Anger

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Overview

"[Thich Nhat Hanh] shows us the connection between personal, inner peace and peace on earth." –His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for a Nobel Peace Prize, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of today’s leading sources of wisdom, peace, compassion and comfort.

It was under the bodhi tree in India twenty-five centuries ago that Buddha achieved the insight that three states of mind were the source of all our unhappiness: wrong knowing, obsessive desire, and anger. All are difficult, but in one instant of anger—one of the most powerful emotions—lives can be ruined, and health and spiritual development can be destroyed.

With exquisite simplicity, Buddhist monk and Vietnam refugee Thich Nhat Hanh gives tools and advice for transforming relationships, focusing energy, and rejuvenating those parts of ourselves that have been laid waste by anger. His extraordinary wisdom can transform your life and the lives of the people you love, and in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, can give each reader the power "to change everything."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101215708
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/10/2001
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	434,572
File size:	579 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, a rare combination of mystic, scholar, and activist and one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West. Poet, Zen master, and chairman of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation during the Vietnam War, he was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Read an Excerpt

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From the Trade Paperback edition.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Consuming Anger

Putting Out the Fire of Anger

The Language of True Love

Transformation

Compassionate Communication

Your Heart Sutra

No Enemies

David and Angelina: the Habit Energy of Anger

Embracing Anger With Mindfulness

Mindful Breathing

Restoring the Pure Land

Appendix A: Peace Treaty
Appendix B: The Five Mindfulness Trainings
Appendix C: Guided Meditations for Looking Deeply and Releasing Anger
Appendix D: Deep Relaxation

Editorial Reviews

Anger can slash through a friendship as quickly as a sword. Utilizing Buddhist teachings and his own personal experiences, Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh explains what anger is, and how we can anticipate and creatively defuse its painful eruptions. Buy two copies: one for yourself and one for a significant other.

bn.com

In an age of road rage, Americans would do well to cool down with prolific Buddhist monk Hanh (Living Buddha, Living Christ). There is plenty in this small volume worth skipping, such as Hanh's tedious call for "Healing the Wounded Child Within." And some of his advice is banal (e.g., if a husband is angry at his wife, he should tell her). But some of Hanh's suggestions cut refreshingly against the grain. He dissents, for example, from the popular therapeutic wisdom to "express our anger": when we beat a pillow to get rid of our feelings, he insists we are merely "rehearsing" our anger, not "reducing" it. Hanh reminds us that anger begins and ends with ourselves we may feel that we are mad at our wife or son, but really we are the direct objects of our rage. Hanh doesn't limit his task to discussing anger between families and friends; he also deals with anger among countries and between citizens and governments. That expansive vision is not surprising (Hanh, after all, is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee) but it is refreshing, lifting this book out of the self-absorbed self-help pile. Like Hanh's other books, this is not weighed down with Buddhist terminology. The appendices, which contain meditations designed to help release anger, give it the specifically Buddhist spice that some readers will appreciate. The meat of the book, however, will be accessible to a broad, ecumenical audience. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"You cannot eat raw potatoes," charmingly states Nobel Peace Prize nominee and best-selling author Thich Nhat Hanh (Living Buddha, Living Christ). He then describes how the deep, compassionate "cooking" of anger can transform this emotion, allowing for greater personal and planetary peace. The Buddhist monk then addresses the causes of anger and suggests practical tools to embrace and heal it (e.g., 15-minute guided meditations and visualization exercises). Moreover, he teaches that the conscious, selective consumption of films, conversation, and food energizes us to become profound listeners, lessening the formation of habitual anger; he also asserts that, contrary to popular belief, physically venting anger is destructive in the long term because it "feeds the fire" and does not reach the roots of this emotion. To avoid possible misinterpretation of these teachings, the reader must first accept the idea that it is advantageous to become a deep listener in order to rescue a suffering person (a departure from 12-step thinking). Reminding us that small spiritual matters are really large spiritual matters, the author offers wisdom and serenity to comfort readers as they work through anger to a place of "being peace." Recommended for public libraries. Lisa Liquori, MLS, Syracuse, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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