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juliehirt's review against another edition
4.0
when I am down - I go to a bookstore. When I was beginning the divorce process with my first husband - I was at my favorite store in Kalamazoo and happened upon this book. I bought it, read it and was helped by it. I recommend it to all who are going through a difficult time.
forzasusan's review against another edition
5.0
I took this nice and slow because I knew I'd need to digest this for these trying times. This book is super timely with the state of the world of 2020 and 2021. I can see myself going back to this book for many years to come.
tomrrandall's review against another edition
5.0
So great - will need to reread this for sure. Perfect antidote to the 2024 election results.
nancyflanagan's review against another edition
5.0
Lovely. Multi-layered. Easy to understand, apply, muse about. And perfect, at this point in my life.
meowsngreygray's review against another edition
3.0
This is not a criticism, nor is it meant to give other people an idea of what to expect from this book, it's just my own experience of it.
A lot of people I know really like this book, and a lot of the things Pema Chodron says align with my values. I want to understand, I want it to be for me. But it just isn't. There's a connecting piece that is missing for me in this book and I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's the way she speaks of trusting her mentor to lead her through to the path, or the idea of a mentor being harsh out of deep love. To me, there shouldn't need to be any sort of harshness in order to understand the truth. I can't trust mentorship that explicitly either.
I also don't jive with the idea that all that exists is the present. I think our brains see the past and the future for a reason, we have those concepts for a reason. It is good to be mindful of the present moment, but I don't think the past/future don't exist just because they aren't happening right now. Idk.
A lot of people I know really like this book, and a lot of the things Pema Chodron says align with my values. I want to understand, I want it to be for me. But it just isn't. There's a connecting piece that is missing for me in this book and I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's the way she speaks of trusting her mentor to lead her through to the path, or the idea of a mentor being harsh out of deep love. To me, there shouldn't need to be any sort of harshness in order to understand the truth. I can't trust mentorship that explicitly either.
I also don't jive with the idea that all that exists is the present. I think our brains see the past and the future for a reason, we have those concepts for a reason. It is good to be mindful of the present moment, but I don't think the past/future don't exist just because they aren't happening right now. Idk.
livschuett's review against another edition
4.0
"When you wake up in the morning and out of nowhere comes the heartache of alienation and loneliness, could you use that as a a golden opportunity? Rather than persecuting yourself or feeling that something terribly wrong is happening, right there in the moment of sadness and longing, could you relax and touch the limitless space of the human heart?"
schatzipage's review against another edition
5.0
A favorite voice of Buddhism. No difficult terminology--just open, spare, real words.
lerys's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve read and listened to this book about three times now and every time i get a little more out of it. it’s just how she says the lessons in this book are a practice every time i read it i get a little further in my practice, i integrate a little more. i come back to this book whenever life gets difficult as a reminder to sit with it.
erinrouleaux's review against another edition
5.0
I finally understood more about Buddhist teaching through this book. She is very good at explaining these techniques/philosophies/truths to the Western mind.
There was definitely a period of reading this where I felt annoyed by the "coldness" of it all and soon after she mentioned that this "emptiness" ideal isn't meant to be a cold, isolated approach but yet a very warm one. Once she articulated all of that I was able to better understand and definitely relate more to the whole idea.
I think the title is misleading as really this could be read by anyone at any stage in their life. I wish I would have read this years ago as a helpful approach to deal with everyday life situations:)
I definitely appreciated her honesty about her own situations and I found myself laughing on two of her examples:)
I feel like I will keep this in close reach as a reference book to read whenever I need a change of attitude. And I would definitely recommend it to everyone as a guide for practicing compassion, especially on ourselves:)
There was definitely a period of reading this where I felt annoyed by the "coldness" of it all and soon after she mentioned that this "emptiness" ideal isn't meant to be a cold, isolated approach but yet a very warm one. Once she articulated all of that I was able to better understand and definitely relate more to the whole idea.
I think the title is misleading as really this could be read by anyone at any stage in their life. I wish I would have read this years ago as a helpful approach to deal with everyday life situations:)
I definitely appreciated her honesty about her own situations and I found myself laughing on two of her examples:)
I feel like I will keep this in close reach as a reference book to read whenever I need a change of attitude. And I would definitely recommend it to everyone as a guide for practicing compassion, especially on ourselves:)