True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart
The renowned Zen master and peace activist introduces a Buddhist approach to practicing authentic love in our everyday lives In this eye-opening guide, Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh offers timeless insight into the nature of real love. With simplicity, warmth, and directness, he explores the four key aspects of love as described in the Buddhist tradition: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and freedom--explaining how to experience them in our day-to-day lives. He also emphasizes that in order to love in a real way, we must first learn how to be fully present in our lives, and he offers simple techniques from the Buddhist tradition that anyone can use to establish the conditions of love. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, is an internationally known author, poet, scholar, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.
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Community Reviews
The first time I read this book I thought it was short and sweet, with with words of wisdom that could help anyone. I read this a second time after taking a 10 day Vipassana course and found it to be even more insightful. The simple truth comes forth only when you start to apply it in your everyday life. Definitely worth the read!
I don't often write reviews about books, much less about ones I don't find likable. I was enjoying this book and it's simplicity up til TNH started preaching about mental illnesses and how meditation can make the symptoms of mental illnesses go away within several weeks. This is a very dangerous message to put out there as a person who has a voice and influence. That is the equivalent of saying that if you meditate long enough, your cancer will disappear.
Mr. TNH really needs to look deeply into the practice of psychology before making those wild claims, mental illnesses exist in the brain and are as real as other physical illnesses. To say that if you meditate, it will go away, is not only incredibly negligent but it's also gaslighting people into believing that their suffering is their own fault and they have control over it. That isn't true when it comes to mental illnesses. Clearly, the lack of experience and knowledge in this field shows. I don't think I'll be picking up another TNH book again and I'll be more critical on Buddhism and the word 'mindfulness'.
Mr. TNH really needs to look deeply into the practice of psychology before making those wild claims, mental illnesses exist in the brain and are as real as other physical illnesses. To say that if you meditate, it will go away, is not only incredibly negligent but it's also gaslighting people into believing that their suffering is their own fault and they have control over it. That isn't true when it comes to mental illnesses. Clearly, the lack of experience and knowledge in this field shows. I don't think I'll be picking up another TNH book again and I'll be more critical on Buddhism and the word 'mindfulness'.
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