SEX, DRUGS AND A BUDDHIST MONK

 SEX, DRUGS AND A BUDDHIST MONK

Reviewed By  Ian Banks       November 5, 2022

 

Author  Luke Kennedy.

Distributor:      Gelding Street Press.
ISBN:                 9781922579218
Publisher:         Gelding Street Press.
Release Date:   September 2022  

Website:    https://www.geldingstreetpress.com 

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A STEPPING STONE TOWARDS A SILENT MIND.

Luke Kennedy was a man who walked on the very tough side of town. Hard drinking, drug using, street fighting and general thuggery was an everyday part of his life. Obese and in a state of depression he was seriously considering and working hard, at getting his life in order, but decided he would have one last fling on the wild side and headed for Thailand.

On a visit to ‘Khaowong Phrachan Temple’ Luke was standing behind a Buddhist monk when he felt an amazing sense of peace descend upon him. As the monk climbed the stairs Luke followed, asking questions all the way until he was asked to stop, to ‘Just be silent’, as the monk was a devotee on a pilgrimage.

He continued to party hard and after a huge row with his brother Ruben, jumped on his motorbike and ended up crashing which saw him land in a Thai hospital, broken and dispirited. This proved to the pivotal point in his life as nothing went even vaguely according to plan from that point onwards. Not only did his travel insurance fall short of covering his medical bills, he ended up still in Thailand but far from healed.

Discharged form Hospital with a huge debt, he and his brother Ruben decided to try and get a flight back to Australia but plans once again were thwarted with a major protest at the Airport, and life went downhill from there; back into the old world of drugs, sex and violence Thai style.

From that seriously ‘rock bottom moment’, Luke truly began to turn his life around and is now a sought after speaker, mentor and much more to trouble youth from all walks of life.

His story is perhaps not so remarkable in some ways, as it could almost be the story of so many young men and women who push back at society, who walk down a troubled and violent pathway. It is inspirational in that it does show that with determination a destructive life pathway can change.

Sex. Drugs and a Buddhist Monk is an inspirational read and one that has been told from an almost cathartic perspective, truthful and fascinating. It is an interesting side note that when he was at his lowest point in Thailand he began to look back at his family, the influence they had on his early life, his childhood religious beliefs and their place in his life, then realized that family were perhaps by far one of the most important aspects of his life.

Biographies, Non Fiction