5 Responses to “Snowboarding to Nirvana: A Novel”

1. louis smith says:

   December 16, 2009 at 10:29 pm

   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: 3 / 5
2. N. S. Beltran says:

   December 16, 2009 at 11:37 pm

   I found the book to be ok.

   Ok read!
   
   I’ve read Paulo Coelho and Robert Pirsig

   and Carlos Castaneda.

   This is an ok read for people who want

   to feed this person’s ego!

   You’re better off reading

   The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho!

   I will read another book, I wasted my cash on

   this one. Anyone want to buy my copy!

   I’m not impressed by people who think

   too much! He thought too much and ingested

   a lot because he was afraid to LOVE.
   
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. Jane says:

   December 17, 2009 at 2:20 am

   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: 1 / 5
4. Anonymous says:

   December 17, 2009 at 3:10 am

   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: 2 / 5
5. Free Schmevil says:

   December 17, 2009 at 4:16 am

   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: 1 / 5