| View Larger Image | An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life | Paperbackby The Dalai Lama (Author), Nicholas Vreeland (Author)
| List Price: | $12.99 | | Price: | $9.35 | | You Save: | $3.64 (28%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Back Bay Books | | Page Count: | 208 Pages | | Publication Date: | September 04, 2002 | | Sales Rank: | 105,077th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
How does one actually become a compassionate person? What are the mechanisms by which a selfish heart is transformed into a generous heart? The Dalai Lama's teachings on this essential subject, drawn from talks he delivered during his epochal visit to America in 1999, form the basis of this universally appealing book. |
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 (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 34 reviews)
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Read it, love it, live it. by greensleeves (Jersey Shore)  5 Stars
March 16, 2009
A wonderful and poignant expression of the need for compassion and how to achieve it in your own life. Highly recommended for everyone; from young to old. One of my favorite books.
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Buddhism in a nutshell by Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia)  4 Stars
May 13, 2008
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.
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Buddhism in a nutshell by Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) 4 Stars
May 12, 2008
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.
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Buddhism in a nutshell by Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) 4 Stars
May 10, 2008
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.
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Buddhism in a nutshell by Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) 4 Stars
May 10, 2008
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.
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