Reviews for The Zen of Helping: Spiritual Principles for Mindful and Open-Hearted Practice

The average rating for The Zen of Helping: Spiritual Principles for Mindful and Open-Hearted Practice based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-11-04 00:00:00 Omar Harbi I have not yet completed this book but I feel pretty strongly about the book already... Who this book is really for: Do you meditate? And, are you also someone who listens to people professionally (psychologist, social worker, etc), or perhaps you're the person your friends come to when they need someone to listen to them? If you do not meditate or have difficulty grounding yourself to the present moment, the contents of the book may be less useful. If you do not currently meditate, he does provide instructions on how to meditate. If you read his instructions and don't like them, you might find the book Rewire Your Brain for Love gives you a lot of reasons to begin your practice (it's what got me started). Anyway, the author is a psychologist, counselor, social worker and meditator. If I were to give this book a different title, it would be called 'The Zen of Listening and Compassion.' The book demonstrates a direct application of how a meditative practice can be applied to counselling or even your own life. He does his best to be deeply honest and vulnerable to the reader, sharing moments where he has both succeeded and failed professionally, or in some cases, his family life. Listening with an open heart and recognizing those feelings of fear or judgement, embracing them and letting them go -- all those things one might experience meditating are things that can be mindfully meditated away in your daily life or professionally. I see this book as a thoughtful presentation of how meditation is not only relevant but in some cases necessary to reach someone when they deserve it the most. Of course, at the same time we must confront and move beyond our own thoughts and feelings to connect to those we are helping.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-14 00:00:00 Barbara Smith A good book on Hakuin's art. Has a small introduction to the person of Hakuin and gives context where needed. A selection of his paintings show much of his teachings and are very well explained. However, there is a lack of an explanation of the overall group and sometimes information mingles between different paintings that makes distinct iconography hard. The lack of an index is unfortunate and having the paintings in black and white does them a disservice.