The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life [Hardcover]

Geshe Michael Roach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2000

With a unique combination of ancient and contemporary wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, The Diamond Cutter presents readers with empowering strategies for success in their work and personal lives.

Geshe Michael Roach, one of the great teachers today of Tibetan Buddhism, has richly woven The Diamond Cutter in three layers. The first is a translation of selections from the Diamond Sutra itself, an ancient text comprised of conversations between the Buddha and his close disciple Subhuti. Considered a central work by Buddhists throughout the world, the Diamond Sutra has been the focus of much interpretation over the centuries. In the second layer, Geshe Michael quotes from some of the best commentaries of the Tibetan tradition. In the main text, the third layer, he uses both sutra and commentary as a jumping-off point for presenting his own teaching.

Geshe Michael gives fresh insight into ancient wisdom by using examples from his own experience as one of the founders of the Andin International Diamond Corporation, which was started with capital of fifty thousand dollars and which today has annual sales in excess of one hundred million dollars. Much of the success of Andin has come from applying the business strategies presented in The Diamond Cutter. Geshe Michael's easy style and spiritual understanding make this work of timeless wisdom an invaluable source for those already familiar with, and those unfamiliar with, Tibetan Buddhism.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Other Buddhist books offer you a path to happiness, Geshe Michael Roach offers a path to wealth. Roach, who while being a monk helped build a $100 million business, demonstrates how ancient notions in The Diamond Cutter sutra can help you succeed, and if you're in business that means to make money, a lot of it. Drawing on lessons he learned in the diamond business and years in Buddhist monasteries, Roach shows how taking care of others is the ultimate path to taking care of oneself, even--especially--in business. As he puts it, you have to engage in "mental gardening," which means doing certain practical things that will form new habits that will create an ideal reality for you. If this sounds a little outrageous, his very precise instructions are down to earth and address numerous specific issues common to the business/management world. Through this practice, you will become a considerate, generous, introspective, creative person of immense integrity, and that will be the key to your wealth. At first this book comes off like a gimmick and the writing isn't without rough patches, but page by page, as Roach introduces you to the practical details and real-life examples, his arguments become more convincing. A cross between the Dalai Lama's ethics and Stephen Covey's Seven Habits, The Diamond Cutter will have you gardening a path to the bank. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly

In the vein of Richard D. Phillips's The Heart of an Executive: Lessons on Leadership from the Life of King David, this book offers a practical application of Buddhist teachings to managing business and life. A Buddhist monk and former diamond district executive, Roach says that the three Buddhist-inspired principles on which he built his success can be applied to other businesses and other circumstances. The principles stipulate that businesses should be profitable, that we should enjoy the money we earn, not working ourselves so hard earning it that we can't enjoy the nice home or relaxing trip it might provide, and that we should be able to claim, when all is said and done, that our years in business were meaningful. "To summarize," writes Roach, "the goal of business, and of ancient Tibetan wisdom... is to enrich ourselves." Roach's uncritical tendency to marry Buddhism and capitalism without so much as a raised eyebrow might give readers pause. (In the end, Roach redeems himself a little by suggesting that the Buddhist teachings of Limitlessness imply that everyone could have enough wealth.) The principles he propounds are appealing, indeed, but they tell us much more about current-day attitudes toward work and money than they do about "ancient Tibetan wisdom." Entrepreneurs seeking solid advice for worldly success may find this book helpful, but those interested in Tibetan Buddhism will likely consider it superficial. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (February 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385497903
• ISBN-13: 978-0385497909
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( B ) > Buddha

More About the Author

Michael Roach is a fully ordained Buddhist monk who received his geshe (Master of Buddhism) degree from Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery after twenty-two years of study. A teacher of Buddhism since 1981, he is also a scholar of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Russian, and has translated numerous works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Splendid Read for Buddhists and Non-Buddhists., April 27, 2000

By 

Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life (Hardcover)

I had never heard of Michael Roach until I searched out Shoutcast (Internet Radio) and found the Tibetan Buddhist station. Being of that tradition, I was delighted to find the station.

The program that was on at that time was Dharma talks by Michael on The Heart Sutra, a most important Buddhist teaching.

I was so taken with his messages and the way he could get these deep ideas across so easily that I wanted to learn more about him. That's when I discovered that he had a new book out, The Diamond Cutter. So I bought a copy at Amazon.

Michael spent many years in the New York Diamond industry. He explains that he was attracted to diamonds because they are the hardest form in the universe.

This book is about business. It is about the problems that we all encounter in business daily. And it tells us how to handle the problem and why every problem has a cause, perhaps not in this lifetime but in some lifetime.

Michael clearly explains why some people who are greedy and unkind are successful. No, it's nothing they've done in this life but rather they did something of merit in another life that brought the wealth in this lifetime. But in another lifetime they will reap the Karma they're now sowing.

He tells us that if we wish to be wealthy, we need to be generous with our money and our time.

Michael uses his vast knowledge of the diamond industry to teach business ethics from a Buddhist perspective based on the all-important teaching of Lord Buddha in His Diamond Cutter (Vajrachchedika sutra).

I highly recommend this wonderful book to anyone who cares about their business, their relationships, their finances and their life in general.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got through my thick skull what nothing else hasn't!, March 23, 2000

By 

Stewart Wilkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life (Hardcover)

I'm not Buddhist, but after reading Michael Roach's book, "The Diamond Cutter", I'm devouring everything about Tibetan Buddhism I can get my hot little hands on!

I've searched 52 years for the meaning of this insanity we call life in hundreds of books, tapes, seminars, Martial Arts, a Trappist Monastery, and one on one studying with people who meant well; but Michael Roach explained it all--at least to me--logically and better than anyone ever has! Screw the writing style! That's only someone's opinion anyway. Geshe Roach tells it like it is, and does so in a humble way. Hell, check out any of the organizations the author has created or is involved in. These people spread their message of compassion for free! That's certainly a new one on me! It's my humble opinion that Michael Roach indeed "walks the walk". Sincere people like that are hard to find here in the good old Y2K USA!

Like Roach (and the Buddha himself) said: "Try it and see if it works for you." It's sure working so far for me--very well! Well, I very much hope that it works even weller, er, sorry, I mean better, for you!

By the way, I sought out the book for my personal and spiritual growth more than the business angle. Interestingly enough, I'm more comfortable about my business dealings now which, oddly enough, have taken a decided turn for the better.

Stew Wilkins

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, September 30, 2000

By 

Trong Nguyen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life (Hardcover)

This book presents many insights on parts of the Diamond Sutra. (The "Diamond Cutter" name is interestingly new to me, as I have been only familiar with the shorter "Diamond" and the longer "Diamond That Cuts Through Delusions".) The author's interpretations are refreshing, even without the context of business challenges, of which his diamond venture serves as a unique background. It is rare to have aspects of the Dharma presented by a young, life-engaging monk, and an American to boost. In particular, the notion of "mental imprints" is deeply important with respect to how one perceives and constructs the world. As a bonus, I learn a few things about diamond, diamond cutting, and the diamond trade.

Unlike another reviewer, I am supportive of Geshe Roach in his presenting the Diamond Sutra through the particular form of this book -- a manifestation of what Buddhist tradition calls "skillful means".

About the 4 stars: I wish the writing could be tightened up in various places. (But then again, this subjective observation of mine may be the effects of imprints left by my earlier writing courses.)