Lorina Stephens
Apr 16, 2009Lorina Stephens rated it did not like it
I'm sure I'm about to be damned for writing this, but if this is supposed to be a book about discovering yourself, I'm afraid that for me it failed completely. Perhaps I'm guilty of all the things the Dalai Lama says most of Western Society is guilty. But, to be honest, I found the book not particularly well-written. It was repetetive, unclear, even non-sensicle in parts, and much of it smacked very much of the tired-old Christian harangue of guilty, guilty, guilty, which I found startling for a book written by the head of one of the most sacred of Buddhist sects.
But perhaps this is to be expected from a reader who feels that without passion (something the Dalai Lama puts forward as a 'sin' and undesireable), while causing many of the world's problems, has also created some of the world's finest moments in art, science, literature, social reform and more. Without passion there would be no impetus to create, to achieve a state closer to the divine.
So, for me, because of a fundamental difference in essential paradigms, and the lack of quality writing, I'm going to give a thumbs down to this book, and likely give a pass to other of the Dalai Lama's works. (less)
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Trey Sullivan
Oct 11, 2013Trey Sullivan rated it it was amazing
The book “How to See Yourself as You Really Are” by the Dalai Lama, is good book that talks a lot about human nature. It goes through chapters of how the human mind sees itself. Then he goes on to tell you helpful ways of understanding yourself, or “how to see yourself as you really are.” He explains all of this from a Buddhist perspective, and helps to give good tips on how you can reach the proper state of mind.
The theme of the book was mostly based around perspective. It is explained in this book how all feelings and thoughts come from your perspective. He shows you how if you go into any situation with a compassionate, and understanding state of mind, it helps to fully understand why people act the way they do. He goes into depth of what perspectives are best to have in life, and why. He then goes on to talk about certain processes and ways to help accomplish these states of mind.
In my opinion, I thought the novel was put together beautifully. The only small flaw would be some confusing explanations. Although, what would you expect from a Buddhist practitioner? I thought this book was very helpful to my daily life situations, and was very interesting. I would recommend this book to everyone!
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Renée Paule
Nov 04, 2017Renée Paule rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Lots to think about in this lovely book.
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Joanna
Jul 02, 2008Joanna rated it did not like it
I really tried to grasp the concepts in this book, but it just scrambled my brain. Only very rarely do I ever shelve a book that I've started, and I really hate to do this to the Dalai Lama, but I just can't keep going with this one. I give up.
Original review:
I am the first to admit, I place very little faith in self-help books - it's a genre that I traditionally ignore. But, this book sort of leapt off the shelf at me. I am naturally drawn to Buddhist theory, and would certainly be open to any advice His Holiness the Dalai Lama might choose to throw in my path. Thus, I found it hard to ignore this one and it spontaneously made its way into my messenger bag when I really only stopped at the Harvard Coop to use the loo.
But tell me seriously, who couldn't use just a little enlightenment on the way to the loo? (less)
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Barbara
Mar 09, 2008Barbara rated it it was amazing
Don't recommend as first book on Buddhism for the uninitiated. Very abstract and conceptual, and other authors have explained same concepts better. But this will definitely bend your mind about reality, especially if you're used to Westernized/ego/material-driven concepts of self and reality.
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Mark
Aug 13, 2009Mark rated it liked it
Shelves: personal-growth
His Holiness shares a universal humanist philosophy. Simple concepts: discipline and altruism. The delivery, however, is cumbersome. Simple concepts become heady and abstract. My favorite part of the book? the meditational exercises that close each chapter.
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Marina
Nov 05, 2014Marina rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: read-nonfiction, readathon-day-2015
2.5
"You are living amidst the causes of death."
The writing is abstract, vague, repetitious, and somewhat contradictory.
It would have been possible to say what he's trying to say better formulated and explained and in fewer pages.
Reifications such as "morality/moral values" and "cyclic existence" weren't defined, so it took me almost the whole book to figure out most of them. While I may have thought somewhere at the beginning "Oh, ok, he means that", later on I got confused again about how the term was used. And I think it was only possible for me to figure them out at all because I already was familiar with the concepts using different (more common) words. I doubt that someone who's new to this would understand what he's talking about.
Also, he's forcing the concept of "cyclic existence" on us (while saying at the beginning that what he's about to tell us could be applied without having anything to do with religions) and basing the concepts he's talking about on it.
Furthermore, he uses word games which are supposed to be arguments for his points. Like this it seems as if he accepted those view points to be true and then just went back and tried to construct arguments for them.
So here are the basic concepts he's talking about:
- nothing and noone exists in and of themselves (not even "I" or "you") because everything is being influenced and shaped by causes, its parts & thought
-> by not seeing this we create afflictive emotions, and thus suffering and problems
- the way we see things is shaped by our perceptions (body functions as well as mindset)
- everything is impermanent and subject to change, thus we shouldn't get attached to persons, things & situations or else it'll cause afflictive emotions
["You are living amidst the causes of death."]
-> if we understand and train ourselves in these concepts, we have insight and can act with empathy and compassion
[My advice: Pick one thing every day and think about how it came into being (causes) and what parts it consists of. Also you might want to think about how your thoughts may affect how you think about it, for example if you like its color or its shape, you might take a liking to it.
You could do the same with people and their behaviors (How did the behavior come into being? Which of your thoughts/mindsets make you dis/like it?)]
I like how the "Meditative Reflections" (short summaries of each chapter or parts of a chapter) are all to be found at the end of the book, though, so if you found anything useful and need to remind yourself, you can just look it up at the back (and maybe get an overview, so you know to which chapter you need to get back to).
I can't say the book is bad. It's possible to draw something out of it and it could've been worse. So I gave it an average score of 2.5 .
P.S.: Steer clear of labels.
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Joycelyn
Feb 23, 2017Joycelyn rated it it was amazing
Skimming through some reviews of the book How To See Yourself as You Really Are and after finishing the book myself, I can say that:
1. The book will not be understood at first read, or in one sit. It contains many esoteric Buddhist teachings and therefore will be hard to grasp initially, for both those who are and are not really familiar with Buddhism I believe. Having said so, the book can be read by the chapters it has already been divided into. I think the author does this on purpose so as to guide the readers through the book more logically without interfering their reading mid-way while being able to get what the book seeks to convey better.
2. HOW TO READ THE BOOK:
Many reviews are about the book being very repetitive. Yes, it is. However, I believe this is done because the author wouldn't want readers to turn back to where we already pass in the book.
If you notice carefully, Part IV obviously contains more chapters i.e. 9 chapters compared with only 2 or 3 chapters as in other Parts. I think this is done on purpose (again) because this Part contains the very essence teachings of the entire book which need to be broken down into smaller chunks of information for easier absorption. You will find some ideas are repeated throughout these chapters of this particular Part because the point is if you cannot get it the first time you read it, you'll get it later as your understanding progresses along the reading.
I myself re-read each chapter for 3 to 6 times and my advice is when you read a chapter, if you don't get at all what Dalai Lama means in the first place, that's fine. Close the book. Do something else. Then return to read it again. You can stop and return to it as many times as you want as I think it depends on different cases. Usually as I re-read a chapter in Part IV for the 3rd time, I started to get what he really means. Reading it a couple of times more indeed deepens my understanding in his teachings a lot more. And this makes me think perhaps because the teachings are so deep and unfamiliar with general readers, they would find it difficult to enjoy it the way they typically do with other books. However, I can make sure with you Dalai Lama knows this, that's why he keeps saying in the book "please bear with me as I am going into more details here" or something like that.
The point is not to finish the book quickly but to feel the book with all your heart and all your being. It provides ample opportunities and materials to reflect on in your daily life routines.
3. This book is one of the most meaningful and loving book I have ever read, and I believe you will feel the same way if you give the books many reads in smaller chunks like I did. I feel that Dalai Lama is doing his best in making Buddhist teachings more approachable to people of other religions or non-religion.
Generally, I feel so lucky for happening to choose to buy such a book. It really shifts my view for life, people, and everything. I hope you will be the same afterwards :-)
Thank you so much <3
Joycelyn (less)
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James Perkins
Jul 24, 2011James Perkins rated it liked it · review of another edition
At one point the author appears to have proved you do not exist. However, that would be missing the point. Of course we exist, but we do not exist in the way we think we do. Our perception through physical senses has created an illusion, like a magic act, where the magician appears to have pulled a rabbit out of a hat. It did not really come from the hat, but it appears to have done so. In the same way, we all appear to be separate from each other, but we are not. Nobody exists wholly independently of anything else; we are all here due to some manifestation of thought. He then goes on to describe meditations whereby if you dwell on these concepts, and understand the true nature of reality, it is much easier to exercise compassion and love for your fellow beings, because we are all interrelated. It can be a little heavy-going, and I would not recommend it as the first thing you ever read by this spiritual leader. Still, its teaching was fascinating, and one to ponder. One of the more esoteric works by the Dalai Lama, this is a treatise on the nature of reality, and how everything is not how it seems. (less)
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