The Practice of Loving Kindness: A Guide to Spiritual Fulfillment and Social Harmony

by Vincent Ruggiero

Through real-life stories, Ruggiero argues that selfless love has survived the psychology trends of recent decades, which peddled self-love as the foundation of a happy life.

152 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1969

Reviews

[May]

The book is very much religious, linking acts of kindness to the belief that we are all bound to each others through God. I appreciated how different religions inspire different sets of meanings that are always valuable meanings, but I guess the focus still has too much place in the book for me. I do believe we can connect to each other and plausibly to a higher meaning through spirituality, though, which made the focus more bearable, especially considering how insightful the text is at times. I find that the preachy tone is not for me, but this is as expected of the title: a guide. Sometimes though, kindness leads to codepencies and dependencies, but maybe those psychological aspects would have made the book too heavy for the importance of clarity in a guide. The approach is social, rather than psychological.

Still, the testimonies are amazing and inspiring; the most important parts of this book in my opinion. I am very happy I was able to read and I can now remember those.