Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Lunch with Buddha” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Lunch with Buddha

(Breakfast with Buddha series #2)

Roland Merullo (Goodreads Author)

4.17 · Rating details · 1,938 ratings · 236 reviews

On the surface, LUNCH WITH BUDDHA is a story about family. Otto Ringling and his sister Cecelia could not be more different. He’s just turned 50, an editor of food books at a prestigious New York publishing house, a man with a nice home in the suburbs, children he adores, and a sense of himself as being a mainstream, upper-middle-class American. Cecelia is the last thing f On the surface, LUNCH WITH BUDDHA is a story about family. Otto Ringling and his sister Cecelia could not be more different. He’s just turned 50, an editor of food books at a prestigious New York publishing house, a man with a nice home in the suburbs, children he adores, and a sense of himself as being a mainstream, upper-middle-class American. Cecelia is the last thing from mainstream. For two decades she’s made a living reading palms and performing past-life regressions. She believes firmly in our ability to communicate with those who have passed on.

It will turn out, though, that they have more in common than just their North Dakota roots.

In LUNCH WITH BUDDHA, when Otto faces what might be the greatest of life’s difficulties, it is Cecelia who knows how to help him. As she did years earlier in this book’s predecessor, BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA, she arranges for her brother to travel with Volya Rinpoche, a famous spiritual teacher — who now also happens to be her husband.

After early chapters in which the family gathers for an important event, the novel portrays a road trip made by Otto and Rinpoche, in a rattling pickup, from Seattle to the family farm in North Dakota. Along the way the brothers-in-law have a series of experiences — some hilarious, some poignant — all aimed at bringing Otto a deeper peace of mind. They visit American landmarks; they have a variety of meals, both excellent and awful; they meet a cast of minor characters, each of whom enables Rinpoche to impart some new spiritual lesson. Their conversations range from questions about life and death to talk of history, marijuana, child-rearing, sexuality, Native Americans, and outdoor swimming.

In the end, with the help of their miraculous daughter, Shelsa, and the prodding of Otto’s own almost-adult children, Rinpoche and Cecelia push this decent, middle-of-the-road American into a more profound understanding of the purpose of his life. His sense of the line between possible and impossible is altered, and the story’s ending points him toward a very different way of being in this world. ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 392 pages

Published November 13th 2012 by AJAR Contemporaries (first published January 1st 2012)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Lunch with Buddha, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Spring ACPHS Bookclub

46 books — 9 voters

The Island of Books by Dominique Fortier

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

My 52 Book Challenge 2017

46 books — 3 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.17 ·

Rating details

· 1,938 ratings · 236 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Lunch with Buddha

Nov 03, 2012 Marlowe01247 rated it it was amazing

am notorious for my cynicism. Show me a book that carries an "upbeat" message, and I'll show you a new way to light my wood stove. It's not just the soupiness or the upbeatitude of the message that bothers me, either. After all, we all need our fantasies. Rather it is the implicit arrogance in the proselytism, the smug certainties, and the lack of any sense of irony or humor endemic to this genre.

I love LUNCH WITH BUDDHA,optimism and all, because it lacks all the flaws of the genre I have just am notorious for my cynicism. Show me a book that carries an "upbeat" message, and I'll show you a new way to light my wood stove. It's not just the soupiness or the upbeatitude of the message that bothers me, either. After all, we all need our fantasies. Rather it is the implicit arrogance in the proselytism, the smug certainties, and the lack of any sense of irony or humor endemic to this genre.

I love LUNCH WITH BUDDHA,optimism and all, because it lacks all the flaws of the genre I have just described. It is a very funny book, especially in the richness of its characterizations. It is suitably ironic because none of the major characters, not even the great teacher himself, takes himself or herself too seriously. It is a moving book because the problem it pivots on will belong to half of all people in love, sooner or later. It is a gripping book in the depth of the emotional morass from which Otto, the protagonist, tries so hard to remove himself. It is a brave and honorable book because it takes phonies and bigots severely to task, and even raps the knuckles of cynics like me.

Merullo is a skillful writer with a special talent for plot and character. If he wrote more about sex, he would sell more copies, but he is the kind of author who has to be completely comfortable with what he produces. He writes to satisfy his own standards, to bring enjoyment and knowledge to his readers, and not just to sell copies. He is totally authentic, as honest a writer as one can imagine.

In this novel , which is "spiritual" in both the French and English senses of that world, he recognizes that as repulsive as organized religions might appear to folks like me, that revulsion cannot negate the deep need for a spiritual life in each of us. Hard-wired for wonder, like it or not, even the most rational of us wants to pass through some wardrobe door into a world that doesn't make any sense but does so in a way that is holds some grace, even some beauty.

For me, Dostoevsky offers that kind of experience. You need not be a Christian to accept his sense of true goodness. I feel the same way about Blaise Pascal,that most poetic of mathematicians and most touching of Christian apologists.

Merullo is less specific than either of these. He has no doctrine. No Christian, neither is he anything else easily defined. By the end of this book, however, with all its rollicking action and brilliantly-drawn characters, with all its gentle satire and vivid portraits of the West, I enjoyed a kind of relief, a kind of spiritual easing, that I have not felt in decades.

To tell the truth, that feeling didn't last. But that might be more my fault than the fault of this fine new novel. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2015 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015

First Sentence: JFK was an asylum, a processing plant, a study in chaos - snaking likes, recorded announcements, furious passengers with their taped-up baggage, clerks fielding complaints in the midst of the madness.

Favorite quote: But most of us have our fussy spots, our territories of indulgence, don't we? Coffee, wine, an obsession with watching sports or with travel, cars, or clothing, a passion for hiking, an addiction to sex, work, cocaine, shopping, talking?

I loved this book. It was funny ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2013 Amy rated it liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction, spiritual

I am still trying to process this book. That is why I only gave it 3 stars. I might need to go back and change the rating later, but something about it just didn't sit right with me. I felt Otto was more worried about food than anything else. There was more time spent on his own musing than instruction from Rinpoche.

In Breakfast with Buddha, I felt I was learning right along with Otto. I was coming to new understandings. I was growing. I felt a sense of wonderment and joy at Rinpoche's words. I ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Leah (Books Speak Volumes) rated it liked it

Following the death of his wife, middle-aged Otto travels to Washington State with his two college-age children to spread Jeanie’s ashes at a site special to the couple. After an emotional gathering with his family, he embarks on a road trip across the American West with his sister’s husband, Volya Rinpoche, a world-renowned spiritual man and teacher of Buddhism.

As on the pair’s previous road trip a few years before, Otto tries to teach Rinpoche about American culture and Rinpoche bestows spirit Following the death of his wife, middle-aged Otto travels to Washington State with his two college-age children to spread Jeanie’s ashes at a site special to the couple. After an emotional gathering with his family, he embarks on a road trip across the American West with his sister’s husband, Volya Rinpoche, a world-renowned spiritual man and teacher of Buddhism.

As on the pair’s previous road trip a few years before, Otto tries to teach Rinpoche about American culture and Rinpoche bestows spiritual lessons upon Otto. The two men experience the beautiful bounty of the untamed West while Otto struggles with the loss of his wife and searches for peace of mind through the teachings of the spiritual master.

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I’m all about road trip novels, afflicted by wanderlust as I am, and although I’m not religious, I am interested in the philosophical teachings of different religious traditions. A book about taking a road trip with a Buddhist spiritual leader is right up my alley. However, although I enjoyed this book, I didn’t feel the emotional connection I was hoping for.

I also was thrown off by the little, seemingly false notes Otto senses in Rinpoche. Instead of seeing him entirely as a spiritual, enlightened man, Otto perceives some of Rinpoche’s actions to be phony, an act. For example, Rinpoche, who hails from the Siberian region between China and Russa, seems to speak English worse now than he did when Otto met him many years ago; in the last few years, he has picked up some linguistic quirks that he didn’t have before, such as pronouncing “very” as “wery.” Maybe these observations are more reflective of Otto’s cynicism than Rinpoche’s spiritual sincerity, but they were a little bit off-putting.

Another thing that bothered me was how Otto seems to think everything is about him all the time — everything Rinpoche or his sister, Cecelia, does MUST somehow be a lesson for him. It doesn’t matter how obscure the connection is; Otto WILL figure out how Rinpoche’s wanting to ride a water slide or Seese’s making plans to prolong their trip is meant to teach him some valuable spiritual lesson. It seemed quite self-centered, but maybe that should be expected from a man who is grieving his wife’s death and is on a road trip with a spiritual leader, trying to piece his life back together?

These were really only minor annoyances in a book that I really did enjoy. It was funny and sad and touching, and I love reading about different regions of the U.S. This country is so beautiful, and I feel incredibly lucky to have seen as much of it as I have, but I yearn to travel more and experience the incredible vistas America has to offer. I loved the descriptions of the land, the towns, and the people Otto and Rinpoche met along the road.

Lunch with Buddha is the sequel to Breakfast with Buddha, a novel about Otto’s first road trip with Rinpoche. I haven’t read the first book, but it wasn’t a detriment to my reading experience. The previous trip is alluded to a few times, but I didn’t feel as if I was missing important information for not having read it. Merullo did a great job making this book stand on its own despite being a sequel. I’m not sure if I’ll read Breakfast with Buddha, but Lunch with Buddha was an enjoyable read.

More book reviews at Books Speak Volumes. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 19, 2014 Caroline rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, my-ebooks, religion-buddhism

Parts of this book are better than Breakfast with Buddha, and some parts are worse. Unfortunately, the book is much more depressing, due to its subject matter and events since Breakfast. However, the Buddhist theories are interesting and explained so well by my favorite fictional Tibetan-ish Monk, the Rinpoche. Again, our narrator gets a little irritating and the end is again slightly stupid (I don't mince words). But I am looking forward to Supper or Dinner with Buddha, which is suppose to come ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2017 Rob Bottass rated it really liked it

I expected the sequel to Breakfast with Buddha to fall short of my joy with Merullo's first book in this series. Instead, I was completely satisfied. I won't provide any spoilers; however, the range of emotions this book touches held my attention in every chapter. The audiobook version was well done, as was Breakfast. Can't wait to begin Dinner! ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2013 Lynn rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2018 Kathie rated it really liked it

Perhaps this deserves a 5 star; however, I found it a little slow going through the beginning, unlike "Breakfast with Buddha". Probably, because we already know Otto and Rinpoche, it's six years later, Otto is practicing meditation regularly, and they are on another 6-day road trip. That said, I love Merullo's writing, his humor, his thoughtfulness, his life discussions with "Volvo". There seemed to be less 'teaching' in this book (Rinpoche to Otto) and more of Otto's insights and checking in wi ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2013 Dianneb rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed this very interesting sequel to Breakfast with Buddha, altho I liked Breakfast from the minute I began reading; was part way into Lunch before it really grabbed my attention. The author's descriptions of the states/countryside/people as these 2 travelers make their way from the west coast to North Dakota made me feel like I was right there with them -- and now I want to visit these same locations! As I read the book I wondered how much of the descriptions were authentic and ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2015 Stacy Boyles rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, i-own-audiobook

This book was good but not as good as Breakfast with Buddha. This story deals with Otto Ringling, the main character, losing his wife to a terrible 2 year illness. Soon thereafter, he realizes both of his children will be off at college and he will be all alone. They set out on a family trip once again spending time with his good friend and brother in law, Volya Rinpoche. Volya and Otto's sister have a beautiful and very special daughter which makes the story even more interesting. This extended ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Betty rated it it was amazing

I loved "Breakfast with Buddha" - but this one is even better - and deeper. I love the way Merullo develops Otto's character and gradually takes him to a different level. Otto Ringling in "Lunch with Buddha" would not have been possible without his experiences in 'Breakfast with Buddha." The way Rinpoche shows him that there is more to life than being a good person in the first book enables Otto to slowly develop a more spiritual life, in spite of the tragedy in his life. I can't wait for "Dinne ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2019 Beth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Love this Series

Some months ago I read "Breakfast With Buddha" which I really enjoyed. After that book I knew at some point I wanted to read number two in the series. I really like the two main characters: Otto, a successful cookbook editor living in the New York City area and Rinpoche, a "famous" holy man and brother-in-law to Otto. Their experiences together on a road trip beginning in Washington State are a delight and the best part of this book. Otto is struggling with many doubts after the ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 09, 2018 Caroline rated it it was amazing

I LOVE this series. This novel tracks Otto's grief from the family memorial service for his wife in Washington, thru another roadtrip with Rinpoche (funny but packed with lots of "lessons"), to some growth in his understanding of the interior life. Otto is so relatable and real, someone who struggles with the chaotic mind and dislike of boredom like I do. His progress is realistic and lovely. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2020 Brittany Horton rated it liked it

Covid book #3 - I enjoyed breakfast far more. I doubt I’ll continue in this series but it was good reminder of the Buddhist mindset in this chaotic time.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 27, 2020 Silke rated it it was amazing

As wonderful as the first book. Merullo has such a beautiful, fluid writing style. I can’t wait to start ‚Dinner with Buddha‘!

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 04, 2018 Vic rated it it was amazing

Lunch with Buddha is a sequel to Breakfast with Buddha. A charming, insightful, non-threatening roadtrip for the soul. After Otto Ringling spreads his wife's ashes at a small lake in rural Washington, he embarks on yet another roadtrip with his now brother-in-law, Volya Rinpoche, a spiritual master from the Russian Buddhist tradition, back to North Dakota.

Otto's children have grown since the first book, his son a college athlete and his daughter set to enter her first year of college on the east Lunch with Buddha is a sequel to Breakfast with Buddha. A charming, insightful, non-threatening roadtrip for the soul. After Otto Ringling spreads his wife's ashes at a small lake in rural Washington, he embarks on yet another roadtrip with his now brother-in-law, Volya Rinpoche, a spiritual master from the Russian Buddhist tradition, back to North Dakota.

Otto's children have grown since the first book, his son a college athlete and his daughter set to enter her first year of college on the east coast. Volya has married Otto's sister and started a retreat center in North Dakota on farmland once the property of his parents who were killed in a car accident. Added to the family is a six year old girl, daughter to Volya and Cecilia, who has been identified by her spiritual parents as a great being born into the world to bring change.

Like Breakfast with Buddha, Merullo relies on the formula of the roadtrip to bring Otto and Rinpoche together for an extended period of time. Otto likes and respects his brother-in-law and has, we come to find out, even embraced some of Rinpoche's spiritual teachings and practices during the past six years. But when his wife dies a long and painful death, Otto is thrown into despair and falls out of practice. His heart is heavy. His mind is in turmoil. Recognizing his brother-in-law's pain and discomfort, Rinpoche begins to nudge Otto back towards his abandoned practice, even going so far as to keep suggesting to Otto that he is on the verge of a major breakthrough in understanding.

The storyline is simple. There is no great suspense, no earth shaking revelations, nothing that really sets this book apart except for how genuinely delightful Merullo's words resonate in the heart and soul. The beauty of this book is the ease at which Merullo identifies and invites one to look at the world differently and consider the value of meditation. Along the way his descriptions of the American landscape in the northern and western United States makes one want to get in a car and go see everything Otto and Rinpoche saw as they traveled east.

Merullo writes with a sincerity and emotional honesty that makes it easy to feel Otto's pain. To feel both the loss of a loved one to death and the loss many parents feel when their children are old enough to leave home and step into their lives. Lunch with Buddha is simply a joy to read whether or not you are on a spiritual path.

...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2016 Maria Paiz rated it really liked it

Otto Ringling and his unconventional guru Volya Rimpoche are back, this time trying to make sense of death. Otto's wife has passed away and as he struggles with bereavement, he also faces the fear of his own mortality. As Otto opens his heart to inner life, he realizes that his doubts and fears are simply thoughts, and those may always be observed and altered.

Life constantly blinds us to our truest selves. We have two paths before us: the same way, or a different way. In meditation we can see th ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2018 Melina rated it it was amazing

Wonderful. So honest and funny, despite the deep existential issues that Otto is facing on this one (I'm comparing it with Breakfast with Buddha, of course). I missed Otto and Volya - it was so comforting to be on a road trip with them again. I was genuinely happy for Otto, he gave me hope as to my own internal processes with bereavement and spirituality. I want to start Dinner with Buddha right away but I feel like I need to savor this book a little longer.

Merullo's writing is so elegant. He n ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it

This book follows on the heels of "Breakfast with Buddha" which I also really enjoyed. Both stories involve road trips in which Otto the main character and his friend (now brother in law) Rinpoche have terrific adventures and great conversations. In this book, Otto's wife has recently died and the family is meeting out west to spread her ashes in a loved spot by a river. Otto is trying to deal with his grief and changing relationship with his almost adult children. It deals with weighty subjects ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2013 Rita Graham rated it really liked it

This was an interesting book that combines road trip, spiritual exploration, and life-changing events. The main character lost his wife and began a road trip with his children and brother-in-law who is a spiritual leader. Otto is searching for some understanding of what his life means after the death of
his beloved wife and what the future holds for both himself and his grown children. The author leaves the door just a bit open to the idea that there's
more to life than the things we can measure a ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Rhonda rated it really liked it

I loved Breakfast With Buddha so much I sent copies to my entire family! Now it seems I will have to do the same for Lunch with Buddha! The books are funny, insightful, sometimes sad, but carry an overall uplifting Buddhist message. They are intuitive teachings, learned through "living" the characters' lives. I look forward to Dinner with Buddha! ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2019 Lynn rated it it was amazing

Just like *Breakfast with Buddha*, this one reads like an autobiography. It is so authentic, I have to keep telling myself it’s a work of fiction. A beautiful story. Sort of like reading Ekhardt Tolle as a novel.

I am re-reading this one as well, having just finished for the second time Breakfast with Buddha.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 20, 2019 Sue rated it liked it

Shelves: spirituality

I must have missed something. I had high hopes for this book after loving the first. If there was any humor, It was lost among the cynicism and sad resignation. The narrator’s tone reminded me of a pedantic priest’s Sunday sermon, slow and plodding. I only lasted until chapter 8 before giving up on this audiobook.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 M rated it liked it

I was somewhat disappointed in this book, which I did not like nearly as much as Breakfast with Buddha. I need to read it again, though.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2013 Mike Radice rated it it was amazing

Loved this book. Otto and Rinpoche are funny, interesting and complicated characters and I love their journeys together. I hope Roland writes as his next book, "Dinner with Buddha." ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2020 Jane rated it liked it

Mildly adequate, definitely not as good as Breakfast with Buddha. Even though Otto Ringling has been meditating for six years and getting 1/1 time with Rinpoche, now a well-known and much beloved spiritual teacher, Otto's more disgruntled, cynical, and self-absorbed than ever before. Merullo gives him good cause with the plot set up: Otto just lost his wife Jeannie to a three-year battle with cancer. At least that's what I think it was, there's not a lot of detail on the disease. It's all about Mildly adequate, definitely not as good as Breakfast with Buddha. Even though Otto Ringling has been meditating for six years and getting 1/1 time with Rinpoche, now a well-known and much beloved spiritual teacher, Otto's more disgruntled, cynical, and self-absorbed than ever before. Merullo gives him good cause with the plot set up: Otto just lost his wife Jeannie to a three-year battle with cancer. At least that's what I think it was, there's not a lot of detail on the disease. It's all about Otto, not what he's doing to celebrate Jeannie, or how he's helping his kids, or doing anything positive. But I speak from a position of privilege having never lost a spouse. Breakfast with Buddha had more levity to charm and bemuse the reader, this installment felt slow and plodding. Rinpoche too seems almost melancholy and reserved most of the time, brooding over some secret fear about his daughter Shelsa, who they have great hopes will be the next great spiritual leader of our time. But there's so much unknown threat and darkness hovering over this book, not at all in line with the tone of the first. This installment is almost a better travel novel than a spiritual one, and I now want to visit the Boiling River in Yellowstone and Leavenworth for it's Bavarian delights.
The part that bothered me most was that Merullo did such a great job describing religion and spiritual concepts in an open and easy way... and then he gets preachy about the political stuff! If a major component of Buddhism is to live and let live... how do you explain Otto's conversations with the couple in the Cave B restaurant and their anti-gay/conversion agenda? Or his interaction with the hateful hitch-hiker Rundy? Otto defaults to dismissal and condemnation of these folks! Has Rinpoche ever done that with Otto?! As a teacher the whole point is to accept that people need to know better before they can do better. Rinpoche always meets Otto where he's at, never forces, just guides the student to let them form their own conclusions. While you can't exactly "accept" hatred, you can listen to people to understand why they think that way and ask probing questions to get them to examine their own viewpoints. I know many of us are not good at this, it's easier to say than do, but with Otto having a chance to observe Rinpoche 1/1 on this cross country trip you would think he would have picked up some pointers by osmosis. Or it would have been far more interesting to have Merullo set up these scenes to include Rinpoche so the reader could learn how to navigate these conversations, and use as a road map for future encounters. That would have been truly enlightening. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 18, 2019 BookSweetie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, series, humor, book-group-r, 2019

Great for book group discussions.

Lunch with Buddha By Roland Merullo is the second in a three book fictional series that begins with the delightful Breakfast with Buddha where we meet the core characters : Otto Ringling, a NYC food book editor transplanted from a Dakota farm upbringing and Volya “Rinpoche” the Siberian monk thrown in prison for ten years before becoming an American immigrant.

The two very different characters go on a mutually enlightening road trip together in both the first an Great for book group discussions.

Lunch with Buddha By Roland Merullo is the second in a three book fictional series that begins with the delightful Breakfast with Buddha where we meet the core characters : Otto Ringling, a NYC food book editor transplanted from a Dakota farm upbringing and Volya “Rinpoche” the Siberian monk thrown in prison for ten years before becoming an American immigrant.

The two very different characters go on a mutually enlightening road trip together in both the first and second books. ( I haven’t yet read the third Dinner with Buddha book so I can’t say.)

The first book’s road trip goes westward from NY/NJ to the Dakotas while the second book’s trip goes eastward from the Pacific coast of Washington state to the Dakota farm.

This second book Lunch with Buddha worked well as a book group selection even for those who hadn’t read the first book.

I personally was glad to have begun with “Breakfast” because the second book begins on a somewhat more serious note, and the road trip with Otto and Volya is delayed for a significant number of pages, delaying the richness and humor of both books, since those both increase — along with my personal reading enjoyment—when Otto and Volya are traveling together.

The paperback contains an author interview and book group questions.

In our co-ed book group, one male — who had not read Breakfast with Buddha —upon finishing Lunch with Buddha (a day or so before our meeting) went immediately to get Dinner with Buddha and was excited to be starting that.

Another reader who had read and thoroughly enjoyed both the Breakfast and Lunch books did not wish to read Dinner. These two books were positive in tone. She envisioned a risk of the tone shifting; she sensed that something tragic might happen in the third book to a character or characters that she was fond of, given certain ambiguous comments in Lunch. Her recognition of the fear and loathing of some “unenlightened” humans towards “unfamiliar” different other humans made her wary. Several others of us also had the sense of something foreboding lurking in the future book but that was definitely an interpretation —and even among those in the oh-oh group, we each imagined quite different scenarios, some more and some rather less emotionally distressing.

I guess I am invested enough in the characters to see what life throws at them and how they deal with whatever that is. Kudos to the author.

...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 16, 2018 Paul Manytravels rated it really liked it

Shelves: deep-ideas-thought, well-above-average, fiction, philosophy-or-spirituality, thought-provoking

My first experience with reading Roland Merullo was "Dinner with Buddha," the third in his Buddha series of which Lunch with Buddha was the second. All three of the "Buddha" books were excellent and I have also read four other Merullo books which were also excellent.
Lunch with Buddha, like the other spiritual fiction books penned by Merullo, depicts a journey wherein various incidents allow for spiritual lessons, making the journey both a physical journey as well as a spiritual one. Each book w ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 30, 2018 Mark Robison rated it really liked it

There was one scene where I wanted to stop reading and write a vitriolic review about how the book went off the rails. And I might have, but not too long after, there was a passage that fit seamlessly into the storytelling where the narrator mentions that sometimes when reading a book, something will happen and you'll want to say, “That’s false, that’s a false note.” It doesn’t ruin the book, he says, but it’s memorable. If that little acknowledgment about what happened a few scenes earlier hadn ...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 18, 2018 Almira rated it it was amazing

Remember Otto Ringling and The Rinpoche's journey from New Jersey to Dickinson, North Dakota?
Well, they are at it again!

As much as I enjoyed Breakfast with Buddha, I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, Lunch with Buddha. Maybe because it starts out on Whidbey Island (WA) sister island to Camano Island (WA) where I live. Roland did excellent research on Whidbey Island and the local areas of Western Washington state, along with all the other places Otto and The Rinpoche traveled in this book.

There are ...more

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fiction

53 users

Spirituality

13 users

Philosophy

7 users

Religion

6 users

Religion > Buddhism

6 users

Novels

5 users

Inspirational

5 users

Contemporary

5 users

Realistic Fiction

3 users

Audiobook

2 users

See top shelves…

About Roland Merullo

Roland Merullo

461 followers

ROLAND MERULLO is an awarding-winning author of 24 books including 17 works of fiction: Breakfast with Buddha, a nominee for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, now in its 20th printing; The Talk-Funny Girl, a 2012 ALEX Award Winner and named a "Must Read" by the Massachusetts Library Association and the Massachusetts Center for the Book; Vatican Waltz named one of the Best Books of 201 ...more

Other books in the series

Breakfast with Buddha series (3 books)

Books by Roland Merullo

More…

News & Interviews

Kazuo Ishiguro: A Dystopian Book in Dystopian Times

Kazuo Ishiguro insists he’s an optimist about technology. “I'm not one of these people who thinks it's going to come and destroy us,” he...

Trivia About Lunch with Buddha

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Lunch with Buddha

“My father he always say that the oil is already inside the student, already there from all time. The teacher only has a match and makes it light, and then the student isn’t a student anymore, just a friend, going the same way down the dark road but seeing now by himself.” — 2 likes

“The real work was the identification of those aspects of yourself that led to what he called “the negative emotions”—anger, envy, bitterness, greed, cynicism, hatred and the like—things that poured hurt into an already overfull world.” — 1 likes

More quotes…