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Summary: Application of Buddhism to Business!
Review: Diamond Cutter by Michael Roach is a very, very interesting business book. Interesting insights about buddhism as applied in the world of business specifically the diamond business. I really enjoyed his fresh approach to using a unique philosophy and fascinating techniques to dealing with people, situations, and business objectives. His website is also a fascinating place to visit. The book is a very good primer to buddhism and HOW to apply centuries old strategies, and concepts to everyday business life and personal life. Create clean and pure thoughts to regenerate a better business and learn how to expand your life with something ancient.
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Summary: A book that changed my business
Review: For all the "suits" out there: You've tried every business fad from empowerment to micromanagement; why not try something with a real track record?As a busy manager, the book suited me perfectly. Geshe Roach gives you the no mumbo jumbo, how to test Buddhism in the work place guide. Most people who have studied Buddhism as deeply as Roach can't explain it well and especially to a business person. No such problems here. The book demonstrates his knowledge of real-life business situations enough to make him convincing for sceptical business people and explains only the salient points of Buddhist practice.
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Summary: The Real Thing
Review: I first have to say that I did not buy this so much for the business angle--I'm more just on the lookout for any new Buddhist material I can find. This is probably the freshest book in the realm of "American Buddhism" that I've read in the last year. I hadn't heard of Roach before, but I now feel that he truly is one of the most important Buddhist teachers in the U.S. today. (If you haven't already seen it you should look at the interview Amazon did with him.) The writing in Diamond Cutter isn't always so great, but Roach has a superior talent for explaining elements of Tibetan Buddhism in a way that is light years ahead of many other books out there in terms of accessibility. Perhaps that's because he is American born, so he really knows how to communicate with his contemporaries, but even beyond that he appears to have a great mind. This isn't great as a Buddhist primer, but if you are at all familiar with Buddhism you'll probably get some real insights out of this one.
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Summary: Blood Diamonds
Review: I found this book to be very disturbing on at least two levels. First, I found myself repeatedly cringing as the principles of buddhism were described as tools to get lots of money rolling into one's life. On that level, this book struck me as just one of many "ancient secrets of the (buddha, bible, torah, koran, etc) can make you rich!" type books. Inevitably conflicts arise between the demands of business and religious principles which, in some cases, the author either glossed over or ignored altogether, as if he almost didn't see the contradiction. For instance, early on he describes how his diamond business ran some sort of telephone or electric wire between two buildings, something that he cheerfully acknowledged was illegal. I don't know if we were supposed to find this cute or creative or what, but for me it raised a number of issues about one's committment to buddhist precepts versus one's committment to making a profit. Is it ok for anyone to break the law in order to promote their profits? Which laws are ok to break? How about all those pesky govt. environmental regulations - can those be overlooked too? The point is, I can think of lots of people (people who own oil tankers, run coal mines, etc.) who think of lots of laws as being trivial, annoying, unimportant, etc. What are they supposed to take away from a lesson like this? Obey the law if you feel like it? I don't think this is a trivial point - I think it gets right at the heart of how one can be a truly committed buddhist in the world of business. The other level on which I found this book to be somewhat disconcerting involved the more cognitive types of discussions. The author spends a great deal of time talking about "imprints" on the mind, karmic impressions derived from one's actions and behaviors. I certainly acknowledge the importance and ubiquity of karma, and strongly believe that one's experience and much of what happens to one in life is a direct result of one's own past actions. However, I don't agree with the author's contention that these imprints actually determine the nature of one's reality as in "behaving honestly will make those around you honest." While I think it is likely that such behavior will promote greater honesty in one's closest colleagues and daily partners, I doubt it would have much of any impact on other, more infrequent acquaintances in the business world. This author is obviously a highly trained and knowledgable buddhist. He is also obviously a successful business person. However, I think this book misses the mark and makes it all seem somehow very easy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working hard to make a profit for one's business, and of course there is certainly nothing wrong with being a buddhist. However, these two "practices" will lead to occasional conflicts - the example of breaking the odd little law discussed above being one.
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Summary: A Splendid Read for Buddhists and Non-Buddhists.
Review: I had never heard of Michael Roach until I searched out Shoutcast (Internet Radio) and found the Tibetan Buddhist station. Being of that tradition, I was delighted to find the station. The program that was on at that time was Dharma talks by Michael on The Heart Sutra, a most important Buddhist teaching. I was so taken with his messages and the way he could get these deep ideas across so easily that I wanted to learn more about him. That's when I discovered that he had a new book out, The Diamond Cutter. So I bought a copy at Amazon. Michael spent many years in the New York Diamond industry. He explains that he was attracted to diamonds because they are the hardest form in the universe. This book is about business. It is about the problems that we all encounter in business daily. And it tells us how to handle the problem and why every problem has a cause, perhaps not in this lifetime but in some lifetime. Michael clearly explains why some people who are greedy and unkind are successful. No, it's nothing they've done in this life but rather they did something of merit in another life that brought the wealth in this lifetime. But in another lifetime they will reap the Karma they're now sowing. He tells us that if we wish to be wealthy, we need to be generous with our money and our time. Michael uses his vast knowledge of the diamond industry to teach business ethics from a Buddhist perspective based on the all-important teaching of Lord Buddha in His Diamond Cutter (Vajrachchedika sutra). I highly recommend this wonderful book to anyone who cares about their business, their relationships, their finances and their life in general.
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Summary: High-Volume Hype
Review: I have followed Geshe Michael Roach's career as a scholar, monk and a businessman from their beginnings, and I have great respect for what he has done in these fields. But as books go, I found "The Diamond Cutter" to be, in the final analysis, just another humdrum example of the "cultivate your inner life and get rich" genre. (Deepak Chopra, watch out! There's a new kid on the block!) As Roach's own comments on Amazon.com remind us, "The Diamond Cutter" will not contribute to his personal wealth, but rather that of the Tibetan charities he supports, so in this respect there is not necessarily any reason to fault Roach's motives. But the writer's motives, good or ill, are irrelevant here. The relevant question is, is "The Diamond Cutter" a book worth reading or not? On the postive side, I can say that the stories of how Michael entered the diamond jewelry business and succeeded might be entertaining and even useful, especially for anyone spiritually inclined who also likes to do business. On the other hand, Roach's analysis of the Diamond Sutra, and his attempts to relate the teachings of that sutra to business, seem to me overly simplistic. I grant that the perfection of wisdom -- the union form and emptiness -- must have something to do with business, because, after all, wisdom has something to do with *everything*, right? But if the Diamond Cutter contains such a special message for successful business, why didn't anyone discover that until now? Either the author has made a discovery of something that 2,500 years of skilled Buddhist commentators have failed to see until now, or he is reading something into the Diamond Sutra that has nothing to do with what the Diamond Sutra is actually teaching. You be the judge. Now someone -- like Michael Roach himself -- would probably fault me for having an impoverished vision of what the Perfection of Wisdom is all about. The meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom does not exclude form in favor of emptiness, so why should it exclude secular pursuits like business in favor of a sacred pursuit like Buddhist Wisdom? To this I would say, then, why shouldn't one interpret the Diamond Sutra as treatise on lovemaking? Certainly the "Form and Emptiness" motif has informed sexual themes in the Buddhist Tantras -- so why not interpret the Diamond Sutra as a treatise on Tantric sex? If he had a mind to do so, an expert lover and Buddhist philosopher, like the late Tibetan scholar Gendun Chopel, would have no trouble explaining his sexual prowess in terms of the Diamond Sutra. I suspect that Roach would find such an interpretation distasteful. But as interpretations go, a sexological twisting of the Diamond Sutra would be no more or less implausible than Roach's own (mis)appropriation of it. So while "The Diamond Cutter" has everything to do with Michael Roach's experience as a businessman, it really has little to do with the Diamond Sutra, except insofar as he is using that text as a way of justifying his hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, speak-no-evil approach to making lots of money. This is not to imply an unfavorable judgement what the author actually does with his money -- to all appearances Roach has done much good with it. However, I think that to use a Buddhist scripture, the venerable Diamond Sutra -- which has patently little to do with mundane matters like business -- as a way of teaching business, is highly questionable. Why not just teach business practice outright, and slip Dharma in through the back door? Instead, Roach has tried to fit the square peg of business into the round hole of a Sutra. This kind of manipulation of a sacred text seems perverse, especially for a monk-scholar of Michael Roach's aptitude.
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Summary: A book that changed my business
Review: I run a small business for more than 10 years now and have my share of ups and downs, from facing near bankruptcy to hitting big contracts. But whatever the outcome, I am always short of money and I am constantly struggling to make ends meet. That is, until I read this book. It has changed my business. I now find money flowing in without me chasing after it and I work less than before. To all of you out there who are struggling in business or in your personal life, buy this book and follow the principles. They work and they will make you a better person.
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Summary: Got through my thick skull what nothing else hasn't!
Review: I'm not Buddhist, but after reading Michael Roach's book, "The Diamond Cutter", I'm devouring everything about Tibetan Buddhism I can get my hot little hands on! I've searched 52 years for the meaning of this insanity we call life in hundreds of books, tapes, seminars, Martial Arts, a Trappist Monastery, and one on one studying with people who meant well; but Michael Roach explained it all--at least to me--logically and better than anyone ever has! Screw the writing style! That's only someone's opinion anyway. Geshe Roach tells it like it is, and does so in a humble way. Hell, check out any of the organizations the author has created or is involved in. These people spread their message of compassion for free! That's certainly a new one on me! It's my humble opinion that Michael Roach indeed "walks the walk". Sincere people like that are hard to find here in the good old Y2K USA! Like Roach (and the Buddha himself) said: "Try it and see if it works for you." It's sure working so far for me--very well! Well, I very much hope that it works even weller, er, sorry, I mean better, for you! By the way, I sought out the book for my personal and spiritual growth more than the business angle. Interestingly enough, I'm more comfortable about my business dealings now which, oddly enough, have taken a decided turn for the better. Stew Wilkins
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Summary: Affirms the power of sincere generousity
Review: My best friend sent me this book and I am so grateful that she did! The Diamond Cutter affirms, in matter of fact way, the power of integrity, generosity and positive thinking as proved throughout history. You can be of any belief system including no belief system to gain insight from this book. The author provides a case study, for human behavior, based on his experiences in the Diamond business. I applied many of the work specific examples including how to handle someone yelling at you! 'Any work has honor if it's honest work and it's OK to make money so long as you are not stingy;' I needed to hear this! You can apply one or two or all of these ideas gradually or all at once into your daily living but at least read and decide how you can make peace. It is not easy to live out these concepts but hey, we can at least try. As each of us takes full and active ownership for our value system, we will change the world!
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Summary: A Gem
Review: This book presents many insights on parts of the Diamond Sutra. (The "Diamond Cutter" name is interestingly new to me, as I have been only familiar with the shorter "Diamond" and the longer "Diamond That Cuts Through Delusions".) The author's interpretations are refreshing, even without the context of business challenges, of which his diamond venture serves as a unique background. It is rare to have aspects of the Dharma presented by a young, life-engaging monk, and an American to boost. In particular, the notion of "mental imprints" is deeply important with respect to how one perceives and constructs the world. As a bonus, I learn a few things about diamond, diamond cutting, and the diamond trade. Unlike another reviewer, I am supportive of Geshe Roach in his presenting the Diamond Sutra through the particular form of this book -- a manifestation of what Buddhist tradition calls "skillful means". About the 4 stars: I wish the writing could be tightened up in various places. (But then again, this subjective observation of mine may be the effects of imprints left by my earlier writing courses.)
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