words he attains immortality, eternal youth, resides in heaven if he wishes, ad infinitum. Yet Master Fwap looks 70 years old. Now unless Master Fwaps nirvanic consciousness assumes the face and body of a 70 year old man, we can dismiss Lenzes claim here. Otherwise this and his previous book are truly great, and give an outstanding insight into this truly wondorous religion.

Rating:
Summary: Little snowboarding, less buddhism, no originality
Review: When I started reading this book, I was expecting snowboarding and mountaineering adventure stories, with a little Buddhist perspective thrown in. The author claims to have been snowboarding the Himalayas, but apparently he didn't even have basic avalanche testing gear with him: shovel, probe, clinometer, etc. The action scenes are basically "I was getting bored so I went snowboarding. When I returned..." Most of the book is dialogue between the author, two prankster gurus and various characters they meet on their wacky, unlikely trek through the Himalayas.

I was surprised at the descriptions of spiritual ideas and teachings. I was expecting Buddhism, but all the ideas seemed like generic new-age fluff, and had little to do with Buddhism aside from a lot of borrowed (and misused) terminology. Towards the end, it became apparent that the entire book is a rip-off of Carlos Castaneda's work. The supposed Tantric Buddhist monks even use terminology like the "second attention" that belongs exclusively to Castaneda, and perhaps to Yaqui Native American shamanism.

It seems to me the author copied the plot of a Carlos Castaneda book, put Buddhist names on two of the trickster gurus and most of the metaphysical ideas, and then threw in lots of uneducated blather about enlightenment. Even the grand finale, the mystical teleportation of the central characters, is stolen from Castaneda.

Aside from that, the writing is poor and the characters are flat. If you liked the new-age spirituality described in this book, go read Carlos Castaneda for a more authentic and thorough description of Yaqui shamanism. If you want Buddhism explained in a simple, entertaining way, go read "Hardcore Zen" by Brad Warner, or "Zen mind, Beginner's mind" by Shunryu Suzuki. If you're looking for snowboarding or mountain adventure books, look somewhere else. This book sucks!