The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation Paperback – Illustrated, 8 Jun. 1999

TL;DR – This book is a basic introduction to the foundations of Buddhism, taught from the point of view of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Absolutely recommended.RAGDOLL RATING: ExceptionalThe Book…The book covers the absolute fundamentals of Buddhism. Thầy introduces us to the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and a handful of other concepts he considers to be the bedrock of the Buddhist faith.The writing style is quite unusual – I have no idea of this a trait of Zen masters, poets, Vietnamese folks or just a personal quirk but it seems quite unique. Specifically, the writing seems to flow quite rapidly from one thing to another, usually from explanation to metaphor and back again. I don’t personally find it difficult to read because my mind tends to wander a lot anyway and I found it actually helped me take things in, but some people my find it a little tricky to deal with.Thich Nhat Hanh (Who I will refer to as Thầy (teacher) from now on) is not only a Zen master but a poet too and this look is laced with sections of poetry on related topics. It’s a nice touch although I confess I am far to ignorant of poetry to be able to suggest how good it is.The book is well referenced, linking to canonical texts, other Buddhist teachers works, and other books Thầy has written. It also includes, in the final section, a small selection of translated discourses which had been mentioned in the text.Why I read it…I’ve been trying to read a Buddhist text before my evening meditation and I just happened to buy this book not so long ago. I had listened to a guided meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh and found his insights really struck a chord with me.Conveniently, this book also took up a position in my reading challenge in the “A book that will make you smarter” category.Thầy has devoted a considerable amount of word-space to the teachings of the Four Nobel Truths and the Noble Eightfold path – 16 chapters in fact. He breaks down the teachings into their component parts, explains these parts, often with the use of poetry, metaphor and canonical sources. Then he explains how all these elements are connected, how the interplay and are how the ‘inter-are’ – when you truly focus on one element, you will be practicing all the elements automatically.The third section of the book is dedicated to what I hesitate to call lesser known teachings. Perhaps if you have a good background in Buddhism then you would probably at least know what they were (I knew a handful) but if you are new to Buddhism then the chances are you wouldn’t know them. These teachings are well explained and most importantly linked in to the other elements. It was really good to read about these other important teachings.Why I love It…Firstly I have to mention the use of metaphor. This book is full of metaphorical explanations to aid the reader in their understanding. They help make the teachings easier to digest – and some of these teachings can be confusing at the best of times. One thing that really stuck in my mind was a metaphor about waves:“When we look at the ocean, we see that each wave has a beginning and an end. A wave can be compared with other waves, and we can call it more or less beautiful, higher or lower, longer lasting or less long lasting. But if we look more deeply, we see that a wave is made of water. While living the life of a wave, the wave also lives the life of water. It would be sad if the wave did not know that it is water. It would think, ‘Some day I will have to die. This period of time is my life span, and when I arrive at the shore, I will return to nonbeing.’These notions will cause the wave fear and anguish. A wave can be recognized by signs — beginning or ending, high or low, beautiful or ugly. In the world of the wave, the world of relative truth, the wave feels happy as she swells, and she feels sad as she falls. She may think, ‘I am high!’ or ‘I am low!’ and develop superiority or inferiority complexes, but in the world of the water there are no signs, and when the wave touches her true nature — which is water — all of her complexes will cease, and she will transcend birth and death,” (p.124/5)While I was reading this passage (and many others), suddenly the ideas behind impermanence, rebirth and all sorts of other things started to make a bit more sense. The book is full of useful metaphors like these and by the end I felt like my understanding of the fundamental concepts was improved.All the way through I found myself learning new things, and understanding concepts I already knew about much more clearly than I ever have before. I’m sure I missed more than I took in, and this book will definitely become a book I will re-read over and over.The main reason this book is ranked ‘exceptional’ rather than just 5 buttons is basically because of my emotional reaction to text. With every chapter my understanding grew and I had clear guidance to help me understand some difficult concepts and encouragement to apply these things to me own life. I really strongly felt motivated to make improvements in my life and to follow the teachings of the Buddha more closely. I felt a really strong emotion of loving kindness in my heart as I read this book and that feeling continued after I put the book down each night. It was a rare experience and one I feel very happy to have gone through. I genuinely feel this may be one of the most important books I have ever, or indeed will ever read.Recommended For…Everyone with an interest in Buddhism, from the absolute beginner to the advanced practitioner.Everyone generally. I would recommend this book to everyone actually – the contents are very Buddhism-centric (obviously) but there are lessons to be learned from this book that everyone from all works of life could make use of.Final thoughts…This book is probably one of the best books on Buddhism that I have read for a beginners view. The concepts can be difficult but Thầy offers excellent guidance and explanation to help you understand.The book also contains a good deal that would be of value to a more experienced practitioner. Yes, it’s good as a reminder of the basic teachings but the poetry and imagery of this work make it well worth reading as a guide to deeper understanding and encouragement to deeper practice.Everyone should read this book.___________________________________________Please note: I am in no way affiliated with the author or publishers. I bought this book with my own money for my own reasons. The opinions contained within are my own and have not been influenced by any external entity!

A brilliant book full of wisdom & a good introduction to the Buddha’s teachings. I would recommend Thich Nhat Hanh’s books & teachings to anyone, with any interest in the areas of mindfulness, meditation and Buddhist ways. All the books by Thich Nhat Hanh that I have read, so far, have been fantastic. They seem to flow like great poetry, and can be so beneficial in difficult times, this one in particular has a great focus on the Buddhas teachings which makes a great and informative read, with a great style.

This is a rich book that will get you started on Buddhism and mindfulness. It is very well structured without being rigid or textbook-like and reads very well. Reading through the chapters you will definitely learn new things that will broaden your perspective on life.PROS:+ A lot of content for every paragraph+ No waffle+ Diagrams and tables to aid understanding+ Clearly written+ Practical spirituality that you can apply in everyday experience+ No bogus tricks+ Worth reading multiple timesCONS:- There are many concepts and it may be overwhelming at first

Firstly I would like to say that i do recommend people interested in Buddhism, Mindfulness or just simply wanting to be a better person to buy this book. But I would not say it is a good beginners or introduction to any of those things. It can become complicated in places, and it does not help that he puts many words written in sanskrit in brackets. For example... with deep looking, the body ceases to be an aggregate of grasping (upadana skandha), and you dwell in freedom, no longer caught in fear... end example. It can be difficult taking everything in, trying to learn and understand these teachings, and by putting what I think is unnecessary translations in among them it just throws you and makes it harder. As does putting markers to footnotes. A number will often be at the end of a sentence, you go to the footnote only to be shown further reading, as advertising his other books, it just throws you off. Yes sometimes these footnotes are needed for a little extra explanation but more often than not the footnote could have been left out.Like another review I admit he repeats himself, but that is a tool for learning. To repeat the same thing to get it to stick, to set in.Thich Nhat Hanh is an amazing man and I do recommend reading his work, and this book is no exception. The book like the teachings within it are beautiful. So much advice, teachings, to live a good but most of all happy life. .In summary I would say buy this book, but only if you have read other work on Buddhism and mindfulness before. Buy an introduction, after you have read it, if you want further reading, then buy this book

This book contains everything in my opinion needed for Buddhist meditation and contemplation. Thay’s teachings are better suited in my opinion for people like myself who don’t want to be officially part of a religious group with the rules , superstitions etc..but do want to have access to Buddhist Wisdom & do want to practice.This book sets out the 4 Noble Truths and Eight Fold path in a gentle & inspiring way that makes me actually WANT to practice not feel I HAVE to. This book is a treasure.

I've been reading this book since mid December and I love it! Thich Naht Hanh's style of writing is great, may he rest in peace. The only problem I had with the book was that the word "energy" was used in as if it were a spiritual description, but I soon realised that it was meant as a sort of "chemical driver" in one's own brain that makes one think mindfully.9/10

I really do recommend it to anyone. A book best read slowly.The book has truely been a dear friend to me.

The paper quality is good, as expected