Customer Reviews

AFTER the ABSOLUTE: Real Life Adventures With A Backwoods Buddha

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Reading this book has been a very pleasant and positive experience for me. Depending on where you are in your life and how much truth you can handle today, this book might be for you.
Let me share a few quotes that I extrated from it:

"The path to Truth only seems complex because we have to navigate the complexities and interferences of the mind. As these interferences are removed, the path becomes simpler. That's why one of the first things you need to do is get your house in order. Get your life organized to the point where you can at least think. Take an honest look at your life to see what's holding you up. Maybe it's fear, or an appetite, or a habit that no one else would consider destructive--and maybe it isn't destructive, except to the search."
...
"All you need is your own inner determination. Maybe a few words or lines in a book will help you, maybe they won't. But if something you hear appeals to your intuition, check it out. Prove or disprove it for yourself. Because when you get into these matters the only thing you have to go by is your intuition. And the more perfected your intuition becomes, the better you are at discrimination."
...
"The mistake people make is to wait for something to happen to them before they begin searching. They want the voice of God, or something, to tell them to get started. Or maybe they know they should be doing something but they procrastinate, hoping that tomorrow they'll have more conviction and be more determined. What they forget is there may be no tomorrow for them."
...
"I'd come to realize that if a man is ever going to grasp anything it won't be by learning. His being has to change. You are what you do, not what you know. A man never learns, he becomes. To become, you must find ways and means to change your entire state-of-mind. This in turn will lead to a change of being."
...
"When you finally realize that you're not doing anything in this life--that you're incapable of doing anything--then you stumble into a state of mindlessness that proves to be creative, that's all."
...
"The ego is the single biggest obstruction to the achievement of anything. Between-ness is the act of acting without ego. You act, but you are not the actor. You do things, but you are not the doer--and you know you are not the doer. It's the ability to hold the head at a dead standstill in order to effect certain changes. You desire the change, but you do not care if it comes to pass."
...
"Once a person has the formula, anything can be changed, even the future. Through determination, a man can discover how to completely change his destiny. There's thoughts--which are not yours, but come from elsewhere--and there gaps between thoughts. When you get into that gap between thoughts, you have the opportunity to completely reshuffle you life. This may sound impossible to you now, but try not to let your ignorance get in the way of understanding. I have just told you something of priceless value."

I'll stop here, but expect to find much more wisdom and insights in this book if you read it.

David Gold's book is wonderfully written and so interesting! I couldn't put it down. Not only are his life and struggles fascinating, but of course Richard Rose's character and words are trenchant and resonate with the truth of Zen.

One thing I've discovered, though, is that some of Rose's personal writings are a bit difficult to take. There was a paper "Prostaglandins and Morality" that I found on the web that was extremely homophobic and even misogynistic. This is very hard to reconcile with the image of Rose as an enlightened man, except to recall that even "enlightened" people are still imperfect human beings. David Gold's retelling of Rose's words, though, makes Rose sound a lot saner and more rational than some of these rantings in Rose's own words.

So enjoy the book, but just remember what Rose is reported to have said, "You are your teacher. You are responsible for your own path, your own enlightenment." (paraphrasing, sorry too lazy to look up the exact quote.) This of course echos some of Buddha's final words.

I have been studying metaphysics and philosophy for quite a while with many powerful teachers. Rarely do you find a teacher like Richard Rose who so unflinchingly tells the truth. While many believe pursuing a life of bliss is the answer, Richard confirms my experience that life is often struggle and hard work. And it is only by going into those dark places, which he apparently was a master at creating for others, do we recover our wholeness and humanity. It is sad that some have chosen to slam this work for their own purposes. I don't know anything about organizations and all that, but I do know that Richard Rose spoke the truth as recorded by David Gold.

I think Richard Rose was/is the genuine thing. He has written a number of books himself which you may find on Amazon and other places that I recommend. He's upsetting to many "New Agers" who are expecting a guru on a fluffy cloud. Mr. Rose is more like one of the old school harsh Zen masters.

I've read this book and and don't know the politics that are going on with it but it seems like a credible telling of the Richard Rose story from the author's perspective. Be careful what you wish for.

Dave Gold's book is an amazing account of his personal experiences while living with a zen master named Richard Rose (who also has a number of books published). Not only are the actual experiences that Mr Gold went through incredible but his story-telling ability is phenomenal. He tells us his own, very personal, story in a very compelling and spell-binding way (I read the first half of the book in one night; couldn't put it down) but his own story _is_ an account of Rose's spirituality/philosophy. You cannot help but be amazed at this crazy old man who is the cornerstone of Mr Gold's life for 15 years in the backwoods of West Virginia where Mr Gold starts a law practice against extreme opposition while dealing with threats on his life, cancer and, above all, Richard Rose's constant, piercing insights into the very depths of Dave Gold's soul. This book is incredible: a fantastic read and a profoundly intense experience.

What I most admire about David Gold's very personal account of life with Richard Rose is his honesty. He doesn't glossy up his account of himself or his teacher. He doesn't leave out the confusing parts or the embarrassing parts or the irreconcilable parts. Rose is painted in what feels to me to be true colors. The stories of him left me mad and even disgusted, and yet curious, wondering what it was like to be in his powerful presence. Gold himself comes across as a real mensch. He doesn't put himself above the reader. Many authors of spiritual books give the impression that they've "made it" and are now above their readers. Not so David Gold - he is right in the thick of it with the rest of us. For anyone who has ever spent time with a flawed and gifted spiritual teacher, I especially recommend this book.

Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Some of the folks mentioned in the book crossed my dusty trail some 25+ years ago and I have to admit that David Gold's account of life with the "Backwoods Buddha" is acutely accurate. The story will have you belly-laughing out loud one minute and deep in thought the next. Anyone who slings mud at this story or it's author or it's key players obviously just doesn't get "IT." That's too bad. No, that's actually quite sad.

Not just appreciated as a mechanical response to enlightenment or awareness, but lived in Experience, this writing merits that more than just stumbling onto or down a path, one has a series of experiences with like-minded others or like-minded Presence and illumiination, when one is home with themselves...and with everything around and within them....

The author of this book, David Gold, shows a tremendous honesty in presenting both Rose and himself with their full human short-comings! This makes for a great sense of humanity in the story! It helped me to relate to them both! Spirituality and the path to Realization are not just concerned with purity and perfection, there is a reason why it is a journey. A certain reviewer of this book who is very judgemental and critical of the author and the story, appears to have overlooked much in his reading! This reviewer appears to be quite a bitter person, perhaps still tangling with some unsettled demons of his own! Don't be swayed by his review, this book has nothing to do with self promotion or self aggrandizement, these memoirs are told with honesty and compassion! Enjoy!

I have read enough of this book as well as publications from the
spawning organization (SKS) to know a bad meme, ref."mimetics", when read.

Sadly a bizzare experience by a couple of young middle class kids in the late sixties and early seventies and on a largely male dominated farm in the hills of WVA has secured a place in cyberspace as well as some disingenuous minds in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC areas.

We obviously live in a Cowardly New Worlsd where third rate metaphyics can gain some stock, especially when combining it with the business ventures of its principal exponents (Turak-Gold-Clark-Buehler).