Take a photo of a barcode or cover
remlezar 's review for:
A handful of months ago, I went on a meditation/mindfulness/Buddhism reading bonanza. I tore through quite a few books on the subject and feel like I got a lot out of them. This book came highly recommended as a good beginner's primer on the subject, and I mostly agree. There's plenty of good information here, and I found myself underlining and marking pages to return to regularly.
For some reason, though, this book took me forever to finish. I would pick it up, read a chapter, put it down for three weeks, pick it up, read another chapter, etc. Finally, I decided I was tired of seeing it on my "currently reading" list and I stopped reading everything else and finished this in a few days.
I think the biggest critique I have of this book is that it feels highly repetitive. Most of the book is telling you the same basic information in slightly different ways over, and over, and over. I think that this subject does warrant some retread in this way, but by the end of the book I felt like there were chapters that were so similar to ones that came before it that they could have been cut down and combined with earlier parts of the book, or removed entirely, and nothing major would have been lost from the message.
Still, the writing here is mostly nice and easy to read, and I found Hagen's take on Buddhism refreshing, relatable, and practical. He recalls numerous wonderful anecdotes, koans, and parables that make his message more clear. I think that if you're a Westerner interested in introducing Buddhist teachings into your life, this is a great place to start.
For some reason, though, this book took me forever to finish. I would pick it up, read a chapter, put it down for three weeks, pick it up, read another chapter, etc. Finally, I decided I was tired of seeing it on my "currently reading" list and I stopped reading everything else and finished this in a few days.
I think the biggest critique I have of this book is that it feels highly repetitive. Most of the book is telling you the same basic information in slightly different ways over, and over, and over. I think that this subject does warrant some retread in this way, but by the end of the book I felt like there were chapters that were so similar to ones that came before it that they could have been cut down and combined with earlier parts of the book, or removed entirely, and nothing major would have been lost from the message.
Still, the writing here is mostly nice and easy to read, and I found Hagen's take on Buddhism refreshing, relatable, and practical. He recalls numerous wonderful anecdotes, koans, and parables that make his message more clear. I think that if you're a Westerner interested in introducing Buddhist teachings into your life, this is a great place to start.