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Summary: Best available book on its subject
Review: /p I don't want to repeat everything everyone has said before me, so I will confine my comments to things that have not yet been said. I will repeat the sentiments of others however, that this is the best available book on buddhism I have come across. /p It is clear that the author has a formidible grasp of the sutras, and the judgment that comes with buddhist practice with which to interpret them. He could go further, however, in synthesizing the concepts of buddhism and discussing them (other than in their traditional categories), much the same way D.T. Suzuki did for zen. With the author's prolific output, I expect and hope to see a such a book before too long. /p Which brings me to my next point: some of the text reads as if it has been dictated. There is much repetition of sentences within the book. Perhaps more care could be taken in a second edition to tighten up the book. /p The book makes a conscious attempt to give examples that Americans, and to a lesser degree, members of the developed nations would understand. However, some of the metaphors and/or analogies are a little awkward. For example, the idea that we are to something as cookies are to the original batter, does not quite encapsulate the idea I think is trying to be conveyed. Even more "skillful means" could be employed to make buddhism understandable to Americans and other so-called developed peoples who do not have a lengthy buddhist cultural tradition. /p I consider these to be minor criticisms-- they are in no sense intended to dissuade anyone from buying this book, or to detract from the book's greatness. There is so much to learn from Thich Nhat Hahn, and from this book in particular, that you will want to read it many times. It is a book that despite any short-comings I saw, cheered me up immensely, and I laud the achievement in explaining the key teachings of Buddhism in English which this book represents. I hope that everyone will read this book at least once, and adapt whatever they find helpful to their everyday lives.
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Summary: A Guide To Beginner's Mind: Changed & Still Changes My Life
Review: As someone who'd been interested in Bhuddism for years, I picked this book out of a selection of book club discontinued sale items. After owning it for several years, I find it amazing that I found it as a cast off. This is the best primer for Bhuddism I've read. However, this book is not just for beginners. It's for anyone who wants to remain on their path and make a life of improving the world they create on that path. Suffering has an origion, but it also can have an end. Thich Nhat Hahn introduces us to the Noble Eightfold Path & the concept of "mindfulness" which he considers an important cornerstone to the practice of making your life right. It's not easy, but it is highly rewarding & your life will improve through diligence with these teachings. The book also contains an explanation of many other Bhuddist concepts which become more & more useful as the understanding sinks in. You'll find yourself returning to them in order to make the benefits of practice manifest themselves in your life. Lastly, this book dispels many of the myths & misunderstandings of Bhuddism in the West such as our often mistaken take on Bhuddism's view of suffering; though it is often inevitable, suffering CAN be changed. Hahn explains how many errors came to be out of teachings about suffering & sets the right views before us. If you've ever been interested in Bhuddism but can find no answers, or are a practicing Bhuddist who needs clarification without a teacher, this book is the one to have. I love it.
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Summary: The Heart of the Buddha's teaching
Review: Dear everyone! As you probably know, there are moments in life when something (or somebody) comes our way and helps us on our path. I believe you have experienced it. It was just like that with "The Heart of the Buddha's teaching" in my case. I would like to express my gratitude to dear Thich Nhat Hanh for sharing his and the Buddha's thoughts with all of us. Thank You very much!
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Summary: where is happiness
Review: everyone wants to be happy,but most of people don't know the real happiness.i have seen people tried to do something to be happiness.i'm one of them,but sometimes i am sensible-when i'm aware of what i am doing.i can be happy .everytime when i felt so sad,i learn it.i think i have learned from sorrow more than happiness.sometimes i learn nothing from happiness.i've prove that every time i am happy,sorrow always come after happiness.i would say happiness stay beside sadness and sadness stay behind happiness
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Summary: One of those life-changing tomes
Review: I can't really adequately describe the effect this book has had on me. Yes, it's changed my life. Written in very simple English, so that even the most inexperienced student of Buddhism (that would be me!) is able to understand, this book describes eloquently, and with a sweet and simple passion, the key concepts of Buddha's teaching.
Included are beautiful examples of what can happen when we incorporate such concepts as Right Thinking, Right Action, Right Mindfulness, amongst others. I do want to add - so the reader isn't in the slightest bit misled - that in the Buddhist context, the use of "Right" refers NOT to a moral definition of right and wrong, but rather the difference between beneficial, and nonbeneficial trains of thought and action. It appears that people of virtually any religious path may benefit from the wisdom within this marvellous text. It's the first book I've read by the author - but it certainly won't be the last.
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Summary: a page turner
Review: i checked this particular book out at my local library...i read pieces of it on my break at work and i could not put it down! this book really inspired me. hahn has refreshing views that most of us would have never thought about. for instance, how can i look at my suffering and find the cause and reason for it? he teaches that though unpleasant, let us all face it, suffering is part of life and it leads to brighter ways, days, and understanding. tough times do not last for long. learn from suffering...embrace our suffering...then we can understand it and move on.or we will be trapped by it.
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Summary: Who can hear the Buddha sing if...?
Review: I have never met Thich Nhat Hanh, but everything on my radar screen tells me, "We got a real saint in the flesh." And a poem of his that appeared in an anthology, along with some of my own work, is one of the most sophisticated -- stunning, wonderfully shocking -- poems I have ever seen. Thus to me, if this saint wants to speak (at times) in a way that comforts the little-old-ladies in each of us... And dear one, Thich Naht Hahn, you are most welcome to quote any time a line of Hafiz about the Buddha (which will probably satisfy any needing some R-rated talk of Truth), a line that addresses a realm which I feel many never even get close to the strength/courage to muzzle; that line which goes: "Who can hear the Buddha sing if that dog
between your legs is barking?" I am talking about that "canine/kennel" of the student's. I am not -- at all -- addressing this Hafiz quote to any real teacher. Though I'd bet half-baked gurus might near the finish line if they did not break any hearts via dog antics. We might have to call in the vet, neuter a few rabid gurus... Daniel Ladinsky
Best-selling Penguin author of various divine tamperings quote from, The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, page 298
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Summary: In search of peace
Review: I have read a number of books by Thich Nhat Hanh--while I enjoy most of them, I find this one most inspiring. His simple but profound introduction to the Four Noble Truths helps us to integrate Buddhist ideas into everyday life. His analysis of life and Buddhism is so rich that Buddhist or not, you can easily relate to the examples he gives or the reflection he makes. As he teaches us how to transform suffering into peace, he also tells us that we can deepen our serenity only by endeavoring to refine our character. I would like to thank him for showing me the way to become a better person, and for bestowing on me so much comfort in the course of my life.
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Summary: A Christian perspective
Review: I know what you're thinking, "What in the world is this Christian reading now?" Well to be honest, I've always and continue to believe if we expect people to sit down and listen to us preach about our religion, we had better understand where they are coming from. We often get into the "I don't care what you have to say, just listen to me, my religion is the right one." mode and forget that we should "first seek to understand then to be understood." (Steven Covey) This book does a good job in relating Buddhism's basic teachings to those who want to understand what Buddhism is all about. Of course, I have some major differences of opinion on certain things, but there is also a lot of common ground between Buddhism and Christianity. Fundamentally, Buddhist's have a whole lot more faith in mankind than the Prophet Jerimiah (33:9).
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Summary: Watch Your Step!!!
Review: I loved this book when I read it. And Thay's (his nickname) books are always good. But a split comes. Allow me to exemplify. I was being taught by a Tibetan Lama who was a direct disciple of Kalu Rinpoche. When he asked me what practice I was doing, I replied "Kum Nye" ( a form of Nyingma meditation). He asked me why. I said because it seems to work best for ME. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "I wish all my students did this!" Each practice is just that. A practice. This book is simply wonderful FROM ONE MAN'S VIEW when it covers dharma. The book covers the eight absorption states (concentrative states) as well as the Twelve Links of Independent Co-Arising. But when Thay starts to describe minfulness in this book along and next to Buddhist Psychology, I feel that he over-steps. When one tries to be mindful when one is tense, it can become a sharp concentrative state where the attention is very focused and strained. The lens need to be adjusted between minfulness and concentration and relaxation. Despite what Thay says, you CAN wash the dishes while thinking about Batman. You CAN walk while thinking about Mel Gibson or Pamela Anderson. A station of space has to be created between the observer and the observed. In the two major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, mindfulness is grounded in sitting. Then we emerge this sitting, very softly, into daily life activities. Thay is a Vietnamese teacher. This type of teaching is strong influenced by the Theravada Tradition and the Mahayana Tradition both. Zen is a bit "tight assed" unless you are drawn to it naturally. My only real criticism is that meditative instructions are explained in an absolute manner (this is Thay's opinion - one man's) and mixed with Buddhist Psychology. They are very different. And, unfortunately, the author speaks from a viewpoint that his opinion is the opinion. Knowing that I will probably get 1,000 negative votes for stating this, I will continue. When the author states that unless you are mindful of washing the dishes, there is no merit accumulated, this is his opinion. The very intent to do good brings the accumulation of merit in Tibetan Buddhism. And one can't really wash the dishes without having SOME mindfulness involved. One can look at an enemy and see them as a Boddhisattva, therefore healing the animosity involved. If "the Miracle of Mindfulness" written by Thay REALLY helped you to come alive, then listen to what the Tibetans call "The Inner Guru". Follow YOUR heart. If it did, then BUY THIS BOOK. If it did not, then DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. The author should have written a book on Buddhist Psychology leaving out the absolutes of his teachings. Thank you.
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