The Buddha, Geoff and Me

by Edward Canfor-Dumas

First of all, I have to admit that I know Eddy (the real one). We are both members of Hertsmere Green party. And I swapped him Angels Chic for The Buddha. However, don't worry, that wouldn't stop me slagging off his book if it was bad. Which it isn't, not by a long way.

Basically this is a book of Buddhist teachings told through a simple story of the lives of master (Geoff) and 'disciple' (the fictional 'Ed'). And all the more interesting for that, rather than a dry philosophical book. Definately a modern classic.

Geoff is sympathetic, suitably enigmatic, and not at all the kind of guy you might expect a Buddhist master to be. In fact, Eddy seems to have gone out of his way to introduce him in the most shockingly unlikely yet humdrum way possible. Ed isn't much better, with a notable lack of what you might call conventional discipleship. In terms of respect, that is. He does have a lot of questions.

Eddy has definately achieved something here, by turning what is substantially a treatise on Buddhist philosophy into a book you can't put down. He's done this by creating characters we care about, we can relate to (at least I can), with a seemingly endless series of faults, problems and fixes.

Although the plot, such as it is, is largely devoid of car chases, subterfuge and murder, it does manage a respectable amount of suspense, with minor sections of sex and problematic relationships (everything in the book is problematic, for that is out hero's 'life state'). So the lack of extreme excitement is more than made up for by reading about a main character rather like ... oneself.

Having been exposed to Buddhism in various forms over the years, I thought it was a lot simpler than, as described by Geoff, it is. And I thought I knew a lot more about it than apparently, I don't. There are hidden depths I hadn't known about at all, and it's all fascinating stuff, for anyone, of any or no religion. It all begs the question: Where is the appendix at the back of the book with the simple summary and diagrams? I'm sorry, but Eddy is far too good a Scheherazade to hand it all out quite so easily, and for that, lists another book in the About the Author section, co-written with an acomplice, Richard Causton: The Buddha in Daily Life, which, in another twist, he isn't credited as author of.

One realisation I've had from The Buddha, is that much of the American self-help motivational coaching and prosperity stuff which I've been lapping up this year is influenced by this kind of Buddhist philosophy. So it would seem like if you're into that, you should get into the source.

Thank you Eddy. I didn't really have many preconceptions about this book, and that's just as well, because what I did have was knocked for a six. An incongrous, paradoxical book, which literally forces re-reading, in no small part due to a tantalizing statement in the penultimate paragraph.


© Arjuna Krishna-Das 2007. This page last modified 2 September, 2008	Top