Sadness, Love, Openness: The Buddhist Path of Joy

by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche Narrated by Richard Gere

Overview

A direct, pithy, and accessible guide to the entire path of Tibetan Buddhism by one of the most beloved and respected contemporary lamas

Accessible, playful, and genuine, this concise guide shows how we can incorporate our own daily experiences into our spiritual path and awaken to how things truly are. By embracing sadness, love, and openness in our lives, we develop an altruistic attitude to help all beings who suffer and to reduce our own greed and aggression. This easy-to-read manual by one of the most widely loved and respected Tibetan Buddhist teachers of our time teaches us how to honestly explore and deal with our own hang-ups and neuroses. Through knowing our own true nature as aware and compassionate, we can progress, step-by-step, on the Buddhist path and use Rinpoche's pithy wisdom along the way as a touchstone.

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche's fresh and engaged approach to timeless Buddhist wisdom enables us to deeply connect with authentic teachings in a modern context. This work is a delight and inspiration to read, outlining the major teachings and practices of Buddhism in a succinct way.

Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile

Richard Gere narrates in an easy, gentle voice that is perfectly suited to this examination of the fundamental principles of Buddhism and its practice. Gere blends serious and joyful tones throughout the audiobook. There is a playful lilt in the way the names of spiritual leaders roll off his tongue. And there are clarity and fluidity in his explanations of the importance of understanding and accepting the paradoxes of life and their resolution—such as realizing the problem is within us and finding peace from the things we want by letting them go. Gere also conveys the audiobook’s encouraging message about the practices that reveal the root of our suffering and help achieve a more authentic life and a deeper sense of peace. An earnest and compelling performance. M.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

05/28/2018
Tibetan Buddhist abbot Nyima (Present Fresh Wakefulness) introduces the key concepts of Buddhism in this accessible beginner’s guide. In the opening section, on sadness, he explains how the rejection of impermanence causes all suffering before ending with a nice summation of the Buddhist route to ultimate truth through a clear understanding of the interdependence of all things. The next section, on love, offers suggestions on how to work through suffering with meditations to increase compassion and clear descriptions of how broadly one’s love must extend: “become a loving servant, savior, and friend to all beings.” Though the instructions are vague and will require more personal support, there are plenty of provocative ideas to mull over. The final section on openness exhorts those aspiring to enlightenment to not become competitive or fixated on progress and to let go of their firm grip on the way things seem. Indirect connections between paragraphs throughout never make the work feel jumbled; instead, Nyima’s nonlinear approach feels like the organic wisdom of a dear friend. Somewhere between a preliminary guidebook and fine-spun philosophy, this comforting volume succeeds as an easy introduction to Buddhist thinking and practice. (July)

From the Publisher

Warm and accessible, yet profound and insightful. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche offers compelling advice for our times. This book is a treasure of timeless wisdom that today is needed more than ever.”
—Cher
 
 “My friend and teacher Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche is a seasoned and authentic Dzogchen master. He has written a book that throws a lifeline to all of us struggling in the sea of ignorance, desire, and hatred. As he says, “Dharma is not a hobby,” but it is a very serious business indeed. Dharma can save us from the ocean of forgetfulness so that we may remember who we really are: beings of light, love, and wisdom. Complete liberation is possible if we do the work and guaranteed if we follow our teacher’s advice. Rinpoche takes us through the stages of Buddhist practice leading to the joy and freedom of the Great Perfection, Dzogchen. Rinpoche emphasizes the necessity of embracing the truths of impermanence and dependent origination as the sources of our future enlightenment. This is a truly inspiring book for all practitioners.”
—Richard Gere

 “Different traditions differ in how they understand and use the term mindfulness, yet they agree on the nondual nature of mind and the need for authentic instruction and practice.  As venerable Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche describes in this elegant, succinct, and extremely useful primer on essential Dharma as a way of being, there are many different methods in the universe of meditation, but in the end—and from the beginning—those that are authentic and trustworthy serve one purpose, and that is realized, embodied wakefulness.” 
—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living and Meditation Is Not What You Think

 “Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche embodies the insight and compassion of a bodhisattva. In Sadness, Love, Openness he shares his profound understanding of the Buddhist view of life—it’s suffering and the path to liberation from that suffering—and offers a generous gift to anyone who wants to embrace the Dharma.”
—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence
 
 “Here we learn how to truly appreciate all of life—in full sadness and full happiness—with the simple recipe of being calm, kind, and aware, and full of joy in everything.”
—Piet Hut, Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies, Princeton

“Somewhere between a preliminary guidebook and fine-spun philosophy, this comforting volume succeeds as an easy introduction to Buddhist thinking and practice.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Traditional, yet novel and fresh; challenging, yet kind and encouraging; profound, yet clear and concise. For serious practitioners, aspiring meditators, and those who seek to enhance their practice, this book holds immense promise.”
—Tricyle

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile

Richard Gere narrates in an easy, gentle voice that is perfectly suited to this examination of the fundamental principles of Buddhism and its practice. Gere blends serious and joyful tones throughout the audiobook. There is a playful lilt in the way the names of spiritual leaders roll off his tongue. And there are clarity and fluidity in his explanations of the importance of understanding and accepting the paradoxes of life and their resolution—such as realizing the problem is within us and finding peace from the things we want by letting them go. Gere also conveys the audiobook’s encouraging message about the practices that reveal the root of our suffering and help achieve a more authentic life and a deeper sense of peace. An earnest and compelling performance. M.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172197789
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	01/29/2019
Series:	Shambhala
Edition description:	Unabridged

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