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How to See Yourself As You Really Are
Like the two wings of a bird, love and insight work cooperatively to bring about enlightenment, says a fundamental Buddhist teaching. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we each possess the ability to achieve happiness and a meaningful life, but the key to realizing that goal is self-knowledge. In "How to See Yourself As You Really Are, " the world's foremost Buddhist leader and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize shows readers how to recognize and dispel misguided notions of self and embrace the world from a more realistic -- and loving -- perspective.Step-by-step exercises help readers shatter their false assumptions and ideas and see the world as it actually exists. By directing our attention to the false veneer that so bedazzles our senses and our thoughts, His Holiness sets the stage for discovering the reality behind appearances. But getting past one's misconceptions is only a prelude to right action, and the book's final section describes how to harness the power of meditative concentration to the service of love, and vice versa, so that true altruistic enlightenment is attained.
Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's own life experiences, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are" is an inspirational and empowering guide to achieving self-awareness that can be read and enjoyed by spiritual seekers of all faiths.
Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's own life experiences, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are" is an inspirational and empowering guide to achieving self-awareness that can be read and enjoyed by spiritual seekers of all faiths.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2006
957 people are currently reading
5960 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,496 books6,123 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews
August 11, 2021
I'm sure I'm about to be damned for writing this, but if this is supposed to be a book about discovering yourself, I'm afraid that for me it failed completely. Perhaps I'm guilty of all the things the Dalai Lama says most of Western Society is guilty. But, to be honest, I found the book not particularly well-written. It was repetitive, unclear, even nonsensical in parts, and much of it smacked very much of the tired-old Christian harangue of guilty, guilty, guilty, which I found startling for a book written by the head of one of the most sacred of Buddhist sects.
But perhaps this is to be expected from a reader who feels that without passion (something the Dalai Lama puts forward as a 'sin' and undesirable), while causing many of the world's problems, has also created some of the world's finest moments in art, science, literature, social reform and more. Without passion there would be no impetus to create, to achieve a state closer to the divine.
So, for me, because of a fundamental difference in essential paradigms, and the lack of quality writing, I'm going to give a thumbs down to this book, and likely give a pass to other of the Dalai Lama's works.
But perhaps this is to be expected from a reader who feels that without passion (something the Dalai Lama puts forward as a 'sin' and undesirable), while causing many of the world's problems, has also created some of the world's finest moments in art, science, literature, social reform and more. Without passion there would be no impetus to create, to achieve a state closer to the divine.
So, for me, because of a fundamental difference in essential paradigms, and the lack of quality writing, I'm going to give a thumbs down to this book, and likely give a pass to other of the Dalai Lama's works.
October 12, 2013
The book “How to See Yourself as You Really Are” by the Dalai Lama, is good book that talks a lot about human nature. It goes through chapters of how the human mind sees itself. Then he goes on to tell you helpful ways of understanding yourself, or “how to see yourself as you really are.” He explains all of this from a Buddhist perspective, and helps to give good tips on how you can reach the proper state of mind.
The theme of the book was mostly based around perspective. It is explained in this book how all feelings and thoughts come from your perspective. He shows you how if you go into any situation with a compassionate, and understanding state of mind, it helps to fully understand why people act the way they do. He goes into depth of what perspectives are best to have in life, and why. He then goes on to talk about certain processes and ways to help accomplish these states of mind.
In my opinion, I thought the novel was put together beautifully. The only small flaw would be some confusing explanations. Although, what would you expect from a Buddhist practitioner? I thought this book was very helpful to my daily life situations, and was very interesting. I would recommend this book to everyone!
The theme of the book was mostly based around perspective. It is explained in this book how all feelings and thoughts come from your perspective. He shows you how if you go into any situation with a compassionate, and understanding state of mind, it helps to fully understand why people act the way they do. He goes into depth of what perspectives are best to have in life, and why. He then goes on to talk about certain processes and ways to help accomplish these states of mind.
In my opinion, I thought the novel was put together beautifully. The only small flaw would be some confusing explanations. Although, what would you expect from a Buddhist practitioner? I thought this book was very helpful to my daily life situations, and was very interesting. I would recommend this book to everyone!
February 8, 2015
Don't recommend as first book on Buddhism for the uninitiated. Very abstract and conceptual, and other authors have explained same concepts better. But this will definitely bend your mind about reality, especially if you're used to Westernized/ego/material-driven concepts of self and reality.
July 2, 2018
Skimming through some reviews of the book How To See Yourself as You Really Are and after finishing the book myself, I can say that:
1. The book will not be understood at first read, or in one sit. It contains many esoteric Buddhist teachings and therefore will be hard to grasp initially, for both those who are and are not really familiar with Buddhism I believe. Having said so, the book can be read by the chapters it has already been divided into. I think the author does this on purpose so as to guide the readers through the book more logically without interfering their reading mid-way while being able to get what the book seeks to convey better.
2. HOW TO READ THE BOOK:
Many reviews are about the book being very repetitive. Yes, it is. However, I believe this is done because the author wouldn't want readers to turn back to where we already pass in the book.
If you notice carefully, Part IV obviously contains more chapters i.e. 9 chapters compared with only 2 or 3 chapters as in other Parts. I think this is done on purpose (again) because this Part contains the very essence teachings of the entire book which need to be broken down into smaller chunks of information for easier absorption. You will find some ideas are repeated throughout these chapters of this particular Part because the point is if you cannot get it the first time you read it, you'll get it later as your understanding progresses along the reading.
I myself re-read each chapter for 3 to 6 times and my advice is when you read a chapter, if you don't get at all what Dalai Lama means in the first place, that's fine. Close the book. Do something else. Then return to read it again. You can stop and return to it as many times as you want as I think it depends on different cases. Usually as I re-read a chapter in Part IV for the 3rd time, I started to get what he really means. Reading it a couple of times more indeed deepens my understanding in his teachings a lot more. And this makes me think perhaps because the teachings are so deep and unfamiliar with general readers, they would find it difficult to enjoy it the way they typically do with other books. However, I can make sure with you Dalai Lama knows this, that's why he keeps saying in the book "please bear with me as I am going into more details here" or something like that.
The point is not to finish the book quickly but to feel the book with all your heart and all your being. It provides ample opportunities and materials to reflect on in your daily life routines.
3. This book is one of the most meaningful and loving book I have ever read, and I believe you will feel the same way if you give the books many reads in smaller chunks like I did. I feel that Dalai Lama is doing his best in making Buddhist teachings more approachable to people of other religions or non-religion.
Generally, I feel so lucky for happening to choose to buy such a book. It really shifts my view for life, people, and everything. I hope you will be the same afterwards :-)
Thank you so much <3
Joycelyn
1. The book will not be understood at first read, or in one sit. It contains many esoteric Buddhist teachings and therefore will be hard to grasp initially, for both those who are and are not really familiar with Buddhism I believe. Having said so, the book can be read by the chapters it has already been divided into. I think the author does this on purpose so as to guide the readers through the book more logically without interfering their reading mid-way while being able to get what the book seeks to convey better.
2. HOW TO READ THE BOOK:
Many reviews are about the book being very repetitive. Yes, it is. However, I believe this is done because the author wouldn't want readers to turn back to where we already pass in the book.
If you notice carefully, Part IV obviously contains more chapters i.e. 9 chapters compared with only 2 or 3 chapters as in other Parts. I think this is done on purpose (again) because this Part contains the very essence teachings of the entire book which need to be broken down into smaller chunks of information for easier absorption. You will find some ideas are repeated throughout these chapters of this particular Part because the point is if you cannot get it the first time you read it, you'll get it later as your understanding progresses along the reading.
I myself re-read each chapter for 3 to 6 times and my advice is when you read a chapter, if you don't get at all what Dalai Lama means in the first place, that's fine. Close the book. Do something else. Then return to read it again. You can stop and return to it as many times as you want as I think it depends on different cases. Usually as I re-read a chapter in Part IV for the 3rd time, I started to get what he really means. Reading it a couple of times more indeed deepens my understanding in his teachings a lot more. And this makes me think perhaps because the teachings are so deep and unfamiliar with general readers, they would find it difficult to enjoy it the way they typically do with other books. However, I can make sure with you Dalai Lama knows this, that's why he keeps saying in the book "please bear with me as I am going into more details here" or something like that.
The point is not to finish the book quickly but to feel the book with all your heart and all your being. It provides ample opportunities and materials to reflect on in your daily life routines.
3. This book is one of the most meaningful and loving book I have ever read, and I believe you will feel the same way if you give the books many reads in smaller chunks like I did. I feel that Dalai Lama is doing his best in making Buddhist teachings more approachable to people of other religions or non-religion.
Generally, I feel so lucky for happening to choose to buy such a book. It really shifts my view for life, people, and everything. I hope you will be the same afterwards :-)
Thank you so much <3
Joycelyn
January 20, 2009
I really tried to grasp the concepts in this book, but it just scrambled my brain. Only very rarely do I ever shelve a book that I've started, and I really hate to do this to the Dalai Lama, but I just can't keep going with this one. I give up.
Original review:
I am the first to admit, I place very little faith in self-help books - it's a genre that I traditionally ignore. But, this book sort of leapt off the shelf at me. I am naturally drawn to Buddhist theory, and would certainly be open to any advice His Holiness the Dalai Lama might choose to throw in my path. Thus, I found it hard to ignore this one and it spontaneously made its way into my messenger bag when I really only stopped at the Harvard Coop to use the loo.
But tell me seriously, who couldn't use just a little enlightenment on the way to the loo?
Original review:
I am the first to admit, I place very little faith in self-help books - it's a genre that I traditionally ignore. But, this book sort of leapt off the shelf at me. I am naturally drawn to Buddhist theory, and would certainly be open to any advice His Holiness the Dalai Lama might choose to throw in my path. Thus, I found it hard to ignore this one and it spontaneously made its way into my messenger bag when I really only stopped at the Harvard Coop to use the loo.
But tell me seriously, who couldn't use just a little enlightenment on the way to the loo?
September 5, 2009
His Holiness shares a universal humanist philosophy. Simple concepts: discipline and altruism. The delivery, however, is cumbersome. Simple concepts become heady and abstract. My favorite part of the book? the meditational exercises that close each chapter.
November 4, 2017
Lots to think about in this lovely book.
April 18, 2015
2.5
"You are living amidst the causes of death."
The writing is abstract, vague, repetitious, and somewhat contradictory.
It would have been possible to say what he's trying to say better formulated and explained and in fewer pages.
Reifications such as "morality/moral values" and "cyclic existence" weren't defined, so it took me almost the whole book to figure out most of them. While I may have thought somewhere at the beginning "Oh, ok, he means that", later on I got confused again about how the term was used. And I think it was only possible for me to figure them out at all because I already was familiar with the concepts using different (more common) words. I doubt that someone who's new to this would understand what he's talking about.
Also, he's forcing the concept of "cyclic existence" on us (while saying at the beginning that what he's about to tell us could be applied without having anything to do with religions) and basing the concepts he's talking about on it.
Furthermore, he uses word games which are supposed to be arguments for his points. Like this it seems as if he accepted those view points to be true and then just went back and tried to construct arguments for them.
So here are the basic concepts he's talking about:
- nothing and noone exists in and of themselves (not even "I" or "you") because everything is being influenced and shaped by causes, its parts & thought
-> by not seeing this we create afflictive emotions, and thus suffering and problems
- the way we see things is shaped by our perceptions (body functions as well as mindset)
- everything is impermanent and subject to change, thus we shouldn't get attached to persons, things & situations or else it'll cause afflictive emotions
["You are living amidst the causes of death."]
-> if we understand and train ourselves in these concepts, we have insight and can act with empathy and compassion
[My advice: Pick one thing every day and think about how it came into being (causes) and what parts it consists of. Also you might want to think about how your thoughts may affect how you think about it, for example if you like its color or its shape, you might take a liking to it.
You could do the same with people and their behaviors (How did the behavior come into being? Which of your thoughts/mindsets make you dis/like it?)]
I like how the "Meditative Reflections" (short summaries of each chapter or parts of a chapter) are all to be found at the end of the book, though, so if you found anything useful and need to remind yourself, you can just look it up at the back (and maybe get an overview, so you know to which chapter you need to get back to).
I can't say the book is bad. It's possible to draw something out of it and it could've been worse. So I gave it an average score of 2.5 .
P.S.: Steer clear of labels.
"You are living amidst the causes of death."
The writing is abstract, vague, repetitious, and somewhat contradictory.
It would have been possible to say what he's trying to say better formulated and explained and in fewer pages.
Reifications such as "morality/moral values" and "cyclic existence" weren't defined, so it took me almost the whole book to figure out most of them. While I may have thought somewhere at the beginning "Oh, ok, he means that", later on I got confused again about how the term was used. And I think it was only possible for me to figure them out at all because I already was familiar with the concepts using different (more common) words. I doubt that someone who's new to this would understand what he's talking about.
Also, he's forcing the concept of "cyclic existence" on us (while saying at the beginning that what he's about to tell us could be applied without having anything to do with religions) and basing the concepts he's talking about on it.
Furthermore, he uses word games which are supposed to be arguments for his points. Like this it seems as if he accepted those view points to be true and then just went back and tried to construct arguments for them.
So here are the basic concepts he's talking about:
- nothing and noone exists in and of themselves (not even "I" or "you") because everything is being influenced and shaped by causes, its parts & thought
-> by not seeing this we create afflictive emotions, and thus suffering and problems
- the way we see things is shaped by our perceptions (body functions as well as mindset)
- everything is impermanent and subject to change, thus we shouldn't get attached to persons, things & situations or else it'll cause afflictive emotions
["You are living amidst the causes of death."]
-> if we understand and train ourselves in these concepts, we have insight and can act with empathy and compassion
[My advice: Pick one thing every day and think about how it came into being (causes) and what parts it consists of. Also you might want to think about how your thoughts may affect how you think about it, for example if you like its color or its shape, you might take a liking to it.
You could do the same with people and their behaviors (How did the behavior come into being? Which of your thoughts/mindsets make you dis/like it?)]
I like how the "Meditative Reflections" (short summaries of each chapter or parts of a chapter) are all to be found at the end of the book, though, so if you found anything useful and need to remind yourself, you can just look it up at the back (and maybe get an overview, so you know to which chapter you need to get back to).
I can't say the book is bad. It's possible to draw something out of it and it could've been worse. So I gave it an average score of 2.5 .
P.S.: Steer clear of labels.
January 17, 2012
At one point the author appears to have proved you do not exist. However, that would be missing the point. Of course we exist, but we do not exist in the way we think we do. Our perception through physical senses has created an illusion, like a magic act, where the magician appears to have pulled a rabbit out of a hat. It did not really come from the hat, but it appears to have done so. In the same way, we all appear to be separate from each other, but we are not. Nobody exists wholly independently of anything else; we are all here due to some manifestation of thought. He then goes on to describe meditations whereby if you dwell on these concepts, and understand the true nature of reality, it is much easier to exercise compassion and love for your fellow beings, because we are all interrelated. It can be a little heavy-going, and I would not recommend it as the first thing you ever read by this spiritual leader. Still, its teaching was fascinating, and one to ponder. One of the more esoteric works by the Dalai Lama, this is a treatise on the nature of reality, and how everything is not how it seems.
July 31, 2024
I was expecting a focus on stilling the mind, etc., but this was all about how we perceive things. It’s about overcoming the assumption that what we see or feel shows the essence of things, or a core of identity – although every aspect of everything is changing till no particle of continuity remains. The Dalai Lama describes a lot of practices for letting go of the need for eternalizing what’s inevitably fading away, and this is his therapy for suffering. Here’s one of the mental exercises: “This person wants happiness and does not want suffering, yet is stricken with terrible pain, May this person be free from suffering and the cause of suffering.”
January 4, 2014
Well, this isn't Buddhism 101, not as easily digestible as The Art of Happiness. I wouldn't recommend for an easy feel-good-before-bed read, as the ideas complex and meditations take some time (perhaps a lifetime) to work through. It seemed to jump around a bit in a non-logical way for my western mind, but it wouldn't call it poorly written. If you are willing to put in some time, pick it up!
November 23, 2020
I enjoyed the book over all. I found lots to think about. I did feel like it was geared more towards someone more familiar with Buddhism. They do try to include instruction for beginners.
Read
April 2, 2011"To overcome the misconception that things and people exist as self-sufficient entities, independent of consciousness, it is essential to observe your own mind to discover how this mistake is being conceived, and how other destructive emotions arise with such ignorance as their support. Given that lust, hatred, pride, jealously, and anger stem from exaggerating the importance of qualities such as beauty and ugliness, it is crucial to understand how persons and things actually exist, without exaggeration.
"The only way to gain this understanding is internal. You need to give up false beliefs you are superimposing on the way things really are; there is no external means of removing lust and hatred. If you are pierced by a thorn, you can remove it forever with a needle, but to get rid of an internal attitude, you must see clearly the mistaken beliefs on which it is based. This calls for using reason to explore the true nature of phenomena and then concentrate on what has been understood."
Kindle location 410 - 419
"In all areas of thought, you need to be able to analyze, and then, when you have come to a decision, you need to be able to set your mind to it without wavering. These two capacities - to analyze and to remain focused - are essential to seeing yourself as you really are.... All these improvements are made in the mind by changing how you think, transforming your outlook through analysis and focus. All types of meditation fall into the general categories of analytical meditation and focusing meditation, also called insight meditation and calm abiding meditation."
Kindle location 784 - 795
"When you advance toward understanding that people and things cannot be found under analysis but take to mind that they do indeed exist, you may begin to feel the impact of the statement that they exist through the power of thought. This, in turn, will challenge you to consider further how people and things appear to your mind and will undermine your confidence in the goodness or badness of these appearances, which you previously automatically accepted as intrinsic to the objects. You will will begin noticing how you assent to the appearance of objects and how you latch on to them.
"In this way, meditation is a long journey, not a single insight or even several insights. It gets more and more profound as the days, months, and years pass. Keep reading and thinking and meditating."
Kindle location 1451 - 1459
"If you understand that, no matter what appears, whether to your senses or to your thinking mind, those objects are established in dependence upon thought, you will get over the idea that phenomena exist in their own right. You will understand that there is no truth in their being set up from their own side. You will realize emptiness, the absence of inherent existence, which exists beyond the proliferation of problems born from seeing phenomena as existing in themselves and provides the medicine for removing delusion."
Kindle location 1730 - 1736
"The only way to gain this understanding is internal. You need to give up false beliefs you are superimposing on the way things really are; there is no external means of removing lust and hatred. If you are pierced by a thorn, you can remove it forever with a needle, but to get rid of an internal attitude, you must see clearly the mistaken beliefs on which it is based. This calls for using reason to explore the true nature of phenomena and then concentrate on what has been understood."
Kindle location 410 - 419
"In all areas of thought, you need to be able to analyze, and then, when you have come to a decision, you need to be able to set your mind to it without wavering. These two capacities - to analyze and to remain focused - are essential to seeing yourself as you really are.... All these improvements are made in the mind by changing how you think, transforming your outlook through analysis and focus. All types of meditation fall into the general categories of analytical meditation and focusing meditation, also called insight meditation and calm abiding meditation."
Kindle location 784 - 795
"When you advance toward understanding that people and things cannot be found under analysis but take to mind that they do indeed exist, you may begin to feel the impact of the statement that they exist through the power of thought. This, in turn, will challenge you to consider further how people and things appear to your mind and will undermine your confidence in the goodness or badness of these appearances, which you previously automatically accepted as intrinsic to the objects. You will will begin noticing how you assent to the appearance of objects and how you latch on to them.
"In this way, meditation is a long journey, not a single insight or even several insights. It gets more and more profound as the days, months, and years pass. Keep reading and thinking and meditating."
Kindle location 1451 - 1459
"If you understand that, no matter what appears, whether to your senses or to your thinking mind, those objects are established in dependence upon thought, you will get over the idea that phenomena exist in their own right. You will understand that there is no truth in their being set up from their own side. You will realize emptiness, the absence of inherent existence, which exists beyond the proliferation of problems born from seeing phenomena as existing in themselves and provides the medicine for removing delusion."
Kindle location 1730 - 1736
March 13, 2018
A good, purposeful study in observation, not just of the self, but of all things.
Delves deeply into the concepts of dependent arising, the fallacy of inherent existence, and emptiness: reminders that our typical patterns of thought are our own worst enemies. Its rote reiteration of thoughts can feel slow and very dense, but that's the point -- these aren't ideas that are easily unpacked without hours, days, and years of reflection.
Good jumping-off points for personal practice wrap up each chapter. This is definitely a good handbook to keep and study.
Delves deeply into the concepts of dependent arising, the fallacy of inherent existence, and emptiness: reminders that our typical patterns of thought are our own worst enemies. Its rote reiteration of thoughts can feel slow and very dense, but that's the point -- these aren't ideas that are easily unpacked without hours, days, and years of reflection.
Good jumping-off points for personal practice wrap up each chapter. This is definitely a good handbook to keep and study.
February 16, 2014
If you want to start with buddhism, this is one of the books you should read at first because it introduce you to the basic terms of buddhism and helps you to understand them through meditation suggestions.
If you are exhausted from this modern world, the pressure and the way of living today, you should read it as well, it could help you sort out your thoughts and relieve the anxiety and you may start to perceive the world from another angle.
Read it. It is healing in a way.
If you are exhausted from this modern world, the pressure and the way of living today, you should read it as well, it could help you sort out your thoughts and relieve the anxiety and you may start to perceive the world from another angle.
Read it. It is healing in a way.
July 12, 2018
I should stop listening to books by the Dalai Lama and read them instead. Very insightful, and comes across as a treatise on applied Buddhist teachings. I appreciated the insightful writing and the inviting tone of it. There is much to contemplate with a book like this. I was impressed by the concept of emptiness and the implications of it.
June 11, 2017
Good book. Is a bit repetitive and moralizing with too much stressing how life is suffering and all.
Nonetheless, quite a good explanation of what Buddhists mean by selflessness:
That is, selflessness is actually a refutation of soul as independent of mind-body and a refutation of homunculus like theories of self. Taken a step further, one encounters an ancient description of the phenomenological realization that we don't know that 'reality' inherently exists but only our sensory observations.
The view that many difficulties in life stem from ignorant or faulty estimations of things, including thinking (we know things to) inherently exist.
From there some nice points are made about meditation: even if many of us analytically/intellectually know the above realization about reality, to what degree have we thoroughly integrated it into our being such that the insight influences every thought and reaction we have? Does your arm feel intrinsically there? Do you take offense if someone falsely accuses you? Well, meditation can help you weave insight into the fabric of your being! ;-)
The comments on focusing on the laxness/tightness of one's focus is interesting too.
The take on cyclic existence and karma sorta resembles the pattern-completion ideas laid out by Ben here: http://eurycosm.blogspot.dk/search/la... . If you do plenty of action type X, there will be more morphic resonance with worlds of action type X. If you take yourself as a fleshy meatbag and the world around you to inherently exist in some concrete way, then when you die pattern-completion will bias you to be reborn in a similar fashion... whereas when you integrate selflessness into your being and die, you will not be biased like that. ... or something :P
Nonetheless, quite a good explanation of what Buddhists mean by selflessness:
That is, selflessness is actually a refutation of soul as independent of mind-body and a refutation of homunculus like theories of self. Taken a step further, one encounters an ancient description of the phenomenological realization that we don't know that 'reality' inherently exists but only our sensory observations.
The view that many difficulties in life stem from ignorant or faulty estimations of things, including thinking (we know things to) inherently exist.
From there some nice points are made about meditation: even if many of us analytically/intellectually know the above realization about reality, to what degree have we thoroughly integrated it into our being such that the insight influences every thought and reaction we have? Does your arm feel intrinsically there? Do you take offense if someone falsely accuses you? Well, meditation can help you weave insight into the fabric of your being! ;-)
The comments on focusing on the laxness/tightness of one's focus is interesting too.
The take on cyclic existence and karma sorta resembles the pattern-completion ideas laid out by Ben here: http://eurycosm.blogspot.dk/search/la... . If you do plenty of action type X, there will be more morphic resonance with worlds of action type X. If you take yourself as a fleshy meatbag and the world around you to inherently exist in some concrete way, then when you die pattern-completion will bias you to be reborn in a similar fashion... whereas when you integrate selflessness into your being and die, you will not be biased like that. ... or something :P
April 23, 2016
An honour to read and be a part of Dalai Lama's teachings however I felt like I needed to be on some good drugs to understand what he was getting at. I don't do drugs so I didn't understand. Perhaps my mind is not yet open enough.
I felt like there was way too much recycling of whole pages. The "I" segment could have been explained in one paragraph perhaps even in one sentence, not half of the book.
Plus it was a very simple subject and hardly worth being the main subject. I was expecting to read more mind blowing subjects yet it was just about understanding "I". Literally the word "I" and how it is portrayed and when you use it and how you say it.
I even found it to be quite negative. Don't go after the dream job, don't go after your dream house. While I get the sentiment of being free from things and being happy and grateful for what you have (which I am), I felt like it was telling people to not go after what makes them happy which is the point of the book.
I felt like there was way too much recycling of whole pages. The "I" segment could have been explained in one paragraph perhaps even in one sentence, not half of the book.
Plus it was a very simple subject and hardly worth being the main subject. I was expecting to read more mind blowing subjects yet it was just about understanding "I". Literally the word "I" and how it is portrayed and when you use it and how you say it.
I even found it to be quite negative. Don't go after the dream job, don't go after your dream house. While I get the sentiment of being free from things and being happy and grateful for what you have (which I am), I felt like it was telling people to not go after what makes them happy which is the point of the book.
November 22, 2010
It's been many years since a book really changed the way I see the world and my life. What is matter? Who are we? Big questions. It took me about five months to read this book, because after every few pages there's a meditation to do and mostly i wouldn't go on until i felt that i had satisfactorily completed the meditation. Eventually i realized that this is actually the work of several years; in the chapter on single-point meditation, The Dalai Lama shows nine stages: i made it from stage one to stage three in about eight weeks.
This is not a good introduction to buddhist thought, but if you want to understand yourself better and are willing to put work into it, i recommend it highly.
This is not a good introduction to buddhist thought, but if you want to understand yourself better and are willing to put work into it, i recommend it highly.
June 26, 2008
How to See Yourself As You Really Are is a simply written book full of very complex, even daunting, ideas. The Dalai Lama discusses Buddhist beliefs relating to inherent existence, compassion, love, and impermanence. This isn't a theoretical treatise, though; there are instructions on mediation and meditation exercises (helpfully compiled in an appendix).
You don't need to be a Buddhist, or even religious, to get something out of this book. The Dalai Lama invites the reader to engage in analysis and reason, and draw his or her own conclusions.
You don't need to be a Buddhist, or even religious, to get something out of this book. The Dalai Lama invites the reader to engage in analysis and reason, and draw his or her own conclusions.
July 21, 2008
According to the book: How to See Yourself As You Really Are - there are four general concerns known to mankind. The first focuses on a universal concern for all humanity which is essential to solving global problems. The next, is that love and compassion are the pillars of world peace. Another is that all world religions seek to advance world peace, as do all humanitarians of whatever ideology. The final, is that each individual has a responsibility to shape institutions to serve the needs of the world.
February 3, 2018
Not really sure if this book did really help me. I do love the concept and philosophy of Buddhism and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. However, this one was way too much. Too repetitive. It might do a better job for those who are reading a book by Dalai Lama for the first time, but knowing all the main concepts of emptiness and compassion this book won’t do much.
November 10, 2011
This is more than a book. it is direct instruction by HHDL. Reading it daily, I am still at the beginning. I think many people dont like it cuz it's very deep tibetan buddhist practices. I am amazed and honored he put such secret and pith instructions out there for us all.
February 12, 2018
This book requires some concentrative muscle to work through all of the contemplations and analysis of self and selflessness. Nevertheless, it serves well as a detailed and concise guide but it may be challenging to those new to Buddhism.
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December 27, 2023DNF. I bought the book ages ago and first read when I was younger, recalling that I was so perplexed and did not finish it then either. Gave it another try now to see if anything changes but I don't think it does. The book title is quite misleading to my expectations as I was so confused since the Introduction about his Holiness' perspective on world peace, nuclear wars and politics. 7 chapters into the book but I rarely find the connection to the book title, and I'm not too keen to discover what's on the other side of the built up suspense. Concepts such as insight, ignorance, dependent-arising, inherent existence really got me baffled, and I wonder if the lack of understanding might have something to do with linguistic nuances or my unfamiliarity with Buddhist teaching. I did a quick Google search and found out that Dalai Lama speaks perfect English even though the book is translated so it possibly leaning towards the latter.
November 23, 2021
I tried so hard with this book, I wanted to learn and understand but it left me with a feeling between" I must be to stupid to understand this" and deep despair. The I that I am not hopes that other readers have a better experience. It's certainly not for beginners or people suffering from depression. Your thoughts might get more suicidal. Hopefully good for the advanced disciple. Good luck.
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March 25, 2024
Emptiness: a prescription for happiness
Why emptiness?
Self-nature
From dependent arising to emptiness
Exercise: searching for the self
* Generate a strong feeling that you do have self-nature. For example, the sense of self feels particularly strong when being praised or blamed. Try to summon up that feeling.
- Consider that if the self existed, it must be either identical to or different from body and mind.
- Remember that this self is, by definition, unchanging and independent.
* Consider that if the self were identical to body and mind, then body and mind would be unchanging (so you could never grow older or think new thoughts) and independent (so you could never eat food or be born). The self cannot be identical to body and mind.
* Consider that if the self were different from body and mind, you could identify something distinct from body and mind that is the self. Can you find such an entity? If not, it follows that the self cannot be different from body and mind.
* It follows from 2) and 3) that the self does not exist. This reasoning takes some time to sink in, but with practice, it really does work.
How seeing emptiness makes you happier
How seeing emptiness makes others happier
Resources
Introduction To Buddhist Emptiness: a brief, but precise explanation of emptiness
Guided Tonglen Meditation by Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön
Guided Metta Meditation by Samaneri Jayasara of the podcast Wisdom of the Masters
I just finished reading the Dalai Lama’s book How to See Yourself As You Really Are, which describes the Mahayana Buddhist concept of emptiness and how to use it to relieve suffering. I’d like to share these teachings with you!
Why emptiness?
I sincerely believe that learning to see emptiness is one of the most profound ways to transform your thinking, perception, and actions in a way that benefits yourself and others.
Seeing emptiness opens up flexibility in seeing the world and responding to its challenges. It also makes you more compassionate, which helps both others and yourself. To me, emptiness looks a bit like this painting by Gerhard Richter: it softens the edges of things, making them more beautiful and open to transformation.
Self-nature
To understand emptiness, we have to understand self-nature (a.k.a. inherent existence). Something possesses self-nature if it is not changing and not dependent on parts or conditions. Whether we realize it or not, we naturally assume that everything has self-nature.
Early Buddhists believe that persons (e.g., you, me, everyone we know) possess no self-nature. Mahayana Buddhists believe that not only does the person not possess self-nature, nothing possesses self-nature.
From dependent arising to emptiness
A core belief of Buddhism is dependent arising, which says that X arises because of Y, or this happens because that happens. If everything arises dependently, there is nothing that arises independently. This lack of self-nature is what we call emptiness.
For a visual example, think of a net in which jewels are suspended by rope. The things of the world are like jewels, and the connections between them are like rope. Dependent arising is looking at the rope and noticing that there are no jewels which are not connected by rope. Emptiness is looking at the jewels and noticing that they consist of nothing more than the reflections of the rest of the jewels.
Exercise: searching for the self
To get a sense of emptiness, it’s helpful to first develop a sense of your own lack of self-nature. In this exercise, we’ll use reasoning to weaken our ingrained view that the self exists. The exercise has four parts:
* Generate a strong feeling that you do have self-nature. For example, the sense of self feels particularly strong when being praised or blamed. Try to summon up that feeling.
- Consider that if the self existed, it must be either identical to or different from body and mind.
- Remember that this self is, by definition, unchanging and independent.
* Consider that if the self were identical to body and mind, then body and mind would be unchanging (so you could never grow older or think new thoughts) and independent (so you could never eat food or be born). The self cannot be identical to body and mind.
* Consider that if the self were different from body and mind, you could identify something distinct from body and mind that is the self. Can you find such an entity? If not, it follows that the self cannot be different from body and mind.
* It follows from 2) and 3) that the self does not exist. This reasoning takes some time to sink in, but with practice, it really does work.
How seeing emptiness makes you happier
When we grasp at self-nature (in ourselves, other beings, or other things), we experience suffering when they change or when the conditions on which they depend change.
How seeing emptiness makes others happier
In Mahayana Buddhism, the point is not to meditate just for yourself. Instead, the point is to be a Bodhisattva: a being who aspires to attain awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings.
May these teachings and practices benefit you and help you to benefit others!
Rey ☀️
Resources
Introduction To Buddhist Emptiness: a brief, but precise explanation of emptiness
Guided Tonglen Meditation by Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön
Guided Metta Meditation by Samaneri Jayasara of the podcast Wisdom of the Masters
January 4, 2022
nice. more things made sense to me than the first time i read it. good book to come back to abt life things i got a hard copy to put in my room
February 28, 2022
Es un libro para conocer acerca del Budismo su apreciación sobre el Ego , su estructura y su relación con la meditación y la presencia. Como todo libro religioso tiene sus buenos momentos y otro no tanto cuando se acerca con el fanatismo. Tiene momentos de mucho tecnicismo pero me gustó la forma en como aborda los tipos de meditación y la importancia de practicarlos.
May 23, 2022
Por el poder de la conceptualidad se establece el mundo
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