Customer Reviews

Turtle Feet

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I finished Turtle Feet last night before bed, and I dreamt all night about one of the characters--the eccentric, ribald, rebellious and loveable alcoholic womanizing Bosnian ex-monk called Tsar. I never expected that this book would make me laugh so hard and dream so vividly. I chose the book because I was curious to know what could make a handsome, gifted young man with so much musical talent--who had only just managed to get out of Bulgaria to the States--decide to give up everything and enter a Tibetan monastery. I didn't expect that Grozni's monastic world would be so down to earth, filled with so many quirky, damaged, endearing, curious, intriguing, and truly sympathetic characters. I had not expected to encounter sexually frustrated monks, nuns on the verge of nervous breakdowns, weary adventurers plagued by loneliness and longing, competitive chess players brawling over matches, and most interesting to me--people who struggle, as I do, with the question of whether they have chosen the right path. Is what they are committed to meaningful and worthwhile, or of it is just another farce, another man-made construction in this absurd world? This was a great book! Moving, enlightening and damn funny. It is definitely a must read if you are interested in Tibet and monks and spirituality... For me though, I loved it because it gave me a clever, irreverent, sometimes hilarious insider's peek behind the curtain into a secret world--a world that I had no idea was scandalous as often as it is spiritual and serene.

This was an entertaining read. This was not so much a book about spirituality as it was about the process and the people - the humanity and reality of becoming a monk. I would call it a character study. Grozni writes in such a way that you feel like you are there with him, as engrossed as he is in the lives of the people around him. The characters are rich and real and dysfunctional and despicable and lovable...especially the marvelous Tsar.

He paints a portrait of India that is as amusing as it is unbelievable, and has caused me rethink the idea that it is the ultimate spiritual destination! The notion that you have to become a monk or a nun in order to have the time and discipline to delve into the depths of spiritual life is simply not true, and I loved it when he said that he discovered that if you take women out of the culture and there are only men left you wind up with an army - even in a monastery.

I found this to be a poignant and honest biography about a marvelous life adventure we should all be so brave to undertake; the journey within without having to go to extremes. I loved it. I hope he writes a sequel about his return to life in the "real" world.

While the author of "Turtle Feet" is a very talented writer, (when he is describing the beauty of his surroundings, he sometimes verges on the poetic) in this book, he spends way, way too much time detailing the exploits of his manic, foul-mouthed, Bosnian, ex-Monk friend, Tsar. Grozni's religious/spiritual experiences as a novice monk take a back seat to Tsar's theatrics.

People in India - like people everywhere - all share certain human traits. You get a bunch of young men living together in a community (even a Tibetan Buddhist community) and there are going to be some there with bad tempers, some with mental problems, some who swear like sailors, some who love to talk about sex, and some who use drugs. Maybe the author thought it was important to let us know this. But there is so much more that he could have shared with us - things unique to his life in India - that he did not.

While the book offers a glimpse into a far-off world, it left me wishing the author had "waxed poetic" on more occasions and spent less time on his friend's passport/housing/woman troubles.

This is a pleasant book. Grozni has a whimsical, flighty style. Despite the exotic setting, crazy Tibetan monk religious mentor, and floor-crawling snakes in his house, actually the Indic/Buddhist angle comes across as fairly dull. The real focus of the book is Grozni's near obsession with his Eastern European friend, a Mercutio type of wildman figure. Nothing much happens in this book, and it has little spiritual depth (maybe because what we normally think of as spiritual depth is all bogus in the first place?)

But all I can say is, for some reason, I did enjoy reading it. For something similar but with a lot more belly laughs, try the book "Are You Experienced" by William Stucliffe.

Are you tired of reading Buddhist books about serene, serious, saffron robed monks sitting on cushions mediatating on the nature of emptiness? Then it's time for 'Turtle Feet' a raucous look at what Buddhist life is really like.

Author Grozni, a Bulgarian music prodigy studying jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, decides to chuck it all and go to India in order to learn the meaning of life. He travels to Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama in exile and thousands of Tibetan refugees from Communist China. There Grozni becomes a monk newly named Lodro Chosang.

The streets of Dharamsala are teeming with life as thousands converge there from all over the world to study the dharma and perhaps get a glimpse of the Dalai Lama. Grozni's account of his life of poverty there is vivid and his assortment of friends fascinating. Grozni lives with a Bosnian war refugee with no passport named, Tsar. Tsar is an ex-monk, having violated one of the Buddhist precepts and having had sex with a beautiful Israeli girl. Other members of the household include Mona Lisa, a huge green snake, a plethora of rats (one named Thomas Edison) and various other wild life large and small.

While Grozni studies at the nearby monastery with an emotionally abusive Geshe (Geshe being the Ph.d of the monk world), attempting to memorize sacred texts and master advanced debating techniques worthy of samurai warriors, Tsar carouses, plays chess for hours, smokes dope and ruminates about how to get out of India with no passport.

Years go by, friends come and go and Grozni learns that to understand something clearly one must give it up. His Buddhist journey is wry and wise.

I can forgive the writing style being abrupt in places. For example, in the kind of squalor the author describes, the search to find a dentist and the prerequisite antibiotics after loosing most of a molar should have warranted an entire chapter. References to the Buddha having turtle feet and an explanation of why Manjushri, who is to my knowledge always male, is referred to as a goddess would have been helpful. However, that someone would go from Boston to Dharamsala, learn Tibetan language and customs and then refuse a Dharma teacher a courtesy as simple as a bow just seems inexcusable and leaves me wondering how much, or how little, he truly understood.

One of those books that leaves you wanting more. I love when a book evokes the aromas and atmosphere of it's setting. I hope this author gives us an encore.

Thought provoking - as a person new to the Buddhist path I really enjoyed this story of a person who is understanding a religion for the first time. I thought it was very Kerouac! Excellent characters and good writing. I also enjoyed the descriptions of locations and towns. It had a bizarre humour running through it which I just loved. I know I will read it again and recommend it to others!

Truthful, humorous and refreshing. The author entered the Path whole heartedly, jumped in and followed through. He seems to watch his life unfold as he lives it. This is a side of the spiritual journey rarely written about in such good spirit. Much food for thought - cultural and religious differences, bugs in the soup, the life style.
The book cover is perfect and says it all.

Went to bed last night and had to finish it this morning. Extremely witty, the story describes rather naive conceptions of western people becoming Buddhist monks in search of ultimate reality. It gives some funny insights into the realm of the monastic life in Dharamsala, but is rather colored by the simple ideas of the author and his companions in his journey to enlightenment. So, though not very spirituality deep, extremely entertaining and full of delightful descriptions of Indian life.