The Books That Changed Saxon: Buddhism, Chelsea, and a Quiet Awakening in The White Lotus

At the start of The White Lotus Season 3, Saxon Ratliff appears stretched out on the yacht deck — the very image of someone you'd instinctively roll your eyes at. He's a smug, narcissistic, and spoiled nepo baby, seemingly untouched by the word “no.”

But as the season unfolds, the facade begins to fracture. Thanks to Mike White’s razor-sharp writing, we witness a subtle but riveting unraveling. The entire Ratliff family — parents Timothy and Victoria, and their children Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan — has decamped to Thailand, ostensibly for Piper, Saxon’s younger sister. She claims her trip is for university research, but in truth, she’s flirting with the idea of spending a year among Buddhist monks.

Piper, played by Sarah Catherine Hook, lasts barely a day. No air conditioning. No green juice. No curated Wi-Fi. She quickly retreats home, back to her role as the pampered — if questionably wealthy — daughter of a family empire.

But Saxon’s path veers. And for that, we have Chelsea — and her bookshelf — to thank.

Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou Wood, is a British girl vacationing in Thailand with her much older boyfriend, Rick Hatchett. While Rick unravels in a haze of midlife chaos, Chelsea becomes a quiet revelation. With her warmth, wit, and emotional insight, she disarms the audience — and, eventually, Saxon.

Their dynamic begins with friction. Chelsea sees straight through Saxon’s hollow charm and lazy flirtation — and isn’t afraid to call it out. But slowly, something shifts. Around her, Saxon lets his guard down. She becomes the mirror he never knew he needed — and the catalyst for a transformation he never expected.

In Episode 7, she hands him a stack of books. We don’t see the full list, but the ones we do glimpse form a spiritual syllabus: a curated crash course on ego, pain, and surrender.

“When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chödrön

This is the book Saxon is reading in the final scene — a Buddhist classic on embracing uncertainty and beginning anew. At first, he hides it from his family. By the finale, he’s reading it in their company. Thailand, it seems, is where the real journey begins.

“Start Where You Are” by Pema Chödrön

Also featured in the finale, its title alone signals Saxon’s turning point. Growth isn’t tidy. Change doesn’t follow a script. The only rule: begin.

“Start Where You Are” by Pema Chödrön Buy Now

“The Enlightened Sex Manual” by David Deida
Deida reframes intimacy as a spiritual act — the antithesis of everything Saxon believes. Chelsea offers it to him as a challenge, a quiet insistence that real connection requires more than performance.

“The Enlightened Sex Manual” by David Deida Buy Now

“The Book of Secrets” by Osho

We never actually see Saxon read it, but Chelsea quotes Osho throughout the season. If she passed it on, she handed him a lifetime of inquiry. At first, Saxon hides these books like contraband. Later, he reads them in plain sight.

Saxon’s arc may be the most quietly compelling of the season. He meets Chelsea for a moment — a week, at most. Chances are, they’ll never meet again. But the imprint she leaves is undeniable. Sometimes, the people who shape us most aren’t permanent fixtures, but passing lights.

Chelsea is a quiet force. She tells the truth. She loves boldly. She dreams without apology. These are things Saxon never learned — until now. Piper may have planned to be the family’s rebel. But it’s Saxon who might end up walking that path.

He’s not “fixed,” of course. Transformation doesn’t follow a deadline. But something cracked open. And in a season full of collapse, Saxon Ratliff is the character who lingers — the one who stays long after the credits roll.