Moral Fiber by Shawn Vij – The Book Blog Review

Shawn Vij’s debut title Moral Fiber has done more than one could have expected from the first work by any new author to do. This might be because Shawn Vij is an established brand in the business industry. However, is that enough for a book to become a bestseller or do exceptionally good? Perhaps not! We have to accept, reluctantly or willingly, that the content of the book matters more than anything else in terms of book’s success and Moral Fiber has wonderfully been written with a theme which authors do not touch very frequently. Shawn has written about business ethics, one’s personality and one’s resolve not to compromise one’s soul for the business gains. Not many authors might have done this kind of writing…

Moral Fiber is inspired by the author’s own interests and beliefs in the Buddhist way of life, The Dalai Lama and explorations in the ancient Buddhist scriptures. Though it is certainly not right for anyone to claim that everyone should do what one has done and found okay, Shawn has not been forceful but certainly, he has (seemingly and apparently) emphasised more and more on Buddhist interpretations that he has discovered for himself and this gives the book a repetitive tone at times which could have been avoided. Otherwise, the book is based on his personal experiences as a successful business person who has been in this field for more than two decades. As long as Shawn details his personal experiences and tries to link his arguments with practical experiences, the book looks wonderfully well-placed.

Shawn begins with his own story of transformation with a meeting, which was more accidental or unintended or reluctant, with The Dalai Lama, a global thought leader in Buddhist philosophy. The meeting forced Shawn into considerable pondering over his life and achievements as a successful business leader so far. He mentions all these details in a comprehensive manner in this book that you may like reading. However, what’s important is Shawn’s candid submission and suggestion that one should save one’s soul along with the progress that comes in corporate life. He emphasises that in general business we often lose our personal self to gain something like the other who is into business – nothing is personal; it’s all business. Shawn emphasises that all is personal and we must not compromise on that. We should remain human beings that we natively are. So, as you may have guessed already, the book is about ethics that we must follow, according to the author, in our professional life.

Everything looks wonderfully conveyed unless we get distracted by the frequent Buddhist influence on the script of this title. Buddha’s original messages were subtle, simple and directly conveyed without much noise. That would have been a better way doing it here as well as we find the same messages, in a rather wider and more comprehensive and more subtle manner in ancient Hindu texts, considered to be the original sources of inspiration for Buddha as well. So, bringing religious connotations more than frequently might confuse the readers who are not so well-versed.

With a clear message and with some notes of over-enthusiasm, the book is a balanced production of thoughts and agenda that readers might find useful to a great extent. You can get a copy of the book and read it for yourself. All the best!

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Review by a Book Blog Reviewer