The Compassion Book
Teachings for Awakening the Heart
-
- $199.00
-
- $199.00
Descripción editorial
The revered Buddhist teacher and author of When Things Fall Apart presents the lojong teachings—pithy slogans for daily contemplation—and the ways in which they can enrich our lives
Welcome compassion and fearlessness as your guide, and you’ll live wisely and effectively in good times and bad. But that’s easier said than done. In The Compassion Book, Pema Chödrön introduces a powerful, transformative method to nurture these qualities using a practice called lojong, which has been a primary focus of her teachings and personal practice for many years. For centuries, Tibetan Buddhists have relied on these teachings to awaken the deep goodness that lies within us.
The lojong teachings include fifty-nine pithy slogans for daily contemplation, such as “Always maintain only a joyful mind,” “Don’t be swayed by external circumstances,” “Don’t try to be the fastest,” and “Be grateful to everyone.” This book presents each of these slogans and includes Pema’s clear, succinct guidance on how to understand them—and how they can enrich our lives. It also features a forty-five-minute downloadable audio program entitled “Opening the Heart,” in which Pema offers in-depth instruction on tonglen meditation, a powerful practice that anyone can undertake to awaken compassion for oneself and others.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this brief book, Ch dr n (When Things Fall Apart) focuses on lojong, or mind training, to develop compassion, based on 59 slogans (short teachings) from The Root Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind, written by a 12th-century Tibetan Buddhist master. The basic notion of lojong is that we can make friends with what we reject, what we see as bad in ourselves and in other people, writes Ch dr n, who studied with the late Ch gyam Trungpa. Her commentary on each slogan is usually short, sometimes one sentence; readers who wish for more extended discussion of these teachings in Ch dr n s personable, down-to-earth style will find it in her 1994 title, Start Where You Are. While some of the slogans refer to fairly technical Buddhist points (e.g., Seeing confusion as the four kayas is unsurpassable shunyata protection ), Ch dr n is adept at clear, simple explanations. The book includes suggestions for incorporating lojong into daily practice, a link to an audio of Ch dr n teaching tonglen (an increasingly well-known breathing practice to cultivate compassion), and a short list of additional resources on lojong.
