|
|
(Larger Image)
|
An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
by Dalai Lama (Afterword: Khyongla Rato) (Afterword: Richard Gere) (Editor: Nicholas Vreeland)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2001-09-25)
ISBN: 0316989797
EAN: 9780316989794
Dewy Decimal #: 294.3444
Hardcover: 208 pages
Edition: 1st
Release Date: 2001-09-25
SKU: 28079
Condition: New
Comments: THE HARDBACK BOOK! LITTLE, BROWN, 2001. THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION. HARDCOVER W/GILT LETTERING, DUST JACKET AND PAGES ARE NEW! Front page has a tiny corner crease (not much). Rapid shipping w/FREE tracking. GREAT PACKAGING . Air Mail.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
COMPASSION--SYMPATHY FOR THE suffering of others and the desire to free them from it--is wrestled with in all spiritual traditions. Yet how does one actually become a compassionate person? What are the mechanisms by which a selfish heart is transformed into a generous heart? When His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to New York City in 1999, he spoke simply and powerfully on the everyday Buddhist practice of compassion. Weaving together the contents of three sacred texts-- one by the eighth-century Indian master Kamalashila, another by the fourteenth-century Tibetan Togmay Sangpo, and a third by the eleventh-century sage Langri Tangpa--His Holiness showed that the path to compassion is a series of meditations. An Open Heart lays out this course of meditation, from the simplest to the most challenging, describing the mental training techniques that will enable anyone of any faith to change their minds and open their hearts. In this book the path begins with simple and clear ruminations on the advantages of a virtuous life and moves on to practices that can temper destructive and impulsive emotions. Such practices can be undertaken at odd moments of the day, at once transforming the aimless or anxious mind into a disciplined and open mind. Gradually, the book introduces the more challenging and sustained meditation practices. In these meditations the deepest and most profound insights of Buddhist practice become part of one's way of knowing and experiencing the world. An Open Heart is a clear and simple introduction to the Buddhist path to enlightenment, by its greatest teacher, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
|
Amazon.com Review
In the summer of 1999, the Dalai Lama addressed an audience of over 40,000 in Central Park on how to live a better life. Open Heart is derived from this and other popular lectures given in New York. Here, the Dalai Lama progresses beyond his bestsellers The Art of Happiness and Ethics for the New Millennium by introducing specific practices that can engender happiness. Spiritual practice, according to the Dalai Lama, is a matter of taming unwanted emotions, which means becoming aware of how the mind works. Through the methods of analytical and settled meditation, the Dalai Lama shows how we can cultivate helpful states of mind and eliminate harmful states, leading us to develop compassion for others and happiness for ourselves. But there is no preaching of a single, right method. This revered but humble monk merely invites the reader to understand the causes of one's suffering and consider how best to alleviate it. Open Heart should draw crowds to the bookstores and lead us all to more satisfactory living. --Brian Bruya
|
Customer Reviews
|
Buddhism in a nutshell
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-05-10
This book is a general introduction to Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism. It covers a whole range of topics including the three jewel of refuge, karma, equanimity, loving-kindness (the wish that all may enjoy happiness), bodhicitta (the motivation to serve all people), emptiness and more. The book describes the different levels a student of Buddhism proceeds through as he achieves greater and greater enlightenment. These levels range from the beginners task of conquering personal faults, such as anger, all the way up to Buddhahood (the highest form of understanding of reality combined with the desire to benefit all sentient beings). All this is achieved through the practical methods of analytical meditation and settled meditation. In analytical meditation rational thought is applied in order to generate a specific quality, such as patience. In settled meditation the practitioner remains fixed on a feeling, or object of contemplation, without thought.
is in fact a summary of Kanalasha's , Togmay Sangpo's and Langri Tangpa's . These are the central texts of Tibetan Buddhism.
As I have tried to indicate above, despite the subtitle of the book, this work is not exclusively on compassion (the desire to alleviate the suffering of all beings). Compassion is a very important part of Buddhism and indeed chapters seven to ten concentrate specifically on that subject. There are fifteen chapters in all.
The Dalai Lama is a very clear speaker who has set as his task the aim of introducing the world to Buddhism. As a result this book is very easy to follow and would be ideal for someone seeking a first time encounter with Buddhism. I would have to note, however, that so much material is cover in such a brief way that the book could be said to lack substance. It does not contain meaty discussions. The reader is left with a desire to follow up his new-found interests by reading other books probably written by other authors. I should also note that while the two methods of meditation are discussed very few practical suggestions are included. The book does not contain a step by step guide or how-to section.
|
|
changed my life
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-10-03
This book was given to me as a Christmas present from my mother in 2000. The following February, before I had a chance to read it, she passed away due to complications caused by both Bechets Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. About a month after that, still reeling in grief, I finally decided to make time for this book, and I'm so glad that I did. It almost single handedly helped me process my grief and all the other emotions I was going through at the time. My perspective on life has not been the same since.
I'm not a Buddhist (nor do I consider myself a member of any organized religion) but I am a very spiritual person and I feel closer to Buddhism than any other religions. What's great about this book, and other books by his holiness that I have read since, is that he presents his ideas in multiple ways that can be understood within the context of almost any religion/spirituality/faith/belief system. His writing can appeal to anyone who's part of the global human family.
It's a great book, and it's short/to the point. I can't recommend it enough to everyone out there.
|
|
An Accessible Presentation Of Buddhist Meditation
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-01-29
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book presents two different, but related, topics: practicing compassion and meditation methodology. The two topics are related because meditation can assist the practice of compassion; as well, they happened to be the subject of two different lecture series given by the Dalai Lama in New York City in August of 1999. The lecture on compassion, delivered in Central Park, is presented verbatim, and is meant for a wide audience, while the remainder of the book (apparently a synopsis of a series of lectures given on meditation) is aimed at an audience seeking to initiate or deepen a meditation practice.
While the Dalai Lama's remarks on compassion are excellent, the material on meditation is extraordinary, in that it summarizes and presents for Westerners an overview of three ancient texts on meditation, including very specific and practical advice about meditation techniques. I do not imagine that I would have understood the original meditation texts even if I had been made aware of them and had been given a good English translation; but the Dalai Lama's remarks on these texts has made them very accessible.
The combination of the two parts of the book is not always seamless, but the teaching is so worthwhile that it hardly matters.
|
|
Insightful!
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-03-24
11 out of 11 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is an easy to read book with tons of insight into a better mindset. You should read the book slowly -- take time to reflect on each idea, such as compassion. Keep the topics of the book in mind throughout your day, whether you're a mom at home, a student at school, or working in your cubicle. It will be the first step into inner peace and practicing compassion in every day life.
|
|
A Delight to read...as usual.
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-12-21
5 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
I have yet to read a book by the Dalai Lama that I was not impressed and moved by. This little book is easy to read and full of insight as well as ways to incorporate the Buddhist ideal of compassion into our every day lives. You can't go wrong with this one.
|
|
|
|
|