What images come to mind when you hear the word Buddhism? For many, they are images popularized by Hollywood as a mystical world, quaint and rustic; a temple of photogenically peeling paint, romantically overgrown courtyard, and a picaresque Buddha image suitably ancient and ornate. If we add a saffron-robed monk with an inscrutable expression who speaks in riddles and proverbs, then the picture is nearly perfect. Lights, camera, action! Into this scene enters a protagonist who is obsessed with wealth or status but whose soul, despite himself, longs for something “more”; and by seeing the simplicity of the monk’s life, a life of no wealth, property, or even modern appliances, the protagonist learns about the important things in life. Does this all sound familiar and even cliché? That’s because it is.