An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
by Dalai Lama

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Book Reviews of An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life

Book Review: Meaningful Spiritual Guidance for Today's Troubled Times
Summary: 5 Stars

The book is structured into a series of brief essays, based on three days of teaching that the Dalai Lama did in New York City during 1999. The essays separated in time and space some very profound thoughts, in ways that made them easier to grasp. This is a book that you will want to reread many times, especially when you find your mind troubled or your compassion at a low ebb.

The Dalai Lama expresses a timeless Buddhist perspective here, but in an inclusive way. "We are all the same, mentally and emotionally." Our other differences are minor, and unimportant.

In thinking about the current war on terrorism, I was struck by his observation that "In harming our enemy, we are harmed." "Dialogue is the only appropriate method [for resolving disputes]." What harm are we doing now in this war to innocent people, to ourselves, to unborn generations, and to the environment of the world we inhabit?

The Dalai Lama explains that "In Buddhism compassion is . . . the wish that all beings be free of their suffering." Interestingly, he points out that "If we have a positive mental attitude, then even when surrounded by hostility, we shall not lack inner peace." Have we looked enough within in mentally and physically responding to the attacks of September 11th?

The book contains many worthy thoughts about how to create a "better balance between material preoccupations and inner spiritual growth."

An Open Heart will probably be most meaningful to those who are very interested in spiritual questions (of whatever religious persuasion or philosophy) and who pray or meditate regularly. If you are externally oriented, you may not find that the words and thoughts resonate within you.

As a person who prays and meditates several times a day, I found his expressions of ways to improve the benefits of conscious (or analytical) meditation and settled meditation very interesting and helpful. I especially liked his invocation for how to be more humble. "We can always find some quality in someone else where we are outshone." And "reflect upon the kindness of others" upon which we all depend. He advises beginning with strangers as a conscious object of compassionate meditation, so that we can strengthen our empathy with those we feel most distant towards. As we get better at this empathizing, we can move on to building compassion for those we dislike or fear.

I was pleased to see that we are encouraged to practice the right things, and to focus away from the speed of our progress.

Whether or not you agree with the concept of reincarnation as expressed here, this book can certainly help guide you to greater spiritual peace, more ethical actions, and achieving greater wisdom. I found it particularly freeing and fulfilling to think about creating a life dedicated to "the sake of all sentient beings" as part of my focus.

May your heart, mind, and spirit constantly grow in openness and caring!

Summary of An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life

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.

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