Surfing the Himalayas by Frederick Lenz

LET'S get this straight at the outset - this is not based on a true story. It is a series of experiences by an American who went to Nepal for an adventure.
Frederick Lenz has admitted that it is a work of fiction and hopes it will be entertaining to the reader.
Having said that, Lenz spins a tale of Eastern mysticism and Western pragmatism having a head-on collision. When a person has the advantage of youth, the world looks like a gigantic playground every morning when the sun peeks over the mountain or perhaps the highest skyscraper, as the case might be.
Lenz is very much in love with the snow and he's even crazier about snowboarding. What could be more challenging than to blaze trails on the snow - covered slopes of the Himalayas and then return home to brag about it.
That's exactly what the author had intended to do, but destiny had other plans for him. Lenz's life on the mountains would have been more or less the same as the thousands of foreign backpackers who throng the huts, chalets and hotels of Kathmandu, Nepal, if not for a saffron-colour robed monk named Master Fwap.
At this point, the reader (if old enough) may think that he has stumbled across another Lobsang Rampa clone. Fortunately, here's where Lenz starts to get serious.
Master Fwap is more than just a passing stranger in the night. The first time the writer met him, he nearly collided with him while snowboarding down a slope. Their second encounter began with Master Fwap saying "Our meeting was fated, and your karma caused it to happen."
Putting all his cards on the table, so to speak, the monk identified himself as Master Fwap Sam-Dup. He's the last master of the Rae Chorze-Fwaz School of Tantric Mysticism and Buddhist Enlightment. At this juncture, the reader is apt to exclaim: "Ah phooey, and my grandmother is Wonder Woman!"
Luckily, my initial reaction was to humour the writer. Lenz has a gift of spinning a yarn but it is a tale filled with infinite possibilities, just like an episode of Star Trek.
Master Fwap, after having established a vise-like grip on the snowboarder's attention, begins to educate him on siddhas (miracles), chakras (mystical energy centers in the human aura) and samadhi (state of emptiness).
A word of caution before proceeding to read further: this book is filled with a lot of spiritual mumbo-jumbo which those who are not so inclined may discover while ambling along the chapters to be disagreeable to their calm disposition.
But if, by chance, it has caught your interest, it does become terribly fascinating. Frederick Lenz is not an urban roustabout who just happens to also be a fine storyteller; his credentials speak volumes. Lenz is a Phi Beta Kappa and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Connecticut. His resume shows that he also has a PhD from the State University of New York.
However, the central character of Surfing the Himalayas is undoubtedly Master Fwap who constantly comes up with gems like "each person has a soul - an inner core of light and intelligence as vast as the 10 thousand worlds - whose true nature is emptiness, ecstasy and happiness" and "in deep meditation, when your thoughts have become silent, and your emotions are calm and at peace, you can travel into and experience the inner worlds and dimensions of light and perfection, and even experience nirvana itself."
It is not necessary that you be a Buddhist to enjoy this book. Your religious beliefs are your own but as someone once said: "A mind is like a parachute. It works best when it is open."
Hence, this book must be approached like so. Lenz's story is a splendid tale well-told. It is thoroughly enjoyable, captivating and packed with all that is wonderful and refreshing.