Fear

Category: Books,Religion & Spirituality,Buddhism

Fear Details

Review “Thich Nhat Hanh shows us that by looking deeply and embracing our whole experience with acceptance, love and understanding, we can go beyond fear and anxiety to find fearlessness and inner peace.” (Sogyal Rinpoche) Read more From the Back Cover Fear has countless faces: from the fear of failure to worries about everyday life, from financial or environmental uncertainties to the universal despair we all experience when faced by the loss of a friend or loved one. Even when surrounded by all the conditions for happiness, life can feel incomplete when fear keeps us focused on the past and worried about the future. While we all experience fear, it is possible to learn how to avoid having our lives shaped and driven by it. In these pages, Thich Nhat Hanh offers us a timeless path for living fearlessly. Read more About the Author Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master, poet, scholar, and peace activist who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the author of many books, including the classics Peace Is Every Step and The Art of Power. Hanh lives in Plum Village, his meditation center in France, and has led retreats worldwide on the art of mindful living. Read more

Reviews

I stumbled upon this book after years of dealing with growing fear, anxiety and anger-related issues that were greatly impacting my private and professional life, robbing me of a good night's sleep and just plain making life miserable. When I bought this book, I was battling moderate depression that was transitioning to severe depression, I knew I had to act fast before it completely incapacitated me. I noticed in the comments that someone had recovered from a moderate depression and I had also heard talks by Thich Nhat Hahn online which attracted my interest with their 'unconventional' approach. I was ready to put any good advice into practice and not just for the short term.Not only was the mere reading of this book comforting and relieving for me, but the exercises it introduces helped me transform fear in an unconventional way. Though in the presence of intense emotions, perhaps even in a panic attack, my first reflex was to run, to find a way to escape, the exercises suggest meeting it head on - but not with aggression or in a challenging manner as proposed by some of the inevitably flawed techniques I have tried - but with compassion, curiosity and concern. Thich Nhat Hahn suggests that we observe our emotions, acknowledge them - even handle them with the concern we would for a crying baby through deep listening - and begin to work our way back into the present moment, back to ourselves.By sticking to the exercises in this book and filling my mind with good food for thought (reading more books on this subject, watching dharma by Thich Nhat Hahn on youtube), I moved from being consumed by despair, fear, frustration and the psychosomatic illness that accompanies it to being on the road to recovery. About four and half weeks after starting the book and encountering 'Thay's' approach to 'the art of suffering' I am working again at full capacity, sleeping through the night for over two weeks now, restoring harmony to my relationships and starting to enjoy life again, which is no small feat considering where I started only a month ago. I am also experiencing a clarity of mind that I have almost never experienced. As my back was up against a wall, I started practicing his exercises right away and multiple times every day in a gentle and cautious fashion. I believe that this and good food for thought were what got me back on track - without drugs or any other treatment of any kind.I have read many books on how to deal with fear, phobias and panic attacks, still my depression and anxiety continued to advance and cripple my life even further. I stumbled upon the books by Thich Nhat Hahn quite literally in my darkest hour. I hope that my story can give others in crisis and despair the hope to carry on. Barely a month after starting this book, I am largely restored, but still have a ways to go so I will be continuing to practice and to gain insight through introspection, mindfulness and reading more Thich Nhat Hahn not to mention others like him. As I regain my strength, I am compelled to share this experience to help others suffering like I did.

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