An engagingly contemporary approach to Buddhism - through the lens of
an iconic film and its memorable characters
Humorous yet spiritually rigorous, drawing from pop culture and from
personal experience, The Dharma of "The Princess Bride" teaches us how
to understand and navigate our most important personal relationships
from a 21st-century Buddhist perspective.
Friendship. Romance. Family. These are the three areas Ethan Nichtern
delves into, taking as departure points the indelible characters -
Westley, Fezzik, Vizzini, Count Rugen, Princess Buttercup, and others
from Rob Reiner's perennially popular film - as he also draws lessons
from his own life and his work as a meditation teacher. Nicthern devotes
the first section of the book to exploring the dynamics of friendship.
Why do people become friends? What can we learn from the sufferings of
Inigo Montoya and Fezzik?
Next, he leads us through all the phases of illusion and disillusion we
encounter in our romantic pursuits, providing a healthy dose of
lightheartedness along the way by sharing his own Princess Buttercup
List and the vicissitudes of his dating life as he ponders how we
idealize and objectify romantic love. Finally, Nichtern draws upon the
demands of his own family history and the film's character the Grandson
to explore the dynamics of "the last frontier of awakening," a reference
to his teacher Chogyam Trungpa's claim that it's possible to be
enlightened everywhere except around your family.
With The Dharma of "The Princess Bride" in hand, we can set out on the
path to contemporary Buddhist enlightenment with the most important
relationships in our lives.
