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The Novice:

Why I Became a Buddhist Monk, Why I Quit & What I Learned
Front Cover
5 Reviews
Greenleaf Book Group, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 345 pages
This book features an extraordinary quest for peace of mind. In this unforgettable memoir, a young man finds himself disillusioned by the conventional expectations of his parents, teachers, and culture. Desperate to articulate his deepest hopes and dreams, he discards his university education and abandons home, family, and possessions to journey through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in search of a meaningful life. Narrowly escaping death by sickness and drugs, he encounters the Tibetan refugees in exile and, entranced, finally stops running. He takes the ancient teachings to heart but, eight years later, finds that his path is neither straight nor narrow . . . and that there's no turning back.
  

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Review Excerpt by Andrea Coventry
This memoir is well-written and easy to read. It is filled with a great deal of honesty, which is the best way to portray emotion in its purest form. It is
inspirational... and it’s simply a good story. He describes (these) people and places, so often almost demonized on the recent news, in a vivid fashion that puts you right there with him....on par with other memoirs of the area, such as Greg Mortensen’s "Three Cups of Tea." 

Review: The Novice: Why I Became a Buddhist Monk, Why I Quit & What I Learned

User Review  - Andrea - Goodreads

[This review also appears on Andi's Book Reviews.] The Novice: Why I Became a Buddhist Monk, Why I Quit & What I Learned by Stephen Schettini is a well-written memoir that almost seems like a version ... Read full review

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Contents

Home Dry
3
Holy Roman Catholic
21
Education
27
Turbulence
36
Big Wide World
53
part
65
Further
75
Herat
81
Repentance
148
Meditation
156
KopanHill
169
The Stars Line Up
186
A Day in the Life
207
Halcyon Days
225
The Journey Within
241
Sera Monastic University
257

Kabul
88
The Khyber Pass
101
Going Down
109
At the Bottom
118
part three
131
Dharamsala
137
Healing
277
Full Circle
292
Epilogue
318
Notes on the text
333
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

At the age of twenty-two, Stephen Schettini was ordained as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition and lived for eight years in the Northern and South India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Switzerland. IIn 1982 he cut his ties with institutional Buddhism and struck out on his own. Since then, working in Canada as a graphic artist, writer, and publisher, he has authored, edited and illustrated articles and books on health science and stress management. He took up his teaching career again in 2002 with the inauguration of mindful reflection workshops and Quiet Mind Seminars and is highly regarded for his ability to interpret traditional Buddhism in terms of everyday Western life. Stephen lives in Montreal, Canada with his wife and children.

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