Lodro Rinzler begins his first full-length book with these sentences: “This isn’t your grandmother’s book on meditation. It’s for you. That is, assuming you like to have a beer once in a while, enjoy sex, have figured out that your parents are crazy, or get frustrated at work. It’s a book that doesn’t put Buddhism on some pedestal so that you have to look up to it. It’s about looking at all the nooks and crannies of your life and applying Buddhist teachings to them, no matter how messy that may be.”

Rinzler’s opening paragraph has generous appeal to seekers in their twenties and thirties–those practicing and living in the real world and struggling to figure out the way forward.  His voice is approachable and funny–and absolutely credible to all of the young professionals who seem to have it all but are beginning to wonder if they are missing something really, really big.

I particularly liked his description of the four animals of Buddhism: The tiger, snow lion, garuda and dragon. He presents them in a voice that is not-larger than life but at the same time evokes their mythical power.  Each animal offers an approach to life and each offers a unique path to walk towards enlightenment. These are images that we can draw, imagine, share and animate in our minds–to keep the teachings alive in everyday situations.

I highly recommend this book.  Buy it before they sell out of every digital bookstore!

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About the author: Lodro Rinzler is a meditation practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. Over the last decade he has taught numerous workshops at meditation centers and college campuses throughout the United States. He has served as the Executive Director of the Boston Shambhala Center and currently oversees development efforts for Shambhala internationally. Lodro’s column, What Would Sid Do?, appears regularly on the Huffington Post and the Interdependence Project. Lodro writes from his apartment in New York City.