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| What the Lotus Said: A Journey to Tibet and Back | 
 enlarge | Author: Eric Swanson
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $3.96
You Save: $9.99 (72%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $2.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1946164
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 0312283733
Dewey Decimal Number: 294
EAN: 9780312283735
ASIN: 0312283733
Publication Date: May 2, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Yes, it?s about Tibet, but not the mystical wonderland of Western imagination. There is magic, to be sure -- saints who pass invisibly among prison guards, ceremonies that stop torrential rain, and a ferocious landscape that inspires uneasy reverence. But the country described in these pages is incontestably real, harsh, and shocking.
What the Lotus Said is the story of Eric Swanson?s journey through East Tibet in the company of a Tibetan lama and several other Americans. The ostensible purpose of the trip is humanitarian supporting fledgling schools and bringing medical aid to nomads?but Swanson, a self-confessed ?spiritual shopper,? nurses private hopes of enjoying a peak experience in a cave once inhabited by the eithth-century mystic who transcribed the classic Tibetan Book of the Dead. Through episodes alternately comic and harrowing, Swanson gradually discovers the liberating power of disenchantment, and in a startling turn of events, at last deciphers his lama?s cryptic statement that Tibetan Buddhism offers Westerners a way to die.
Written in a fragmentary style evocative of the classic text that inspired Swanson?s journey, What the Lotus Said introduces the reader to the irreducible complexities inherent in the search for spiritual solace.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 unsatisfying August 23, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was hooked by the jacket copy that said "if you ever wanted to go to Tibet, now's your chance" but was sorely disappointed. It is a thin book in every way, thin on substance, interest, detail, ideas. It's alternately pompous then aimless...the point of view is constantly ambivalent. Perhaps that is true to his experience, but it doesn't make for a good read. I'll keep searching for a real meaty travelogue of Tibet.
 What the lotus didn't say July 4, 2005
This book is one of the better written of the stream of books that are now arriving from Americans visiting Tibet. The book flows on giving a realistic view of what life in China and Tibet is currently like and presents some beginning concepts of Buddhism to the uninitiated. Swanson is a wordsmith and the book carries greater depth than some of the others.
We all carry who we are into our adventures and writing and Eric does this. Unfortunately he is a product of his NYC urban culture which prevents him and us from fully appreciating his adventure. This adds adds a touch of NY cynicism and self-indulgence. Atleast he put out the effort to learn some Chinese which is more than most Americans would do.
It apppears that he is studying Buddhism for a good death rather than becoming enlightened. I would say that this book is a worthwhile read, but don't expect to have high realizations; this spiritual adventurer has a ways to go.
Once again I am reminded of how soft we Americans have become as a culture. Our pioneering ancesters are long forgotten as well as our understanding that hardship isn't all bad. I wish there was more heart in this book, but then I wish there was more heart in most Americans for if one understands what the lotus really said one would be enlightened.
An attempt at something it is not. August 27, 2004
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is not a horrible book - it's just not a particularly good one either. The book did not engage me and I never found it particularly interesting or insightful. I had expected to learn something about Tibetan Buddhism, but I did not learn much.
Swanson seems to want to mix the genre of travelogue with interspersed chapters that attempt to wax eloquently on Buddhism. I found that he was not particularly successful in this and as a result it made the book disjointed.
This is a short book and a quick read, so you won't waste much time if you do decide to read it....I just don't think I would recommend it to my friends.
 A short but extremely vivid glimpse of Tibet July 28, 2004
Imagine going to a formal dinner in suit and tie, but not having had a shower or bath in weeks beforehand! Eric Swanson's humorous, poignant view of Tibet is rife with memorable visions. At times I burst out laughing and read passages to my companions on the bus. But the book is more than just a travelogue throught the dirt and grime of Tibetan poverty. It is about spiritual thirst and quest. Though this book is not as long or didactic as others ("3 Years in Tibet" or Alexandra David-Neels' works), I found it superb and will keep it and read it again. I didn't think that Eric was on an ego-trip!!! Jeez! Some reviewers are so strange! The ending was very touching, I thought. I especially liked the story of the envelope containing the strands of hair from past beings, including Eric's own head... the whisker of a dead cat... That kind of stuff always makes the old tears flow, which is good. So enjoy this sparkling little gem of a book! And enjoy your Western shower and deodorant!
Notes from a Fellow Traveler September 3, 2002
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Eric Swanson has written a dialogue about his quest for understanding the spiritual life. This is not a treatise on Eastern religion nor is it meant to be. This very well written little book asks us as friends to learn the lessons of arriving at critical moments in our lives, that those moments are pregnant with the possibility for change, and that this journal is one man's notebook on encountering a more meaningful existence. There is much to be learned here - about the humor that accompanies the most serious of engagements, the human foibles that are shared by all cultures, but also the vast unknown differences between Eastern and Western thought. Swanson's journey to Tibet and China is one of humor, of frustration, and one of finding how self can only be understood in the context of the greater idea of a timeless and formless universe. Without a page of preaching we learn a lot about Buddhist philosphy, ancient history of China and Tibet, and about the order of the lama system of enlightment. Don't expect a PhD in world religions from this book. Do expect (and receive) a warm, joyful, tender, and humorous tour through lands and peoples that seem so far away...until now.
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