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A review by odyssia
The Practice of Not Thinking: A Guide to Mindful Living by Ryūnosuke Koike
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This book is made for the Japanese market and a lot of the content is difficult for non-Japanese people to accept. I've seen it described as 'preachy' and there is a part that actually directly addresses the author's attitude on this:
'Unlike the law, these teachings of Buddhism are not for others to force upon you. You set your own rules, and it's up to you if you follow them...On the other hand, if you don't follow those rules, your mind will be unhappy due to the presence of more kleshas triggered by various stimuli.' (p.94)
There are also many bold statements made that could have been tested scientifically, but instead the author asserts things without evidence.
What I will take from this book: Marie Kondo-style minimalism to prevent 'noise', being happy about popularity means that you will be unhappy when you lose popularity (klesha of arrogance), maybe you need to worry less about others (if it won't help anyone).
'Unlike the law, these teachings of Buddhism are not for others to force upon you. You set your own rules, and it's up to you if you follow them...On the other hand, if you don't follow those rules, your mind will be unhappy due to the presence of more kleshas triggered by various stimuli.' (p.94)
There are also many bold statements made that could have been tested scientifically, but instead the author asserts things without evidence.
What I will take from this book: Marie Kondo-style minimalism to prevent 'noise', being happy about popularity means that you will be unhappy when you lose popularity (klesha of arrogance), maybe you need to worry less about others (if it won't help anyone).