The Four Noble Truths by The Dalai Lama Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Four Noble Truths
Book Review: Insightful discussion on the Four Noble Truths
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an insightful discussion on the four noble truths. It is presented in a clear way with an additional chapter on compassion. It is published in a handy smaller format which is easy to carry around if so wished. This is a great place to turn to for a deeper understanding of this core Buddhist teaching and would compliment any school of Buddhist thought.Book Review: Inspiring, comprehensive, easy to understand
Summary: 5 Stars
In this small book His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents a completely comprehensive, easy to understand explanation and discussion on The Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of the Buddhist teaching. Yet the book transcends religious beliefs and is actually a book on living happily and peacefully no matter what one's beliefs are. This book, therefore, is for anyone and everyone who is interested in living a more peaceful life. His Holiness explains the most complex issues of human existence in a form that is so simple anyone can understand. He readily gives examples and compassionately faces all alternative arguments to the issues. Everything makes sense. He includes a complete glossary and recommendations for further reading. The last chapter focuses on compassion, complementing the teaching on The Four Noble Truths, and beautifully illustrates how the teachings can be applied to daily life. One completes the reading with no unanswered questions and a profound feeling of peace. It is an inspiring, uplifting, informative little book that will be read over and over again. PS: Great for gift giving too.
Book Review: The Dalai Lama is a pretty good teacher.
Summary: 4 Stars
As a Christian trying to understand Buddhism better, I found this a clear and concise introduction to the central philosophy of Buddhism, with a strong humanistic emphasis. (Very different from the grass-roots Buddhist spirituality I have seen in Asia.) The Dalai Lama shows that he is not only a statesman and a leader, but also a teacher, scholar, and (most of all) a kind person. Often he amazes me with his honesty, even doubts. This little book covers a lot of ground, and uses a lot of abstract nouns and very few anecdotes in the process, so it takes concentration to read. I found his discussion of the third noble truth, emptiness, frustrating. I kept waiting for him to define exactly what he meant by "empty" "intrinsic existence" and "unreal" in the Madhyamaka school he follows, but I felt he never really explained how his idea of emptiness differed from the common sense observation that everything in life changes. I wrote in the margin on page 107, "'Nothing lasts.' Have we got any further than this yet?" because I found his explanation vague and extremely broad, so broad the Dalai Lama almost seemed at times to be defining me as a Buddhist. But otherwise most of his explanations, and his discussions of the various schools, were clear and helpful.
The book ends with a rather simple but touching essay on kindness. For those who would like another perspective on self-love and compassion, try John Piper's Enjoying God: the Confessions of a Christian Hedonist, or C. S. Lewis' Four Loves.
author, Jesus and the Religions of Man d.marshall@sun.ac.jp
Book Review: Very Informative
Summary: 5 Stars
I liked the book, HH talked about what are the causes of sorrow.. like... anger, sexual misconduct, etc. And we can eventually control out inner enemy.. by just adhering to his advice. You know sometimes we cannot control thoughts... as to thoughts control us... I found the 4th chapter very informative..and Appendix chapter.. which says Compassion is Key to everything.. It was basically juice for the book for me. I have to confess that I didn't understand the concept of emptiness.. and how that compares to Liberation..maybe in down the line I will.. And sometimes vocabulary for me for little out there.. but Hey that is how we learn. =)
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