Zen and the Art of Falling in Love - Charlotte Kasl

Could not find more apt book to read on a Valentine month. But it wasn't worth the effort. Once again, I was fooled by the title and the blurb , which said " ....draws upon a range of spiritual traditions - from Christianity to Buddhism - to reveal how we can forge lasting , meaningful relashionships...". So was the credentials of the author.

Zen and the Art of Falling in Love, as the title suggest is a guide to all those seeking relationship. However, there isn't anything spiritual about it apart from the initial pages. The book divided into 6 parts, and only the first part that really deal with the spiritual and religious aspect of life and love. For me that was the only interesting part of the whole reading. There are lot of references to the Buddist and Sufi way of living with lot many anecdotes and stories. The rest of the part follows the typical 'how to' guides of dating , engagement , first encounter, love at first sight kind of discussion. The book is intended to the western and American audience, hence there is little that make sense to this part of the world. Here there is still a strong influence of the family and society on the individuals life and their partners. Some of the inhibitions of the western individuals may not be applicable here to the same degree of relevance.

To retain the spiritual nature of the work ,there are quotes from the verses of Khalil Jibran and Jalaluddin Rumi, through out this book. However, that alone does not make the book a better read. May be I am the wrong reader for this kind of books.

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Zen and the Art of Falling in Love ( 1999 )

Charlotte Kasl

Bantom Books

268 Pages

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