How to Focus (Mindfulness Essentials, #9)
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-16 06:51:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Thich Nhat Hanh
- ISBN：1846046572
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Summary
'The monk who taught the world mindfulness' Time
In this enlightening series world-renowned spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh shares the essential foundations of mindful practice and meditation。
In this enlightening series world-renowned spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh shares the essential foundations of mindful practice and meditation。
Reviews
Jacob Williams
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I have a weakness for tiny books on display in bookstores。 Most books are too long; I appreciate authors who get to the point and don't pad things out。 （Unlike I'm doing right now。） Hence， this very short volume grabbed my attention。I'm skeptical of anything that promises to be a universal solution， and claims like "[y]ou can enjoy every moment of your daily life when you have mindfulness and concentration" stray a little close to that。 Toothaches and heartbreaks are both quite effective at dema I have a weakness for tiny books on display in bookstores。 Most books are too long; I appreciate authors who get to the point and don't pad things out。 （Unlike I'm doing right now。） Hence， this very short volume grabbed my attention。I'm skeptical of anything that promises to be a universal solution， and claims like "[y]ou can enjoy every moment of your daily life when you have mindfulness and concentration" stray a little close to that。 Toothaches and heartbreaks are both quite effective at demanding one's undivided attention， but that hardly makes them any more enjoyable。 But the claim that "with mindfulness and concentration， we find that many neutral feelings are actually quite pleasant" rings true。 What speaks to me most in this book is the reminder of how much joy is available in an average moment if we can just manage to banish the past and the future from our minds。 To breathe with full awareness is a miraculous way to untie the knots of regret and anxiety and to come back to life in the present moment。 If we're imprisoned by regrets about the past， anxiety for the future， or attachment and aversion in the present， we're not free to be in contact with life。 People have varying conceptions of what "meditation" is supposed to be。 I like the term Nhất Hạnh uses， "one-pointedness of mind": We use our breathing to bring all the energy of our mind consciousness to one point。 。。。 The object of our concentration 。。。 may be our breathing， a leaf， a pebble， a flower， a situation we are in， a person we want to understand better， or whatever else we want to make the object of our meditative focus。 It's like putting a spotlight on the object of our concentration 。。。 in order to get a breakthrough and understand it better。 This is more appealing to me than conceptions that emphasize emptiness or lack of thinking， perhaps because I'm naturally prone to getting very focused on things anyway。 But it's come less easily to me in recent years， both from internal uncertainty （is this really the best thing I could be doing right now？） and external temptation （sure， this is good， but I could be doing this AND listening to a podcast at the same time！）。 That's a huge loss， and something I want to rectify。I also like Nhất Hạnh's reminder that what we expose ourselves to and focus on can have a large effect on how much we suffer: When something has come to be， we have to acknowledge its presence and look deeply into it to discover the kinds of nourishment that have helped it come to be and continue to feed it。 Nothing can live without food; whether it's our love， our hate， our thinking， our depression--it can't continue without nourishment。 Statements like "[n]ot only children need to be protected from violent and unwholesome programs， films， books， magazines， games， and social media" raise my hackles， because I tend to associate such self-imposed censorship with concerns about purity and sin that I think are misguided。 But it is nevertheless true that the media we consume affects us， and it's worth periodically checking in on whether we actually like the effect。 （Have I told you the good news about not going on Twitter？ You're allowed to just not use Twitter。 It's great！）The idea of cataloging "mental formations" - Nhất Hạnh's tradition recognizes 51 of them - is interesting to me。 It's common for us to recognize when we're in one of a handful of broad mental states - anger， sadness， joy - and it's common to inspect our feelings in extreme detail during deep conversations or therapy or journaling。 I'm not sure it's as common to try to categorize our state of mind at an intermediate level of detail; perhaps the habit of doing so could reveal some illuminating patterns。 。。。more
Mark
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breathing in I enjoy this book， breathing out I enjoy this book…This was an easy read， full of wisdom。 I’ve listened to enough of his audiobooks that I can hear his voice as I read。
Jim Thompson
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Like all the books in the Mindfulness Essentials series， this was nice， but not riveting， not life changing。 These books are short， pretty repetitive， and definitely useful， but don't take deep dives into Zen practice or Buddhist ideas。 I like all of these books， and they're particularly nice when you want to get in a quick read to sort of refocus and such， but I certainly prefer the better， longer Thich Nhat Hanh books when I have the chance。 Like all the books in the Mindfulness Essentials series， this was nice， but not riveting， not life changing。 These books are short， pretty repetitive， and definitely useful， but don't take deep dives into Zen practice or Buddhist ideas。 I like all of these books， and they're particularly nice when you want to get in a quick read to sort of refocus and such， but I certainly prefer the better， longer Thich Nhat Hanh books when I have the chance。 。。。more
George
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An excellent read particularly related to its emphasis of breathing and finding peace and inner stability through full recognition of the present moment。 Covers many helpful and vital Buddhist precepts through introduction of basic themes， allowing a new reader to conveniently cherry-pick in terms of further research or education。
Gabrielle Jarrett
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How to Focus， was for me， ironically a book very difficult to focus upon。 Perhaps it was the large numbers of the divisions and concepts within the brain。 Perhaps I leapt into the pit of comparison and self doubt that I was meditating "right" after decades of meditating。 How to Focus not my fave！ How to Focus， was for me， ironically a book very difficult to focus upon。 Perhaps it was the large numbers of the divisions and concepts within the brain。 Perhaps I leapt into the pit of comparison and self doubt that I was meditating "right" after decades of meditating。 How to Focus not my fave！ 。。。more
Ilya Isaev
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The focusThe book is covering a small set of the author thoughts。 I would recommend to read other books of the same author。 So sad that Thich Nhat Hanh is not present in this world to continue his findings and help more people in the world， however as he said all our spiritual guru are here in the global cosmos with us。
Petra in Cancun being tortured by a dentist
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