Review of Hidden Buddha by Jim Ringel

Hidden Buddha opens with protagonist Lama Rinzen’s line “I am being watched,” and proceeds to ratchet up the suspense with every succeeding paragraph.

Readers who’ve tried to quiet their minds will recognize the dilemma: that meditating mind is being observed, but who is the observer?

In this case, we are never quite sure whether Rinzen is being stalked by an inner mind, by the ghost of an old teacher, or by the ever-deepening characters that swirl through the story: a mystery woma...