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3rd out of 54 books
—
72 voters
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha
by
Tara Brach (Goodreads Author)
For many of us, feelings of deficiency are right around the corner. It doesn’t take much--just hearing of someone else’s accomplishments, being criticized, getting into an argument, making a mistake at work--to make us feel that we are not okay. Beginning to understand how our lives have become ensnared in this trance of unworthiness is our first step toward reconnecting w...more
Paperback, 333 pages
Published
November 23rd 2004
by Bantam
(first published October 1st 2000)
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Aug 18, 2008
Donna Kirk
added it
about recognizing, with compassion, your own weaknesses and in the end, finding room to accept them and treat them with love; in effect, healing yourself.
It's like going over to a suffering plant in a garden and tending to it with care, feeding the soil, doing away with pests, giving it compost, sunlight, water; is, metaphorically, how this book suggests we deal with our own fragile, deeply human lives -- that by encouraging our friends and families to take care of themselves the same way, we c...more
It's like going over to a suffering plant in a garden and tending to it with care, feeding the soil, doing away with pests, giving it compost, sunlight, water; is, metaphorically, how this book suggests we deal with our own fragile, deeply human lives -- that by encouraging our friends and families to take care of themselves the same way, we c...more
So I don't usually read self-help books. At all. I kinda hate them. And I don't usually read hippy dippy Buddhist stuff either, because I get too scoffy.
When I started this one, I almost didn't go past the first chapter, because it was not really resonating with me at all. And parts of the book (like the closing chapter on discovering our true essence and realizing we are nothing but awareness..... super hippy dippy) totally fell flat.
But there were a few key sections, and really the overarchi...more
When I started this one, I almost didn't go past the first chapter, because it was not really resonating with me at all. And parts of the book (like the closing chapter on discovering our true essence and realizing we are nothing but awareness..... super hippy dippy) totally fell flat.
But there were a few key sections, and really the overarchi...more
Tara Brach leads a weekly meditation class in the metro D.C. area, and I've been to several of them. Her sessions inspire just as much calm and assuredness as this book does. Tara is sort of like the anti-Dr. Phil. Instead of screaming at you about what an idiot you are, Tara puts a comforting arm around you, like an old friend, and using a combination of psychological techniques and a gentle form of Theravada Buddhism, she shows us how we can stop living with doubt, regret, and fear and lead a...more
Kripalu Yoga is primarily a practice of compassion, and this book is it's perfect companion. The foundation of all yoga practice is acceptance, and it begins with ourselves. Feelings of deficiency are common to all of us. Being criticized, making mistakes, and experiencing relationship difficulties, all can make us feel unworthy. Our human suffering and our loneliness keep us from feeling fulfilled. Recognizing how we become trapped by these feelings is the first step in reconnecting with who we...more
If you have a strong spiritual practice or are wanting to delve deeper into eastern thought processes, then this is a great book for those in need of emotional support. What I liked most about this book was that is gave you actually tools and methods to help you go through your healing, whilst reading the book. There are meditations at the end of each chapter that enable you to DO THE WORK right in your own home.
The greatest lesson I received from this book was to actually FEEL...to feel everyt...more
The greatest lesson I received from this book was to actually FEEL...to feel everyt...more
Not overly impressive, but a nice and helpful book. Brach writes a treatise on how the integration of Buddhist spirituality and meditative practices (most often based in the Theravadan traditions of vipassana and metta) can partner with western psychotherapy to assist in healing and personal development.
Intellectually it is pretty lightweight, which isn’t to say that it doesn’t package and reiterate some helpful ideas in useful ways. My biggest challenge with the book was that I couldn’t really...more
Intellectually it is pretty lightweight, which isn’t to say that it doesn’t package and reiterate some helpful ideas in useful ways. My biggest challenge with the book was that I couldn’t really...more
I've only read the previous edition, but I am here to tell you that Brach brings a message that is welcome tonic to the soul of anyone who has ever felt inadequate or unworthy for any reason. Usually these reasons have to do with culturally defined standards and ideals that no person can ever live up to fully. Brach skillfully weaves these influences together with psychological and Christianity-based explanations of how we live our lives in the 'trance of unworthiness,' and how we can move beyon...more
I read it in German, so I don't know how much difference there is to the original. However, easy read, with lots of essentially helpful aproaches to dealing with problems, hurdles, wounds...Many suggestions to guided meditations. Most important lesson for me was " to really look at things and not to look away, not to deny" but " to embrace, and to accept truth, and then to be able to let go". I felt so true for many occasions in my life, I have worked with the "look at it" approach since I read...more
Feb 22, 2009
Lavonne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lavonne by:
Jennifer
Shelves:
toptenspiritual
I have tried twice to read the Power of Now, and could never quite grasp what all the fuss was about. This book, Radical Acceptance, delivered the insights that I was supposed to get from the other book. It is basically talking about the same subjects, but Tara Brach brings a humanity to her approach that is sadly missing in Power of Now.
She has been persuing a spiritual path for many years and speaks with knowledge and compasison. Yet, she admits that when she is continuously approached by a d...more
She has been persuing a spiritual path for many years and speaks with knowledge and compasison. Yet, she admits that when she is continuously approached by a d...more
A friend recommended that I read Tara Brach. He had read this book and also listened regularly to her weekly podcast and said that her advice was useful to the point of being transformative. Though not a committed follower of any formal belief system, he is what I would term a Catholic in recovery in the process of migrating toward Buddhism. I think I can say the same about myself. There are more than a few of us out there. I suppose that Radical Acceptance can be categorized as self-help but in...more
I think the perceptions of this book are directly related to the suffering and innate self hatred that the reader possesses. When the concept of lovingkindness is absolutely foreign to you then this book can save your life.
Something I absolutely cherish about this book is kind and gentle repetition. I would read a concept and compartmentalize it as something I either had heard before, already knew, or couldn't possibly work. Then she'd reintroduce the same concept with a case study, a personal...more
Something I absolutely cherish about this book is kind and gentle repetition. I would read a concept and compartmentalize it as something I either had heard before, already knew, or couldn't possibly work. Then she'd reintroduce the same concept with a case study, a personal...more
One sometimes runs into folks who are suspicious of Buddhism and particularly of the capacity of westerners to find solace in an allegedly Buddhist perspective. I am not a Buddhist, but have found a lot of value in meditation--and in the ethical viewpoint roughly associated with Buddhist practice.
So if the discussion comes to exchanging book titles this is the one I recommend as an introduction to what I'll roughly call a Buddhist approach to suffering. There are better books on meditation. The...more
This is one of the best self-help books I have ever read. While approaching personal growth issues from a Western Buddhism perspective, it offers much to anyone willing to look at themselves and their life situation in an honest, calm, and compassionate way. One of the most powerful concepts in this book is that of recognizing that how you interpret what happens to you, the life story that you write for yourself, deeply affects how you feel about yourself, others, and life in general. This book...more
Brach's Radical Acceptance is a brilliantly distilled book on how to move away from self-hatred, doubt and shame and move towards acceptance, love and kindness. Brach shares her own experiences as well as those of past meditation and psychotherapy clients to illustrate each stage of Radical Acceptance. Each section ends with guided meditations to help the reader begin to explore their own thoughts and needs.
I loved this book! Brach's writing is clear, humorous and compassionate. You really get t...more
I loved this book! Brach's writing is clear, humorous and compassionate. You really get t...more
I've gone through tough times for years. I've tried to evade reality, or relied on someone with attachment, but at the same time I've believed there must be an answer so kept seeking it. The answer I found through numerous trial-and-errors was simple. My own growing up and transcendence springs from the whole acceptance of myself, where I am now and my situations around just the way they are.
The answer seemed too antinomic and challenging sometimes, however, it raised critical questions and fear...more
The answer seemed too antinomic and challenging sometimes, however, it raised critical questions and fear...more
A practical and useful book about the practice of Buddhism. It doesn't get bogged down in theory, In fact, the fundamental theory of Buddhism--the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path--aren't even mentioned. That's a relief for me, because it's very easy for me to interpret these as aversive to the experience of living.
This book had the opposite effect on me. It focuses instead on "Radical Acceptance" which is an unfortunate term she uses for awareness and allowing of all experience that arises...more
This book had the opposite effect on me. It focuses instead on "Radical Acceptance" which is an unfortunate term she uses for awareness and allowing of all experience that arises...more
One of my favorite books - engaging, beautifully written, uplifting. It draws from the best of Buddhism and Psychology. Interweaves teaching stories with wonderful guided meditations. Tara Brach is a gifted teacher.
This book helped me during the process of changing my life in ways that I never thought possible- absolutely wonderful and worth reading. I don't think I know anyone that doesn't get caught in the trap of being impatient with themself, or thinking negatively about their own weaknesses or actions. I had read it years before, and knew I liked the message that it contains, but it wasn't until I read it a second time that I was at a point in my life that I could actually take the ideas for what they...more
The book talks about how the majority of our SUFFERING is due to our inability to ACCEPT our situation. We deny, we become angry, we feel the lose, and finally we accept.
Acceptance does not mean that we like the situation or agree with it or even to think the situation in okay. However, once we have managed to accept something for what it is, we can now more effectively deal with the situation.
Tara Brach does a lot better job of this than I do here. It really is worth reading a number of times...more
Acceptance does not mean that we like the situation or agree with it or even to think the situation in okay. However, once we have managed to accept something for what it is, we can now more effectively deal with the situation.
Tara Brach does a lot better job of this than I do here. It really is worth reading a number of times...more
We are perfectly imperfect. All of us.
This book is a good tool for use in developing a meditation practice and for understanding the basic tenets of Buddhism.
The main teaching, radical acceptance, is to accept each moment as it is, to accept yourself exactly as you are now, in this moment.
She uses examples from her own life and from her patients lives which aids in understanding concepts and how they can be practiced.
For me, this is not a book to be read and understood in one reading, but rather...more
This book is a good tool for use in developing a meditation practice and for understanding the basic tenets of Buddhism.
The main teaching, radical acceptance, is to accept each moment as it is, to accept yourself exactly as you are now, in this moment.
She uses examples from her own life and from her patients lives which aids in understanding concepts and how they can be practiced.
For me, this is not a book to be read and understood in one reading, but rather...more
Finally reading this (Feb. 2013). Woohoo!
...
Just started this; very pretty and reassuring so far.
...
ILL loan period expired before I could finish this. :((((
left off p. 158
p. 10 "Those who feel plagued by not being good enough are often drawn to idealistic worldviews that offer the possibility of purifying and transcending a flawed nature." --explains my religious kick a few years ago!
p. 12 _Stories of the spirit_ by Jack Kornfield and Christina Feldman: story about family going out to dinner. L...more
...
Just started this; very pretty and reassuring so far.
...
ILL loan period expired before I could finish this. :((((
left off p. 158
p. 10 "Those who feel plagued by not being good enough are often drawn to idealistic worldviews that offer the possibility of purifying and transcending a flawed nature." --explains my religious kick a few years ago!
p. 12 _Stories of the spirit_ by Jack Kornfield and Christina Feldman: story about family going out to dinner. L...more
amazing...this book brings me great relief from my constant grasping towards being good, seeing clearly that this grasping to be good was a cover for all the other graspings, each layer of feeling covered over with more craving or resistance and self-judging thoughts about not being good enough now i know it'a all good. or rather, that in acceptance of all that arises in each moment we find freedom, in embracing even the grasping, going fully into the longing and pain behind these desires and di...more
Jun 27, 2008
Catherine Stapleton
is currently reading it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone
As I read this I realized that the belief that there is something wrong with me is quite deep. I went straight to Chapter 7, Opening Our Heart In The Face Of Fear:
"We have to face the pain we have been running from. In fact, we need to learn to rest in it and let its searing power transform us." - Charlotte Joko Beck
This is not a book for someone who is not open to Eastern thought. If you allow yourself to be open to it though, it will open your mind and heart. On page 175, where the author talk...more
"We have to face the pain we have been running from. In fact, we need to learn to rest in it and let its searing power transform us." - Charlotte Joko Beck
This is not a book for someone who is not open to Eastern thought. If you allow yourself to be open to it though, it will open your mind and heart. On page 175, where the author talk...more
Tara Brach is gifted and eminently qualified to talk to us about acceptance of ourselves and in guiding us to freedom from inner forces that keep us from living fulfilled and happy lives. In addition to founding and continuing in the role of senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society of Washington Dr. Brach is a well established practicing psychologist. If you are interested in hearing the wonderful audio recordings of her talks you may go here: http://tarabrach.com/audiodharma.html
The first two chapters or so are the only ones worth reading. Since I read some FA/HAES books before this one I guess I'm on an acceptance kick. The title hooked me but this is really not very radical. It's very similar to other self-helpy Buddhism books. Then it's just more of the same and (ugh) case studies, people she counseled in therapy. I hate when people who should know better invoke Mother Teresa as a wonderful person. It's one of those things--like using "PC" in the text--that takes me...more
Full marks for the gist and low marks for the execution. A little too self-helpy and over-written, yet the idea of bringing radical acceptance/compassion to ourselves and others is pretty much the only hope for emotional sanity in this world. But for content, economy, and grace, I'm finding Ezra Bayda's "Being Zen" to be a huge improvement. Let's just say Bayda's book is going on my shelves when I'm done. Brach's book is going to half.com.
The book has a lot to offer in reference to meditative practices and mindful concepts. I was continually put off, however, by the concept "Radical Acceptance". It seems almost trademarked. For me her definition of Radical Acceptance would better be described by the words mindful acceptance. Mindfulness is a huge part of this writing.
I will definitely read it again. There is alot of helpful material within the book's pages.
I will definitely read it again. There is alot of helpful material within the book's pages.
When I've been caught up in tension or self judgment, I have stopped and asked myself, "what would it be like if I could accept life, accept this moment, exactly as it is?"
May I be filled with lovingkindness; may I be held in lovingkindess.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I touch great and natural peace.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
May my heart and mind awaken; may I be free.
May I be filled with lovingkindness; may I be held in lovingkindess.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I touch great and natural peace.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
May my heart and mind awaken; may I be free.
I regularly listen to Tara Brach's dharma talks, which are available for download from her personal website, as well as the Insight Meditation Community of Washington's website. I love hear approach to spirituality. However, her book did not meet my expectations. The concepts she so eloquently delivers in person do not come out in the book's text. I found it rather dry, which left me sad.
I grabbed this book semi-randomly from a bookstore and am so glad I did. This is a good book to actually purchase because it has guided meditations and thoughts that I think it's important to come back to.
I've been having a stressful life recently and this book helped me re-frame some of my experiences and definitely helped me feel more calm just by taking the time to read it.
I've been having a stressful life recently and this book helped me re-frame some of my experiences and definitely helped me feel more calm just by taking the time to read it.
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| Sunday Night Mind...: Our First Book! | 5 | 14 | 17. April, 19:37 Uhr |
Tara Brach is a leading western teacher of Buddhist meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening. She has practiced and taught meditation for over 35 years, with an emphasis on vipassana (mindfulness or insight) meditation. Tara is the senior teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. A clinical psychologist, Tara is the author of
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Y...more
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“Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.”
—
33 people liked it
“Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns...We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.”
—
28 people liked it
More quotes…
I often wonder that myself. I've learned so much about Buddhism, but I've still yet to find...more
03. Februar, 16:09 Uhr