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ancientolive's review
informative
5.0
TNH is an incredible teacher, and his explanations make Buddhism approachable and actionable. I reread parts of this book often, and refer to it to help me understand the teachings of of monks and nuns. It is a wonderful book to have on hand.
zenpigeon's review
5.0
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is a reference book in the disguise of a laid back commentary of the Buddha's teachings. It starts out very smooth and easy to digest through the application of useful explanations of buddhist concepts, but by the end it's a tough continuous return to concepts discussed in earlier chapters with with more nuance. It's definitely a book that should not be read front to back as it exhaustively repeats itself. However I have to admit, even with the repetition beating me over the head, some of the deeper concepts were just not accessible to me at this time.
Overall, the book had a tremendous impact on me and it's definitely a book I keep returning to when my life needs to be recalibrated. The first half of the book is the star for being so practical and easy to apply to daily life. The latter half is philosophy that needs meditation to unlock its inner meaning (very tough to get through).
Overall, the book had a tremendous impact on me and it's definitely a book I keep returning to when my life needs to be recalibrated. The first half of the book is the star for being so practical and easy to apply to daily life. The latter half is philosophy that needs meditation to unlock its inner meaning (very tough to get through).
alanffm's review
3.0
Thich Nhat Hanh 's book is hard to rate for a variety of reasons having to do with its laudable accomplishments and/but embarrassing shortcomings. His scholarship is undeniable: each section of the book is organized, each concept is fleshed out and Nhat Hanh goes through great lengths to interweave tangential abstractions together in the hopes of elucidating the more complex teachings Buddhism and its many schools has to offer. As a source of contemporary Buddhist criticism, however, The Heart of Buddha's Teaching staggers. This has to do with Nhat Hanh 's approach to teaching and the unorthodox and contemporary method he uses to convey information. Each section begins with an introduction of some core idea, be it the Dharmas, The Four Noble Truths, or the Eightfold Path (among many other pillars of Buddhist thought). Nhat Hanh then ties his explanations to some major criticism or religious text (often a Sutra). Finally, Nhat Hanh tries to make a contemporary statement about their meaning that often takes the form of a politically correct comment or even a general tone. Having not looked at the book's date of publication, it did not take me long to guess that it was written in the 90's with its recurrent emphasis on vegetarianism, plurality, and the push for world peace. While on the surface such an interpretation (or use) of Buddhist texts may appear to be progressive and productive, coming to them nearly twenty years later has shown them to - more often than not - sound cliche, generic, or naive. Several instances referring to the Israeli-Arab conflict come to mind. Nhat Hanh uses this incredibly complex and polarising conflict to push his interpretation of how we can apply a certain Buddhist interpretation of love to solve the conflict: if only the Isralies could empathize with the Arabs and vice versa, the conflict would end. Such naive and simplistic interpretations just ruin the actually profound knowledge nested in much of Nhat Hanh writing. The number of issues like this, where Nhat Hanh imposes simplistic politically correct solutions to incredibly complex issues under the guise of Buddhist wisdom really hurt the integrity of this book giving it a New-Agey kind of vibe. That being said, again, Nhat Hanh scholarship is great, and if you have the patience to read past all the fluff, The Heart of Buddha's Teaching is actually a remarkably well organized and informative book.
As a side note, I'm convinced Nhat Hanh's theory of Flowers from Garbage was inspired by Leonard Cohen's Suzanne. Look out for oranges, 'touching her perfect body with your mind' and of course, flowers among the garbage and seaweed.
As a side note, I'm convinced Nhat Hanh's theory of Flowers from Garbage was inspired by Leonard Cohen's Suzanne. Look out for oranges, 'touching her perfect body with your mind' and of course, flowers among the garbage and seaweed.