Rating: 
Summary: Subtle, hilarious, and clear
Review: Frederick Lenz has made Buddhism available to the West in "Surfing the Hymalayas" and "Snowboarding to Nirvana", through his graceful and humorous descriptions complex Buddhist concepts. He has shown that Buddhism is not some old, outdated religon based upon the esoteric writings of another culture and era, but it is alive today and ever-changing. "Surfing the Himalayas" does not conform to the standard image of Buddhism in many cases, but the standard image of Buddhism (like any religion) isn't necessarily the most accurate. Frederick Lenz has made the subject new and fresh and applicable to Westerners today. Be sure to check out the book on tape as well, read by the author.
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Summary: A recodification of High Buddhist Yoga for the Western Mind.
Review: Reader Beware: "Surfing the Himalayas" is about Buddhism and not about how Buddhist practice rose and fell in specific cultures -- everything is cyclic.True Buddhism, like Tao, is not defined by the culture, background, or proclivity of practitioners... nor by the beauty of a specific geographical region... rather, it exists perfectly outside of all definition and doctrine. The practitioner is always a vessel for the true practice. Buddhism, Tao, The Way (whatever we choose to call it), is accessible ALWAYS, by ANYONE through meditation. Dr. Lenz's contribution is not an essay on how Buddhism worked 100s of years ago in some distant realm or land. Rather, in the pages of this wonderful work, Dr. Lenz explains with a great deal of humor and compassion, how Buddhist practice can work for anyone RIGHT HERE and NOW! What we have before us is a literary work constructed on pure ESSENCE. ENJOY!
Rating: 
Summary: A ridiculous hash of Kung Fu and Castaneda
Review: A young snowboarder carving turns high in the Himalayas runs into (quite literally) a wizened, unpretentious little monk, and the unlikely pair share a philosophical dialogue based on Buddhism and boarding. It's a clever story line, a potential blend of high adventure, an exotic locale, spirituality, and plenty of comedic pratfalls. In the hands of a competent writer, this could have been the rich little story that I'd hoped for when I opened the cover. But Lenz is not a competent writer, and he has managed to mire a clever concept in pedantics, colorless prose, and all sorts of New Age jibberish. It's a ridiculous hash of Kung Fu and Castaneda, but without the vitality of either. Humor? In Lenz's book, it's strictly unintentional. I was disappointed right from the first chapter, in which Lenz manages to drain Kathmandu of all color and excitement -- not an easy achievement. Likewise, his plodding prose style flattens the Himalayas themselves. Anyone who loves mountains and snow will be turned off by Lenz's lack of interest in these subjects, which should provide the springboard for all sorts of spiritual musings. Instead, Lenz's idiotic surfer-dude claims to have easily tramped to the top of a nameless and formless mountain peak through "powder" (snow is ALWAYS powder in this book)-- in hiking boots! This complaint may sound picayune and technical, but it illustrates Lenz's chief deficiency: he is so intent on getting his pedantic philosophical message across that he ignores utterly all story, setting, and style. And without those literary hooks to keep us reading, his book is nothing but a sophomoric and painfully dull treatise on spirituality. If we want a treatise, we're betting off reading the Dalai Lama. For rich, loving descriptions of the land, culture, people and religion of this region, we're far better off with Peter Mathiessen (The Snow Leopard) and Heinrich Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet). Leave Lenz on the self-help rack where his book belongs.
Rating: 
Summary: Buddhism? the Himilayas?
Review: In this novel snowboarding in the Nepalese Himilayas leads to a Buddhist spiritual adventure. The amount Mr. Lenz does not know about Buddhism and Nepal would fill volumes. He writes as if he has neither experienced either directly, nor read much. Despite this he has written a fun and enticing book that may encourage others to find out more about three delightful experiences: Buddhism, Nepal and snow boarding. But, as the Buddha said, don't believe my words, find out for yourself!
Rating:
Summary: A great accomplishment indeed
Review: I write as a Roman Catholic trained in philosophy and theology. I recommend this delightful read as a true spiritual journey. From the first pages, Dr. Lenz surfs the reader right into a wonderful spiritual ambience. Agree or not with every point in his doctrine, one cannot escape a heightened sense of the divine. That is a big gift to our secular culture. Dr. Lenz's work will undoubtedly help bridge a gap, and East will come closer to West and vice versa. That is true development of doctrine, a great accomplishment indeed. Marvin Bordelon
President, American Conference on Religious Movements
Washington, DC
Rating:
Summary: Surfing the Himalayas makes a significant contribution
Review: With Surfing the Himalayas, Frederick Lenz does a remarkable job of expressing the basic tenets of Buddhism - including concepts of karma, mindfulness and reincarnation - in a manner which Westerners will easily understand. Surfing the Himalayas makes a significant and contemporary contribution to the annals of Buddhist literature. Professor James Lewis
Director, Center for Academic Publications
Rating:
Summary: Complicated subject made simple
Review: I have studied over 40 different texts on meditation and metaphysical concepts from very complicated Tibetan texts to the Celestine Prophesies and I have yet to read a book as good as "Surfing the Himalayas" at introducing very complicated subjects in such a clear and simple manner. I found myself breezing through this clear, simple, well written book and then suddenly halted and had to re-read the section because of its profoundness. Well done! It's about time someone de-mystified the mystical. By the way, it also gave me hope.
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Summary: New-age claptrap
Review: I was quite disappointed in this book. It was billed as "a fictional account based on a true story," but I have considerable doubts about the "true" part. I thought it would have something to do with Nepal or Tibetan Buddhism, but it turns out that after the first chapter, it turns into an account of the "master's" lectures on new-age philosophy to the eager apprentice. The lectures aren't even very factual about Tibetian Buddhism-- instead it is about "auras" and "psychic vibrations" and the "Atlantean schools of mysticism"-- that is, the usual California school of new-age philosophy. If you're into new-age, this may be the book for you. If you want to know about Tibet, or about Buddhism, look somewhere else.
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Summary: Frederick Lenz's miserable attempt to create a primer for po
Review: Frederick Lenz's miserable attempt to create a primer for pop pseudo-Buddhist/snowboarder wannabes is both disrespectful and down right offensive to true adherents of these disciplines. The prose of this failure more closely mimics that of the "Curious George" series than it does the writing of a man truly enlightened by spiritual adventure. A reader seeking to find the true nature of the himilayan spiritual life would could come much closer with a read of Peter Matthiessen's "Snow Leopard" or just about any book other than the subject of this review."
Rating:
Summary: Changed my life
Review: Upbeat, happy, bouyant, blissful- This is a solid work that you will enjoy. Sits on my shelf right next the Hobbit.
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