Prescription for Living

by Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khanum

Genres: Baha I, Philosophy, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Brooke Brooke]

Connected more with the first half of the book, loved what she had to say and the way she used metaphors to illustrate the concepts. Scary that this was written 70 years ago yet many of the issues we face remain the same if not worse.

[Mario R]

Very many wonderful ideas are shown by Amatu'l, although I am still opinionated on many religious topics; I kept an open mind while skimming and reading through major portions of the book.

I thoroughly enjoy the overall theme of this book being that we ourselves can do so much for this world: rather than stressing and complaining, rather than only wishing oneself happiness - one may take action starting with oneself rather than 'dropping the load' on the rest of humanity. She firmly believes our technological advancement has divided our knowledge of self, and disconnected humanity from historical spiritual teaching.

There is a particular section that I enjoyed a lot, particularly as I have tried to apply this in my own life being Amatu'l encountering a tired man working on a bus, taking pleasure in helping the passengers of a company bus with luggage, their children, reminding certain passengers of their stops; not out of selfishness, his action itself being the reward, to bring happiness is to become happy.

The Baha'i Faith's teachings are interesting to ponder upon. Quite a nice book which seems to blend the entirety of the major World Religions with a particular emphasis on the Buddha's dhukka.

[Will Brown]

I read this book many years ago. The first edition was printed in 1950, when I was two years old. Over the years, I became interested in tai chi and taoism. This book makes those philosophies complete and brings their teachings in to a modern time frame. Practitioners of the taoist arts will find great sympathy with this book. I'm not saying we all have to become Baha'i to benefit, but this book clarifies and reiterates the important life principles of all these great philosophies. Ruhiyyih Rabbani puts life practices on a very, very personal and practical level.

[Emily]

With a couple of the passages, you can really tell this was written in the 50s (terms that aren't exactly acceptable today), but otherwise it all rings true.

[Niki]

Some of her opinions felt really outdated and it felt a bit like a rant and not so much a unbiased work. Other than that it was okay.

[Martin Genet]

The book gives a very good and straightforward account of the history of the Baha'i faith and what it means to be a Baha'i.

The book would appeal to anyone as it contains a lot of advice on how to cope with the difficulties of everyday life. You don't have to believe in a higher power in order to get something out of the book. It is a little treasure- a book I will refer to often.