The Art Of Forgiveness, Loving Kindness And Peace
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
This exquisite book is a treasure of timeless wisdom from one of the most respected Buddhist teachers in the West. The book concentrates on personal peace of mind and on how we can help to bring justice and compassion to the world around us. Through striking quotations, concise teachings and memorable true stories organised into three sections, it explores the difficulties of opening our hearts to those who have hurt or betrayed us, and why it is essential to do so. Psychological stumbling blocks and confusions about the real meaning of forgiveness, love and peace are revealed, as well as the blessings and benefits of putting these three qualities into practice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Over the centuries, many people have kept "commonplace books," or repositories of personally meaningful quotations and reflections. Not a diary or a journal, a commonplace book was an individual's means of engaging with the world through the ideas of others. Here, Kornfield (After the Ecstasy, the Laundry and A Path with Heart) offers an uncommonly specialized form of commonplace book, this one focusing on the issues of forgiveness and peacemaking. He casts his net wide, drawing spiritual wisdom from the expected sources (the Dhammapada, the Diamond Sutra, the teachings of the Buddha and various masters) as well as some surprising newcomers for a Buddhist book: Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart, the Tao Te Ching, the New Testament and the Bhagavad Gita. Such eclecticism works well in its context; Kornfield strives to demonstrate that forgiveness is a process, and that it is possible for flawed and ordinary people to forgive others and themselves. A concluding section on inner peace is a humble and wise primer; Kornfield makes the point that true inner peace does not arise from withdrawal from the world but from greater connectedness with it. Each section includes actual rituals to encourage readers to forgive, practice lovingkindness and know peace. While the book mines well-trod territory, it does so with perception and grace.
