I have been so blessed to have discovered some great books this summer - I love to read, but don't have as much time for it as I used to, and therefore it is always special to find a great read. I've recommended a few books I've read recently, but I am just about to finish another that I think you might enjoy. Breakfast With Buddha by Roland Merullo is a fun story filled with lots of deep meaning and great lessons.

Otto Ringling's sister tricks him into taking a road trip with her spiritual guru, Rinpoche, a crimson -robed monk, who she is convinced can aid Otto's spiritual growth and enlightment. And so they set out to travel out west together, Otto determined to show the monk some "American fun," and winds up seeing his world and his life through someone else's eyes.

This is a well written, light-hearted, easy-to-read book that is particularly relevant to anyone going through a bit of a mid-life adjustment, is undergoing change that you find a bit uncomfortable, or want to read a good story sprinkled with deep meaning. As Otto slowly opens himself to Rinpoche's view of the world, his changes in the process.

Some of my favorite passages include:
"We are humans , and we have human minds, and we try, with those minds, to understand something that is very beyond us."

"...to me enlightenment is a big shift inside your eyes, a different way to use your mind so you can understand some of God, some of Jesus. But it is maybe not one shift, but many small shifts. You change your spiritual condition - by prayer, by meditation, by the way you live, the way you decide to think, by the lessons you learn in living this life with a good intention - and then, when this happens, after a long time(s) or short time(s,) the way you see the world changes."

"It seemed to me that Rinpoche was making the point: that I was in control of my spiritual situation, not God; that we have been given the tools for an expanded consciousness and it was up to us to use them, not simply wait around for death and salvation."

Enjoy what is left of summer - and Happy Reading!! ~ Andrea :-)