Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind: Living the Four Noble Truths

by Dalai Lama XIV, Jigme Rinpoche (Translator)

This book is a collection of passages from lectures by the Dalai Lama. The teacher who speaks here is not the Buddhist philosopher, nor the head of state of the Tibetan people, but the spiritual friend, the one with a sharp, compassionate, and humorous understanding of the human condition. The Dalai Lama answers our concerns about the source of our anxieties, our limitations, the problem of death, and the deepest responsibilities of our lives.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Nonfiction

141 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Jetsun 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.

Reviews

[Tim Weakley]

A series of lectures, delivered in France, by the Dalai Lama along with questions an answer after every chapter. It was translated from the French. This was a difficult read for me. The dialogue here is much higher level than I am used to from previous reading. I'm not sure if it was the topics, or how they were translated but a bit of it was completely lost on me. What I did follow was great discussion. Mixed results.

[Logan Macnair]

It would prove to not be the first time that I struggled with the writing (or in the this case, the oral delivery and later translation from the original French) of the 14th Dalai Lama.

2.5 stars.

[hissi]

perfect realization..

if things are as they appear
it is unnecessary to analyze them

if something is as it appears to be, meaning that its true self and its appearance are alined, then it does not require an interpretation. it is the truth.
how we perceive this truth though matters, we objectify our objective.
we view it as something beautiful and approach
or something horrid and retreat..
once we do that, once we analyze what we saw, it is no longer the original thing that has been viewed.. it is no longer what we saw.

the buddha's way, his objective in life can be summed up in three words
life is suffering
now, life is hard and you suffers, we dont need to analyze life because we will take these words out of context, what we know, what the buddha tells us is, life is changing, therefor, you will ultimately suffer. this isnt discouraging in the least because where there is suffering, there is also happiness.
life is imperfect and mortal. does that mean we shouldnt approach life?
no, its just a remainder of something much greater.
we are aware that life is suffering, that realization should help you live, because you know the truth, and it's perfect realization, where there is no room for doubt. and once we know this beyond doubt, sorrow cannot even touch you, life winning wont hinder you, you will be greater than this life. that is true enlightenment. its all about being aware, mindful.

to recognize suffering.
to eliminate its origin.
to bring about its cessation.
to meditate on the way.

Why meditate on the way?
to remember!

Buddha wanted to end suffering, your self wont suffer in this world.. that doesnt mean you wont be happy, you wont feel pain. but your higher self will rise about these life's turmoils and it wont touch you, because you're aware..


The four noble truths of Buddhism.
1- all of life is marked by suffering
2- suffering is caused by desire and attachment.
3- suffering can be stopped
4- the way to end suffering is to follow the noble eightfold path.


The Noble eightfold Path
Right knowledge
Right intention
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration

[Jim Parker]

This book is a series of lectures followed by question and answer sessions by the Dali Lama. I gave it a four instead of five because much of the material is covered in other books he has published.

The most interesting parts of the book were on what would most properly be called Buddhist philosophy. HH even goes as far as to compare and contrast the points of view of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Some of the book is about some of the Buddhist beliefs that are more based upon faith than upon reason but are still very interesting.

The book includes some very good material on how to meditate presenting a very good explanation of the difference between concentration meditation and analytic mediation and need for both.

One very interesting thing HH had to say was that we should forgive but should not forget. I wish he were here so I could ask him to explain that idea more in depth.

[Demi Black Cre8tive Dreamz]

Thank you Thomas for bringing this into my life....

[Holly]

This was my first introduction to Buddhism. I need to read it again because there's so much information.

[Amal]

Ennuyeux

[David Light]

I have no idea what the author is saying. I am a newcomer to the idea of buddhism, so if you're not well versed in the teachings of buddhism you will be confounded by this book.