Book Review - The Art of Communicating

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

Thich Nhat Hanh has written an excellent guide to understanding and practicing what he has dubbed The Art of Communicating. We all benefit from his effort, and I am grateful for the chance to give this a read.

The book begins by discussing the concept of absorbing thoughts, speech, and actions we produce ourselves in addition to karmic actions contained in the communications of those around us. Hanh moves on to address ways to effectively and honestly communicating with ourselves and others. His explanation of how the suffering of our parents and ancestors can be found within our own suffering helped me understand my own suffering as well as that of those who have come before me.

There is a concept discussed at length that essentially boils down to loving oneself in order to manifest compassion and happiness for others. It is nearly impossible to have true compassion for another when one does not truly love oneself. That is something that I have been working on for the past few decades and will continue to work on in the coming decades as well.

Hanh reminds us that when we greet another human being, it is helpful to remind ourselves that there is a Buddha inside them. As he says, "'The Buddha' is just a name for the most understanding and compassionate person it's possible to be. You may call it something else if you wish, like wisdom or God. We can breathe, smile, and walk in such a way that this person in us has a chance to manifest." I really enjoyed the wider passage that I plucked this quotation from—it reminds me that there are positive qualities inside of each and every one of us.

Deep listening and loving speech are also two concepts that I really enjoyed reading about, and hope to put into practice more and more as time goes on. Giving someone our full undivided attention while they are speaking is very powerful—when we listen with true compassion, we have the power to help the person suffer less. This book helped me see that I don't always practice this, and I would like to do it more often because my intention is to always help others and to never intentionally hurt others. Hanh lists and fully explains four elements of loving speech:

1. Tell the truth. Don't lie or turn the truth upside down.

2. Don't exaggerate.

3. Be consistent. This means no double-talk: speaking about something in one way to one person and in an opposite way to another for selfish or manipulative reasons.

4. Use peaceful language. Don't use insulting or violent words, cruel speech, verbal abuse, or condemnation.

In my opinion, those are very helpful reminders for us to continue to develop our practice of using loving speech when communicating with ourselves and others.

I think my favorite part of the book was the part that centered on the six mantras of loving speech. Without going into detail on what they are in this review, I will simply say that they seem extremely helpful in communicating with others about suffering that we all go experience from time to time. I have already started putting some of these mantras into practice, and have found them to be useful and helpful in my communication with others.

The book also covers the issues of communicating at work and in communities. One piece I took away from those sections was that it is beneficial to find time to be fully present and mindful with myself before getting into the car to drive to work, and certainly before walking into the door at my office!

I have greatly enjoyed reading Hanh's books over the past several years. He has so many that it is unlikely that I will read his entire body of work, but I have benefitted greatly from his contributions and have a few more picked out that I plan to read. If you have any suggestions of exceptional Thich Nhat Hanh books for me to read, please let me know!

4/5 stars. 166 pages.

Click here to buy the book.

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Book Review - Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be

Photograph taken by David Wilder.

Lama Surya Das, an authorized lama in the Dzogchen lineage of Tibet and author of the best-selling book Awakening The Buddha Within, offers practical advice about dealing with change, loss, and spiritual transformation in the book Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be.

The book is broken into sections that focus on different aspects of the main topic, such as "Naming Our Losses", "Letting Go of the Person You used to Be", and "Being Heroic in the Face of Loss". Each chapter opens with a thought-provoking and inspiring quote from the likes of Buddhist teachers, Mark Twain, Charlie Parker, and Philo. The words by these wise people offer an excellent introduction to the chapter's topic and serve as a mindfulness reminder before the reader begins the chapter.

Following the opening quote, each chapter launches into a discussion of the topic and includes anecdotes from Buddhist teachers and friends of Surya Das. The chapter then closes with a spiritual or meditation practice that can be cultivated to work on and integrate the topic.

I read Awakening The Buddha Within several years ago when I first became interested in meditation and only had a preliminary interest in Buddhism, and really enjoyed it. I was unaware that it was the first book in a trilogy until picking up this book and reading a bit more about it. This has definitely sparked my interest in reading more by Surya Das!

Overall, I found the book to be extremely valuable and easy to read. I marked inspiring stories, quotes, and pieces of advice to return to later, and also plan to explore the meditation practices included at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book for anyone, regardless of whether they desire a change or are currently experiencing loss, because both are things that we will all come across during our lives.

4/5 stars. 224 pages.

Book Review - The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

I had been interested in reading this book since it was published in 2006, which was around the time that I was consuming a lot of atheistic and scientific materialist content from the likes of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. I imagine that if I had read the book back then, I would have found it more entertaining, and I wanted to like it more than I did—but I couldn't.

The book is incredibly tedious and repetitive, and runs out of steam fairly quickly. I will admit that it did make me chuckle a few times in the beginning, but as I read further into the book I found myself being frustrated and bored.

The basic idea behind the book is that it is the gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the sarcastic equivalent of God, or the creator of our universe. It is meant to be a humorous attack on religious and non-scientific thinking, and I imagine it would appeal to scientific materialists and atheists alike. However, that line of thinking no longer resonates with me, and I ended up disliking the book almost entirely.

I wouldn't really recommend that anyone read this book. If you're interested, go for it, but don't expect anything that clever or funny. I did have that sort of expectation, and was severely let down and felt like I wasted the time I spent reading it.

2/5 stars. 169 pages.

Compassion Day

Image by Christopher Michel, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Yesterday morning my girlfriend and I decided to try something new, so we visited the Kadampa Center, a Tibetan Buddhist center in Raleigh, NC. I have had an interest in learning more about meditation, spirituality, and Buddhism for quite some time now, and thought it would be a valuable learning experience and a positive way to expand our sense of community. Although I have spent many years consuming media about meditation and Buddhism, I felt like it was time to venture out into the world to see what I can learn from people who are experienced and knowledgable in these practices.

It turns out that we decided to visit the center on a very special day; the center held an event titled Happy Birthday His Holiness the Dalai Lama! The Dalai Lama is turning 80 today, and the center held an event to celebrate him and highlight July 6, Compassion Day. We honored the Dalai Lama by offering cards listing our acts of kindness and compassion and participated in singing Happy Birthday, a guided meditation, mantra recitation, and a brief prayer.

I hadn't been to a religious or spiritual center or event for over a decade now, and was very happy with the community I saw at Kadampa Center. At this time, we plan to continue going to see what there is to learn, and determine what gifts I possess that I can offer the community.

To celebrate today, I encourage you to visit the Compassion Day website linked above and find ways to engage in rejoicing, compassion in action, and meditation in your life.

Mantras - An Introduction

Image by mailumes, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

This is the first post in a series featuring helpful meditation techniques.

In a previous post, I explained the benefits I have experienced by committing to a regular meditation practice. One of the techniques that can be used during a meditation session is the recitation of mantras. In this post I will introduce mantras and give you some advice on how best to use them in your own meditation practice.

What Are Mantras?

Mantras are essentially words or phrases that are repeated many times, over and over again. The symbol in the image shown above is the Sanskrit text for the mantra Om, which is perhaps the most well-known mantra, and often what a novice meditator assumes he or she will be chanting during every meditation session. However, Om is not the only mantra available to a meditator, nor is it the only aspect of meditation.

As described on Deepak Chopra's webpage about mantras:

"The word mantra has two parts: man, which is the root of the Sanskrit word for mind; and tra, which is the root of the word instrument. A mantra is therefore an instrument of the mind, a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation."

Taken from the Wikipedia article on mantras:

"'Mantra' means a sacred utterance, numinous sound, or a syllable, word, phonemes, or group of words believed by some to have psychological and spiritual power. A mantra may or may not have syntactic structure or literal meaning; the spiritual value of a mantra comes when it is audible, visible, or present in thought."

My personal take on mantras is that using them in a meditation practice helps calm the mind and focus attention. There have been times during my own meditation sessions that reciting mantras has led me to another state of consciousness. These experiences are difficult for me to describe, but the important message I would like to share is that using mantras can be an effective meditation technique.

How Do Mantras Work?

Repeating a mantra allows the mind to focus wholly on one particular sound or meaning. When we practice mantra repetition during meditation, we allow the vibration and meaning of the mantra to meld with our subconscious mind while also detaching from the racing thoughts that often fill our mind. This leads to myriad positive results, including altering the brain's chemical balance, freeing the mind from injurious thoughts, identifying negative habits, elevating our spirituality, and healing diseases.

The practice of repeating a mantra over and over again replaces the normal thought processes that we experience. It is really easy to get caught in our thoughts without even realizing it, and mantras can help us break that pattern by refocusing our attention on one specific word, sound, or phrase. After all, it is difficult to think about one thing while focusing your attention on another!

Three Mantras for Beginners

Included below are three mantras that are excellent for novice meditators. I have included each mantra's respective meaning and pronunciation that will help you started with incorporating mantras into your meditation practice. Please note that executing the correct pronunciation of a mantra is not as important as cultivating an honest intention while reciting the mantra. In addition, there are debates about the correct pronunciation of mantras. When in doubt, just do your best.

1) Om

• Translation: Om is said to be the sound of the universe. It is generally understood to be the original vibration, representing the birth, death, and re-birth process of Samsara.

• Pronunciation: Om has an alternate spelling of Aum, which is the sound that is made when the mantra is pronounced correctly. Position your mouth as you would say the vowel "U". Start vocalizing "Aum" and finish with "M" in the form of a deep hum. Another way to recite Om is to open your mouth, begin to utter "Aahh", slowly close your mouth as it becomes "Ooh", and when you close your mouth the sound becomes "Mmm".

2) Om Namah Shivaya

• Translation: Also known as Panchakshara, the "five-syllable" mantra Namah Shivaya is a holy salutation to Shiva. Shiva is understood to be the supreme deity of transformation who represents the truest, highest self. When an Om is included at the beginning of the mantra, the phrase translates to "I bow to Shiva". When I first started using this mantra, I imagined the meaning to be "I bow to myself", which helped me dedicate myself to my then-new meditation practice and thus, to myself.

• Pronunciation: When the beginning Om is included, this mantra is simply pronounced "Aum-Nah-Mah-Shee-Vah-Yah". I found this video from Yoga Vidya to be very helpful when learning to pronounce this mantra.

3) Om Mani Padme Hum

• Translation: This mantra loosely translates to "The jewel is in the lotus" or "Praise to the jewel in the lotus". It is said that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra, and it cannot really be translated into a simple phrase or sentence. If you are interested in further reading, this explanation on Dharma Haven gives a thorough explanation of the meaning behind the mantra.

• Pronunciation: This mantra is pronounced "Aum-Mah-Nee-Pahd-May-Hum". The vowel in they syllable "Hum" is pronounced as in the English word "hook". The final consonant in that syllable is often pronounced "ng" as in "gong".

How to Recite Mantras

Learning to recite mantras is fairly straightforward. It is important to find a physical space that is pleasant to be in for an extended period and a time of day when you will not be interrupted by others. To begin, simply sit in a comfortable meditation pose with either closed or open eyes and repeat the mantra.

A mantra is traditionally repeated 108 times, the same count as the number of beads on a mala. There are many reasons given for the number 108, ranging from numerological theories to metaphysical explanations of the amount of energy lines there are in the human body. A more thorough examination of the reasons behind the number 108 can be found at SwamiJ.com. I have found using mala beads to be extremely helpful when first learning to recite mantras.

It is okay to begin by reciting mantras out loud, however the goal in many spiritual traditions is to arrive at the point where you can recite the mantra silently in your mind. The idea behind this is that once you are able to recite the mantra silently, you are fully entering the silence of the mind. While you repeat the mantra, the process generates a conscious vibration that carries the mind into deeper levels of awareness. As you continue with your meditation, the mantra becomes less prominent in your mind, and eventually you are led to the realm of pure consciousness from which the vibration arose.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what mantras are, how they work, some mantras to begin with, and how to recite them, I invite you to give the technique a try during your next meditation session.

Namaste.