The Book is Published – The Lad Made Good

Thane’s website lists online booksellers stocking this book.

buddhist-ceo-book-cover
A recently published book by ‘our Thane’.

“A prescient read for everybody:
Religious aspirants,
committed business leaders,
and for all who consistently
‘overdo it’ in life.

Read slowly as you would a sutra.”

In the past years I’ve offered support to Thane both as a dedicated member of our congregation and lately as he was eventually diagnosed with FND, a life-limiting illness. A hard-won diagnosis, at that, (do follow that link). And then honoured to be asked to read the first draft of his book. Today, in the post, a hardback copy of The Buddhist CEO. It looks and feels so good, it is beside me now. Shall I read it again? I’ll certainly be quoting from it during the upcoming New Year Retreat here. Thanks Thane, you’re a gem.

The above quote is the first part of my recommendation. My vote of confidence in this piece of work. I’ll not go on too much (I’m far, far too excited for Thane and his family atm), enough to copy out the rest of what I wrote.

It is said the Buddhist scriptures (a poetic form of conveying universal truths born of direct experience) were written at ‘death’s door,’ that is, having had one’s faith extremely and severely tested in adversity unimaginable and lived to pass on digested truth. What greater gift could there be?
In the face of a life-limiting illness (FND), Hamish, a dedicated Buddhist practitioner, is forced to change his lifestyle. What truths does he derive from entering the fires of suffering and coming out the other side? Perhaps, for starters, labels have to drop away? No ‘Buddhist’, no CEO.

As I read the first draft, I was somewhat disturbed by how Hamish, the main protagonist, approached Buddhist practice. In the book he is SO dedicated, SO diligent and steadfast with his practice. Clearly, Hamish without the grounding wire of Buddhism would have faltered under the kinds of pressures a CEO faces. (Who would have thought people could be so NASTY at work?) Shocking, deeply so.

And now I see what Hamish shows us is exactly what I’ve been thinking about recently.  Firm in purpose and intent, given expression in a soft, compassionate and kind way. And the disturbance? It’s hinted at in my recommendation. Labels drop away, naturally, and one sees and understands from a vastly different perspective. Clearly, there is room for a sequel…to be read slowly as you would a sutra. There is much teaching embedded in this book.

Tom Wharton says it so clearly with his support of this book, along with a number of others, found within the opening pages.

A compelling story reminding me of my own struggles with difficult events in life, and how Buddhism gave me a way to see all of that very differently.

Thomas Wharton, author of Ice Fields.

Thane’s website lists online booksellers stocking this book.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

3 thoughts on “The Book is Published – The Lad Made Good”

  1. Thank you for bringing this book to our notice Rev. Mugo. …just bought it via Kindle. A Christmas present if ever there was one.
    Clearly the Reindeer Mother is alive and well.
    Take good care.
    In Gassho.

    1. Well done Brian, I think this story will resonate with the you in former years. The labels do drop away. And still we need to know clearly what we are about.

Leave a Reply to Thane Lawrie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.