Mediocre Monk - by Grant Lindsley (Paperback)

About the Book

"Funny, perceptive, and deeply personal, Mediocre Monk follows Grant Lindsley's rocky journey toward spiritual growth--one that ultimately leads him to places he never imagined. After the sudden death of a friend, Grant Lindsley abandons his corporate job to train as a monk in one of the strictest Buddhist traditions on earth. Lost and bereft, he believes he can find answers in the mountains of Thailand. He shaves his head and eyebrows, eats one bowl of food a day, and lives in a cave, his solitude punctuated by brushes with snakes, scorpions, and drug smugglers. But Lindsley can't transform himself into the profound guru he envisions--he's hungry, restless, and lacking in the humility that monkhood requires. Eventually, he exhausts himself into moments of genuine growth, but not in the way he expects. Rather than transcending grief and becoming entirely self-reliant, he is surprised to find solace in allowing pain and reopening himself to community. For anyone who has nurtured a fantasy of dropping out in search of answers, Mediocre Monk suggests a reality that is far more complicated--and rewarding."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

"I loved--and to a slightly uncomfortable degree related to--this book."

Charles Bethea, staff writer at The New Yorker

Funny, perceptive, and deeply personal, Mediocre Monk follows Grant Lindsley's rocky journey toward spiritual growth--one that ultimately leads him to places he never imagined.

After the sudden death of a friend, Grant Lindsley abandons his corporate job to train as a monk in one of the strictest Buddhist traditions on earth. Lost and bereft, he believes he can find answers in the mountains of Thailand. He shaves his head and eyebrows, eats one bowl of food a day, and lives in a cave, his solitude punctuated by brushes with snakes, scorpions, and drug smugglers.

But Lindsley can't transform himself into the profound guru he envisions--he's hungry, restless, and lacking in the humility that monkhood requires. Eventually, he exhausts himself into moments of genuine growth, but not in the way he expects. Rather than transcending grief and becoming entirely self-reliant, he is surprised to find solace in allowing pain and reopening himself to community.

For anyone who has nurtured a fantasy of dropping out in search of answers, Mediocre Monk suggests a reality that is far more complicated--and rewarding.

Review Quotes

"If you start reading this book, you are very likely to finish it. If you like rolling your eyes at earnest autobiographies, you won't get much chance to do that here. You will smile a lot, and probably laugh. And you'll come to understand and appreciate what a stealth insight looks like: the small 'OK, got it, moving on' followed, hours later, by the 'Ohhhh, OK.' Read the first page; you'll see." --Allan Filipowicz, clinical professor of management and organizations at Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management

"Honest and intimate, Lindsley's arresting account of his time in the forests of Thailand speaks to struggles at once deeply personal yet universal: love, grief, desire, self-doubt, and the ever-urgent question of how to live this one precious life." --Megan Molteni, STAT

"Grant Lindsley's Mediocre Monk is a page-turning true story of [a] spiritual quest as riveting and thought-provoking as any you will ever read. It is funny and serious and searching and heartbreaking and unforgettable in every way, with crisp prose and a voice that rings out from the darkness of human misunderstanding and tries its level best to brighten the path for us. Lindsley has created The Razor's Edge for our time in Mediocre Monk, a work of great intelligence, honesty, humility, and literary value, and it will change your life as much as Lindsley's experiences in Thailand have changed him." --Mike Magnuson, author of Lummox: The Evolution of a Man

"Grant Lindsley's lived a life unlike anyone I know, but while reading this book, I couldn't help see[ing] myself in his story. There are lessons here for anyone who's searched for answers within and found connection with others. Plus, it's very funny. I'm glad Lindsley's vow of silence is over and he's chosen to share this with us." --Jody Avirgan, 30 for30, "Good Sport" (TED), FiveThirtyEight

"Mediocre Monk is a brutally honest and self-aware telling of a story familiar to us all: the shock of an unexpected loss, a search for meaning in its wake, and the wanting of validation from your peers. Lindsley knows who he is, and his memoir knows what it should be. It's a fascinating look behind the curtain of Buddhism in far-off places many of us will never traverse, viewed with the critical eye of a millennial Westerner. But it's also a funny, self-deprecating mockery of who Lindsley thought he was as a young man and an honest reckoning of what you can learn from months in solitary meditation." --Isaac Saul, founder of Tangle News

"It doesn't seem fair that a world-class athlete can also be such a gifted writer, but Grant Lindsley's extraordinary story is simultaneously gripping and masterfully crafted. In his painfully personal journey, you'll feel transported into the mysterious world of a remote monastery, a place that seems both beautiful and excruciating. An enjoyable and thought-provoking read, Mediocre Monk is powerful, fascinating, and deeply honest." --Evan Lepler, ESPN

"Grant Lindsley's must-read book, Mediocre Monk, isn't just a humorous, honest tale about his quest for enlightenment. Lindsley learns to see himself in everyone from hard-core monks to those who embrace the materialistic world he leaves behind. Most importantly, Lindsley's fabulous book serves as a mirror through which you can see yourself." --Andrew Hallam, international bestselling author of Balance and Millionaire Teacher.