Sasu reviewed The Magician of Lhasa by David Michie
Slow Start, then Exciting and Inspiring
3 stars
Content warning Some low-detail discussion of plot structur
I thought I'd give this one a try because I liked David Michie's Instant Karma so much.
The Magician of Lhasa was a bit slow to get started for me and if I hadn't been quite sure that what I was looking for was very likely to show up later, I probably wouldn't have kept at it so long and likely would have put the book down. Now having read the whole thing I understand that the slow start does a good job of setting things up for later developments, I still think that the beginning could have been tightened up a fair bit without sacrificing the necessary foundation building. There is also a bit of awkward phrasing which charms at the same time as it distracts a bit from the story.
After all that complaining, I should say that I still really liked the book and am glad to have spent time with it. It's less of an overt teaching book when I compare it to Instant Karma, but what it does even better than Instant Karma does is to build towards a more insightful and expansive revelation at the climax, which reveals the story as a whole to be a teaching device supportive of inspiration and a change in perspective.
A definite recommendation for anyone interested in Buddhism or Tibet or both. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
#karma #meditation #Buddhism #Tibet #nanotech #quantumscience #mindfulness