Fredrick Lenz write "Surfing The Himalayas" in the first person. He is a young man who is searching for adventure. He decides to go to Nepal where he will take on the worlds tallest mountains with his snowboard. What he did not expect was to embark on a spiritual adventure that would change his view about life.
When he arrives in Nepal, he stays at the Katmandu Youth Hostel. On one of his first days hiking and snowboarding he is stunned to see a Buddhist monk also snowboarding! He is more surprised when he accidentally collides with the monk. But from that event begins a friendship and profound learning experience with Master Fwap. Master Fwap is the last master of the Rae Chorze-Fwaz School of Tantric Mysticism and Buddhist Enlightenment. From that point on, he learns about how spiritual knowledge is the experience of enlightenment and requires an understanding of the innermost workings of the Enlightenment Cycle. Master Fwap teaches him that "Spiritual knowledge is the awareness of the eternal side of things: the eternal sides of ourselves, of others, and of the worlds that exist both within and outside us". This theme and the development of it in Lenz's character is written on top of the snowboarding adventure and is intertwined with nature.
The young man in the story finds himself through his intended purpose of the snowboard adventure and his new purpose of spiritualism. His experiences are metaphors for life. For example there are "high and low frequencies" in many situations and the interpretation of these frequencies helps our character understand the true meaning of his experiences and become more aware of his place in the universe. At the end of the book our character feels empty as he will be leaving Master Fwap. The Master explains that life is both empty and full, that they are one in the same. "Everything is forever" Master Fwap explains. Once he understands that there is no beginning and ending to life, and that all return to nirvana, Lenz's young character has his final insight into a world of snowboarding mysticism.

A spiritual adventure indeed. Read this years ago right around the time it first came out, and as I'm updating my goodreads book list with it, I find that I will probably need to read this one again. Forgot I had this book, and interestingly, it is about a snowboarder, so it just shows you how long that sport has been around. Anyway, I was just learning about the metaphysical aspects of spiritualism when I first read it, and loved this book. When it was over, I put it down and felt like I really discovered myself.

A snowboarding enthusiast goes to the Himalayas to surf some major snow, instead he literally runs into a Buddhist monk...that is a winner for me!

good book for spiritual adventure

Beautifully enlightening...

If tempted to read Surfing the Himalayas, do yourself an enormous favor and instead use the pages to slice away your corneas. It will be far less painful in the long run. This book is the translation of Buddhism into IKEA furniture instructions.

With sincere apologies to IKEA...

A gift for a loved one which I might read before him ! Addicted to books about adventure, personal challenge and the outdoors...On a list of 3 books to finish before 2012 !

It is difficult to know how seriously to take this book. It is essentially a modern day Buddhist fable about a snowboarder working the Himalayas when he encounters a Buddhist monk he was fated to meet, following which they engage in a series of instructional sessions.

The book is a light and pleasant read. The author appears to have been seriously involved with spirituality and with Tantric Buddhism in particular, but this book is unconvincing.

What a great journey.

I read Surfing the Himalayas long ago, at a time when I was starting to snow board. I believe my impression of it then was much different when I recently read it. On the surface it's about a young guy who comes to the Himalayas to surf the highest mountains, only to encounter a mischievous monk, Master Fwap, who wants to take up all his time and teach him about Buddhist principals. I found it enlightening and I enjoyed the fun, dialogue between the two explaining and debagting some pretty serious topics such as reincarnation, meditation, metaphysical elements of spirituality and lots of other interesting topics. It also neat to realize that this is based on Frederick Lenz's real life adventures in the Himalayas that inspired him to become a spritual leader himself in the West.

I found this book in my local library one summer in High School and devoured it. It inspired a deep-dive into Buddhism, Eastern thought, and Yoga which made a significant positive impact in my life and the way I look at it. Re-reading it years later it doesn't hold up to the more eloquent, accurate, and credible books I've read on those topics but this book holds a special place in my heart. A lot of the critiques are on the sophomoric nature of this book... well, that worked for me when I was young and sophomoric.

This was reread. It has much valuable information to understand enlightenment. According to this author, it is so different than most think. I love one of the sayings that guide me in my daily tasks:
"Chop wood & carry water, before enlightment; Chop wood & carry water, after enlightment. It has todo with outlook & attitude and spirituality.