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Zen in the Art of Helping
A succinct, uncompromising study of what it means to help other people, this book, first published in 1978, examines the helping process in the light of the principles of Zen Buddhism. Emphasizing the Zen precepts of true compassion, newness and Taoistic change, it explains how a helper can break down the artificial barriers that serve to separate people and hinder the helping process. As the teachings of Zen demonstrate, real compassion involves a selflessness and respect that can bring helper and helped together.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 23, 2010
Amazing. Zen just means 'meditation' or 'meditative state'.
For as long as I could remember, I never really stopped to think when people asked me what my faith is. I'd automatically answer Buddhist. It's only in recent years with the development of my awareness that I began to wonder. Yes, my family are Buddhist, but am I? I never studied it. As far as I knew I said I was Buddhist like it was the equivalent of 'I'm Vietnamese'. Over the last 3 years I realised, the religion that is passed down from our parents to us is actually 'their' interpretation of it. I wanted to explore my own understanding of Buddhism and make my own interpretation. This book happened to be on the reading list for one of my assignment from last year. It gave me a whole new perspective.
I enjoyed the writing. I also found that I could read it with ease and not feel patronized. As I find it particularly to engage with anything to do with 'God'. The moment I hear that word, I feel brain's reluctance. This is because I feel that religion separates people.
For as long as I could remember, I never really stopped to think when people asked me what my faith is. I'd automatically answer Buddhist. It's only in recent years with the development of my awareness that I began to wonder. Yes, my family are Buddhist, but am I? I never studied it. As far as I knew I said I was Buddhist like it was the equivalent of 'I'm Vietnamese'. Over the last 3 years I realised, the religion that is passed down from our parents to us is actually 'their' interpretation of it. I wanted to explore my own understanding of Buddhism and make my own interpretation. This book happened to be on the reading list for one of my assignment from last year. It gave me a whole new perspective.
I enjoyed the writing. I also found that I could read it with ease and not feel patronized. As I find it particularly to engage with anything to do with 'God'. The moment I hear that word, I feel brain's reluctance. This is because I feel that religion separates people.
January 6, 2013
I refer back to this book over and over again, when I want to strengthen my freedom from within
February 13, 2019
It was hard for me to sit down and focus while reading this, but slowly making my way through was well worth it! There is a lot of insight to gain and I find myself flipping back through the many ear-marked pages to read it again.
June 20, 2013
Such good perspective on the helping profession. I read this over and over.
January 14, 2016
Interesting way of looking at helping
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews