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Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic
Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic brings back two main characters from Roland Merullo's beloved Breakfast with Buddha series. This time, though, instead of cruising the American road together, Otto Ringling and Volya Rinpoche are part of the famous meditation master's offbeat weight loss clinic, held over the course of ten Saturdays in a New York City yoga studio.
Known-across twenty books, scores of essays, and twenty-five years of publishing-for being willing to try his hand at an unusually wide variety of themes, subjects, and genres, here Merullo works for the first time in the novella form, putting together a deft, moving, and tightly compressed tale that includes his trademark mix of spiritual inquiry and ordinary human emotions.
While it does not promise to help listeners with their troublesome eating habits or other addictions, Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic does look at those painful issues from a fresh angle, one full of sympathy and wisdom. It will certainly please lovers of the Breakfast with Buddha series, and perhaps bring new fans to the hundreds of thousands who've already enjoyed the travels and conversations of Otto and his enlightened teacher.
Known-across twenty books, scores of essays, and twenty-five years of publishing-for being willing to try his hand at an unusually wide variety of themes, subjects, and genres, here Merullo works for the first time in the novella form, putting together a deft, moving, and tightly compressed tale that includes his trademark mix of spiritual inquiry and ordinary human emotions.
While it does not promise to help listeners with their troublesome eating habits or other addictions, Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic does look at those painful issues from a fresh angle, one full of sympathy and wisdom. It will certainly please lovers of the Breakfast with Buddha series, and perhaps bring new fans to the hundreds of thousands who've already enjoyed the travels and conversations of Otto and his enlightened teacher.
66 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 11, 2016
43 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Roland Merullo
39 books695 followersROLAND 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 2013 by Publishers Weekly; Lunch with Buddha selected as one of the Best Books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews; Revere Beach Boulevard named one of the "Top 100 Essential Books of New England" by the Boston Globe; A Little Love Story chosen as one of "Ten Wonderful Romance Novels" by Good Housekeeping, Revere Beach Elegy winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction, and Once Night Falls, selected as a "First Read" by Amazon Editors.
A former writer in residence at North Shore Community College and Miami Dade Colleges, and professor of Creative Writing at Bennington, Amherst and Lesley Colleges, Merullo has been a guest speaker at many literary events and venues and a faculty member at MFA programs and several writers’ conferences. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Merullo's books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, German, Chinese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Czech.
A former writer in residence at North Shore Community College and Miami Dade Colleges, and professor of Creative Writing at Bennington, Amherst and Lesley Colleges, Merullo has been a guest speaker at many literary events and venues and a faculty member at MFA programs and several writers’ conferences. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Merullo's books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, German, Chinese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Czech.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 25, 2018
Those who may not know of Merullo's "Rinpoche" from his three Buddha novels (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) could possibly think this is a book about dieting. But it's not. It's a book about the mind and the heart. I can't say much more than that except anyone would love it. Volya Rinpoche is one of my top five favorite characters ever, and I hope I get to meet him again soon in future pages of a Merullo novel.
November 21, 2016
Ronald Merullo is one of my new favorite authors. I love the unique blending of spirituality with creativity, literature, and humor. I gain new insight and new joy from every one of his books, and this is no exception. This is not a weight-loss book - don't be fooled by the title. This is a book about addressing the issues in the mind that can lead to over-indulgence and lack of will power. Through use of the techniques in the book to address the issues in the mind, one can gain the strength of will to lose weight or address other challenges in life.
April 2, 2016
Short novella which takes only an equally short time to read. I admit that I thought the book was a weight loss lesson. It is NOT! But reading the book, which involves some interesting and funny characters, should provide the reader with 'food for thought' fo achieving weight loss or any other goal that one desired. Rinoche explains that it is the mind which controls. Yes, we should know that, but certainly, his encouragement to meditate should push us toward the mind-control direction.
I was a lucky winner of the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I was a lucky winner of the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
May 28, 2021
I am so absolutely in love with Roland Merullo's fictitious character, Rinpoche, (a character my heart and Soul refuse to believe is fictional), that, as I told the author in an email to him, I will happily read any story, or any book in which the Rinpoche appears. "Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic" is a perfect example of my steadfast devotion, and I loved every minute of it!
July 29, 2022
Very short novella. I guess it's a bit like a snack for those hungry for more Rinpoche after reading Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinnner with Buddha.
February 4, 2021
Ronald Merullo is such an inviting writer! Don't know what I would have thought of this one had I not read the three previous books in which the narrator and Rinpoche were the main characters. Those books are Breakfast with Buddha, Lunch with Buddha and Dinner with Buddha. This novella is a departure from those much-loved books not just by being short but because short as they are, they are still packed with meaning about people and relationships. The thread of Buddhist thought and meditation running through all four are a gift to me, helping me reach into those realms and bring a new freshness into my practice. Like all good teachers, Merullo is adept at "show, don't tell". And it is such fun to startle my husband, Roger, when I'm reading and laughing my head off!
November 23, 2020
This Buddhist Loved It
Got hooked on Merullo while reading Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with Buddha. Weight Loss Clinic was a very satisfying read.
Got hooked on Merullo while reading Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with Buddha. Weight Loss Clinic was a very satisfying read.
July 8, 2020
"How could you be angry at love?"
"'Other program, other ree-jeem, they focus on no sugar, or no bread, or exercise wery hard. Okay, not bad, this ree-jeem. But imbalance starts in mind, and if you don't fix mind, you don't fix problem no matter what you don't ever eat.'"
"But the seeds of that evening's argument weren't planted in rational soil."
"He was just so sure. If he made a small mistake, misremembered something, pointed the car in the wrong direction on a trip, he'd admit it. But I'm talking here about the larger issues, questions of judgment, of ethics, of morality, of meaning. He never seemed shaken by those, and he wasn't shaken then either."
"I wondered if he and my sister had ever once had a real, knock-down, drag-out spousal spat. Watching him endure the slings and arrows of the Cohort of Complaint, that possibility seemed to fall somewhere on the spectrum between highly unlikely and absolutely impossible."
"'I remember the thing you said on day one, about us being perfect on some level. Sometimes when I make love with my girlfriend I feel that. And one time when I was meditating at home I felt that. For about two minutes. And when I got up from meditating I kept feeling it for a while. Then it went away. Nothing like that ever happened to me before in my life. Maybe it will never happen again. But I won't forget it. For two minutes, without sex or booze or drugs, I felt, you know, all right about myself for the first time in thirty years."
"'I think the reason maybe because addiction has good friends with pain.'"
"Anytime you see addiction, you see pain is close by. What takes away the pain sometimes is the love, but maybe the addicted person too ashamed for this love, doesn't want it, doesn't let it inside, hurts other people sometime to keep away this love. So in this meditation now we do the opposite. We let love come to us. We sit and we remember somebody who loved us wery much! Maybe was father, mother, brother, sister, wife, husband, daughter, son, best friend, doesn't matter. We remember this person, this love. Anytime our mind goes away, we come back to this feeling that someone loves us. We remember it. We feel it. A simple meditation---maybe you can laugh at---but I ask for you to watch how many things get in the way, how many times we feel that love was no good, we didn't deserve, isn't real. Or maybe we can't find somebody and we have to imagine, maybe a God who love us. Jesus, maybe. Buddha. Sometimes we feel like even Buddha and Jesus can't love us, yes?'"
"'Other program, other ree-jeem, they focus on no sugar, or no bread, or exercise wery hard. Okay, not bad, this ree-jeem. But imbalance starts in mind, and if you don't fix mind, you don't fix problem no matter what you don't ever eat.'"
"But the seeds of that evening's argument weren't planted in rational soil."
"He was just so sure. If he made a small mistake, misremembered something, pointed the car in the wrong direction on a trip, he'd admit it. But I'm talking here about the larger issues, questions of judgment, of ethics, of morality, of meaning. He never seemed shaken by those, and he wasn't shaken then either."
"I wondered if he and my sister had ever once had a real, knock-down, drag-out spousal spat. Watching him endure the slings and arrows of the Cohort of Complaint, that possibility seemed to fall somewhere on the spectrum between highly unlikely and absolutely impossible."
"'I remember the thing you said on day one, about us being perfect on some level. Sometimes when I make love with my girlfriend I feel that. And one time when I was meditating at home I felt that. For about two minutes. And when I got up from meditating I kept feeling it for a while. Then it went away. Nothing like that ever happened to me before in my life. Maybe it will never happen again. But I won't forget it. For two minutes, without sex or booze or drugs, I felt, you know, all right about myself for the first time in thirty years."
"'I think the reason maybe because addiction has good friends with pain.'"
"Anytime you see addiction, you see pain is close by. What takes away the pain sometimes is the love, but maybe the addicted person too ashamed for this love, doesn't want it, doesn't let it inside, hurts other people sometime to keep away this love. So in this meditation now we do the opposite. We let love come to us. We sit and we remember somebody who loved us wery much! Maybe was father, mother, brother, sister, wife, husband, daughter, son, best friend, doesn't matter. We remember this person, this love. Anytime our mind goes away, we come back to this feeling that someone loves us. We remember it. We feel it. A simple meditation---maybe you can laugh at---but I ask for you to watch how many things get in the way, how many times we feel that love was no good, we didn't deserve, isn't real. Or maybe we can't find somebody and we have to imagine, maybe a God who love us. Jesus, maybe. Buddha. Sometimes we feel like even Buddha and Jesus can't love us, yes?'"
July 27, 2020
Short little novella that I savored over an hour or so. Otto is back, he's at home in NYC and put on a few pounds. Rinpoche has developed a 10-week weight loss clinic, though little do the participants know that the focus will be on the mental and spiritual more than the physical in terms of the weekly meetings and guidelines.
Basic and cute story, nothing earth shattering here. Unfortunately my standards were too high. It's not a fair comparison but I read French Women Don't Get Fat about 10 years ago and it focused on the same concepts about mindful eating. However, that novel was far more elevated because of the vastly higher quality of writing and the recipes and cultural context. Merullo once again disappoints because he can't seem to pick up a character where he left them at the conclusion of the last installment in a series. It's like a foreign concept to the author. So even though at the conclusion of Dinner with Buddha we left Otto on the verge of a family trip to Italy with his daughter Shelsa and his crazy sister and beloved brother-in-law, now we have Otto back in NYC, still depressed and mourning the death of his wife Jeannie. It's like the Lunch and Dinner books never happened. Sigh.
Basic and cute story, nothing earth shattering here. Unfortunately my standards were too high. It's not a fair comparison but I read French Women Don't Get Fat about 10 years ago and it focused on the same concepts about mindful eating. However, that novel was far more elevated because of the vastly higher quality of writing and the recipes and cultural context. Merullo once again disappoints because he can't seem to pick up a character where he left them at the conclusion of the last installment in a series. It's like a foreign concept to the author. So even though at the conclusion of Dinner with Buddha we left Otto on the verge of a family trip to Italy with his daughter Shelsa and his crazy sister and beloved brother-in-law, now we have Otto back in NYC, still depressed and mourning the death of his wife Jeannie. It's like the Lunch and Dinner books never happened. Sigh.
October 30, 2023
This JUST came out as an Audible Audiobook and the same wonderful reader took on this wonderful little gem of a book. The more time I can spend with Rinp and Otto the better! LOVE this! I missed it when I listened to the whole series and was meaning to get to it...then the newsletter announced it was being produced! Ta Da! This is a story, not a method...and yet it can be! Gentle, open, another triumph from Merullo! I have even started following Rinp's advice! A bonus on top of a lovely story.
Sean Runnette is a brilliant reader. Now that I have finished the series I shall miss his Otto...ah heck, I'll just go back and listen to them all again; he's that good, the books are that good.
Sean Runnette is a brilliant reader. Now that I have finished the series I shall miss his Otto...ah heck, I'll just go back and listen to them all again; he's that good, the books are that good.
September 27, 2024
As a serial dieter since high school I have learned a few things: quick weight loss strategies work but don't last because they aren't sustainable; how you think about food (why you overeat) is important, and to be successful for the long term you have to get control of your mind before you can control your habits. So I completely understood what Rimpoche was doing from the start. And it reminded me that I had let a few good habits slip (my tighter pants reminded me too)and it was time to get my mind back in the game.
I have read all the "with Buddah" books and keep them in my kindle library to read again.
I started my 10 weeks yesterday.
I have read all the "with Buddah" books and keep them in my kindle library to read again.
I started my 10 weeks yesterday.
April 7, 2018
Rinpoche is probably my favorite character, and in this novella he remains wonderful, humorous, b enlightened, and wise. The only problem with this little book is that it is too short. (Novellas do that....) Rinpoche's insights about eating problems are spot-on, too. Having had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Buddha and Rinpoche, I hope for dessert, after dinner coffee, and nightcaps, too.
June 24, 2019
There's just something about this book that didn't engage my interest the way Merullo's Buddha trilogy did. It seems like it's a literary fragment in search of a larger framework. Someone commented that Weight Loss Clinic is really more a long short story than a novella. I'm not sure it's even that.
March 7, 2018
Magnificent.
Thought provoking, sad a little, funny, moving. So many lessons..the best if which is we need to love ourselves as others do. Short, but just long enough. Bravo! And many thanks. 👏
Thought provoking, sad a little, funny, moving. So many lessons..the best if which is we need to love ourselves as others do. Short, but just long enough. Bravo! And many thanks. 👏
April 17, 2018
The Otto and Rinpoche adventures are always a pleasure to read. And, while not intent on being a weight loss guide, there is probably some sound advice for a thoughtful approach to eating. My only complaint, it was too short. I always want to read more by this author.
March 5, 2019
I could t help but notice the reviews advising this is not a weight loss book. I have a different perspective. If we follow the advice in this book and stick to it we will lose weight.
Although the story does give lessons and lots of humor. Definitely a must read.
Although the story does give lessons and lots of humor. Definitely a must read.
August 30, 2017
It was very short.
It had some practical diet advice in it.
I liked the characters but was a little disappointed at the end with the sudden disappearance.
It had some practical diet advice in it.
I liked the characters but was a little disappointed at the end with the sudden disappearance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2018
What a little gem~! At 66 pages, it's a novella with a mission, & like all of Otto & Rinpoche's conversations -- it's well worth a listen. Lovely.
June 26, 2023
Truly one of my favorite authors yet again inspires me to look at things differently, more deeply. A great short read that left me wanting more!
Read
May 6, 2024Delightful and effective.
November 17, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyable.
January 14, 2025
3-1/2 stars! “Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic” brings back two main characters from Roland Merullo's beloved Buddha Trilogy (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner with Buddha), which I absolutely adored!
In this novella, Otto Ringling and Volya Rinpoche are part of the famous meditation master's offbeat weight loss clinic, held over the course of ten Saturdays in a New York City yoga studio.
I enjoyed it but only because I read the complete Buddha series, including Dessert with Buddha, before reading this. Personally, I think you need to read the series, to appreciate this book, I don’t feel like this novella would be a stand alone book for anyone who can’t appreciate these characters.
In this novella, Otto Ringling and Volya Rinpoche are part of the famous meditation master's offbeat weight loss clinic, held over the course of ten Saturdays in a New York City yoga studio.
I enjoyed it but only because I read the complete Buddha series, including Dessert with Buddha, before reading this. Personally, I think you need to read the series, to appreciate this book, I don’t feel like this novella would be a stand alone book for anyone who can’t appreciate these characters.
February 24, 2016
I love Merullo's dining with Buddha series and was pleasantly surprised to see this new addition. It's a novella and a quick read. It's good, but it doesn't feel like a novella. It feels like the slightly fleshed out outline for a book. I wanted more detail about the characters, what they were doing, and more words from Rinpoche. It almost feels like Merullo had an idea for a novel but just wasn't that into it, so let it drop at this. It could be so much more....
Mr. Merullo, please expand on it and make it into a "real" book. If that is not possible, I will just sit and wait for Dessert with Buddha.
Mr. Merullo, please expand on it and make it into a "real" book. If that is not possible, I will just sit and wait for Dessert with Buddha.
January 2, 2017
Rinpoche's Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic is not a how-to diet book. It is a great New Year's Day read to give the new year a fresh perspective on what we do and why we do it. This novella is a gentle reminder that frequently our addictions eminate from a mental not biological source. I plan to use a couple of Mr. Merullo's suggestions as I begin 2017.
I received this book through goodreads.
I received this book through goodreads.
March 6, 2016
While understanding that this is a novella, rather than a full novel like Merullo's Breakfast with Buddha and Lunch with Buddha (I still look forward to reading Dinner with Buddha), I was disappointed with the lack of depth here. As another reviewer mentioned, this seems more like an outline of a novel than a novella. Merullo could have done so much more with this story.
April 28, 2016
Great thought provoking read!
July 4, 2016
Very short... Essentially a short story, and perhaps not enjoyable if you have not read the other Rinpoche books... But sweet, surprisingly profound, and satisfying.
December 22, 2016
I always enjoy his books, this short novel was a nice surprise.
October 11, 2017
I have read all of Merullo's Rinpoche books and walk away from each one with a greater understanding of how life is meant to be lived. This is a short book, filled with wise advice.
June 24, 2024
I can't get enough of Ronlan Merullo and Rinpoche!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews