What Is Love?: A Simple Buddhist Guide to Romantic Happiness

by Taro Gold

Book Overview

Presents practical, Buddhist-based guidelines to achieving happiness in romantic relationships through a series of inspirational quotes complemented by thematic watercolors and divided into three... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0740738380
• ISBN13: 9780740738388
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Uplifting wisdom for the ages

I bought this for myself and found that when I was having a challenging day I would read it to change my mood and lift my spirits. I found myself reading it over and over again. I ended up writing a few of my favorite tidbits on pieces of paper and leaving them around my house to remind me of the more important things in life. I'm buying this book for the third time to give as a gift to friends. It really is one of the best I have found and is light enough to read anytime and take anywhere. If you are looking for something to add a little wisdom and self confidence to your life this is it.

Beautiful and enlightening book about knowing true love

Having been through many relationships in my life, some better and some worse than others, I have yet to find a person with whom I have had true and lasting love. I have read countless books and articles about love and relationships and made great progress understanding my relationships with various counselors. Yet this book, probably the most simple and direct of them all, has done the most for me of anything previous. All of the things I needed to know about loving myself first, being the person I want to attract, and mastering my life condition and my thoughts -- all of this I was so close to understanding before, and now it is perfectly clear to me. I am truly feeling happier than I have ever felt in my life, and I know I will be ready to join my life partner when the timing is right for both of us now. This book is a godsend and I am giving copies of it to everyone I know.

Love Is

"A loving relationship is meant to serve not as a safe harbor for our unhealthy tendencies but rather as a healthy place of reformation where such tendencies can be eliminated. Only by exposing the dark spiritual poisons within us can we transform them in the light of spiritual healing." ~Taro Gold "What is Love?" is inspired by the universal principles of Buddhism. When we learn to be at peace with ourselves, we can spread this peace to the world. Unconditional love truly can heal the world. In a similar way that music unites us, love is what we need to unite the world. Hate destroys while love nurtures. I have found that there is a point at which the pain of life dissolves into the bliss of love. This tiny book explores the topic of "Love" in 80 exquisite pages. "What is Love?" is filled with inspirational quotes, watercolors and Taro's wisdom. There are swirling goldfish, flowers clinging delicately to the edge of pages, pots of orchids, birds perched on bamboo leaves and cherry trees, and a variety of creatively patterned pages. There are three main sections: Part One: Love and Illusion - Taro introduces a variety of interesting ideas and explains how in early Buddhist teachings, romantic love is seen as unstable while compassionate love is seen as limitless. He truly starts to delve into the meaning of love and explains why love as an illusion will disappear as fast as it appeared. I loved the humorous ending to the "Zuri" story that is almost as funny as the quote by Woody Allen, which just spins your mind. "Needy Love" is not often discussed and this is the first time I've seen an author explain this aspect of love in such a concise manner. Taro explains why "needy love" is ultimately unfulfilling. "Moments of temporary insanity" - I can relate to this. Part Two: Love and Reality - Taro's writing is filled with creativity and speaks directly to the heart. He explains relationships through the retelling of an ancient Japanese comedic tale. Taro then explores change, the three main types of love, self-mastery and "meeting your soul mate." This book makes complete sense although the issue of greater and lesser worlds was a new concept to me. Who would not want to reach the place of "Enlightened, altruistic, unshakable happiness." Page 50 is just powerful. The entire section on enlightenment makes the concept very easy to understand. Most books do not reach this depth, nor do they make enlightenment quite so attainable. Taro takes mysterious topics and transforms then into everyday wisdom. Part Three: Love and Life - Taro's thoughts continue to create a connection between the quotes and his experience with Buddhist wisdom. The quotes are not all Eastern and you will find quotes from Judith Viorst, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and even Victor Hugo. He explores the topics of loyalty, romance, commitment and karma. The story of how we become mirrors in relationships is so true. Taro Gold has spent much of his life living overseas. He has be

A beautiful gift of love for anyone you adore

This is a very pretty square book about 6"x6" and not very thick. The cover is a reproduction of a Chinese screen. The contents are not specifically "Buddhist" meditations, though the source is from the Buddhist beliefs of the author Taro Gold.The quotes are varied; from Plato to Dickens. On the left side pages are quotes; the right side pages have stories and essays by Gold, including tales from his childhood and how a Buddhist might treat the course of a romance. The essays really make you think--this is perhaps a new way to look at love and how one's own ego and beliefs play into a relationship.This is a very pretty, but very inspirational book and would make a wonderful gift for anyone you love.

Taro Gold's simple Buddhist guide to romantic happiness

Pay attention to the subtitle of "What Is Love?" because Taro Gold is writing specifically about the romantic form of love. For those who read his earlier book "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Book of Eastern Wisdom," you will again find choice quotations from famous and unknown authors of both Eastern and Western cultures, presented in a book where virtually every page has some simple and elegant artistic touch. But this time around you will find the author talking in his own voice more often. "What is Love?" is much more practical than philosophical, even though it is clearly grounded in simple wisdom, Buddhist or otherwise. The goal of this nightstand book is to give readers help in contributing to the success of their relationships.The foundation for such success if becoming happy within and then expanding that idea to encompass others: "you will find that love is whatever we are; it is whatever we choose to make it." "What Is Love?" is divided into three parts: "Part One - Love and Illusion, The Outer Path: Searching Through the Fantasy"; "Part Two - Love and Reality, The Inner Path: Finding True Love Within"; and "Part Three - Love and Life: The Middle Path: Creating Romantic Happiness Now." The Buddhist influence is integrated throughout the book, with Gold talking about taking charge of our consciousness, engaging in continual self-reflection, and realizing there is nothing we can say or do to change another person. There is no claim that anything in here is a brand new idea that will help people find love and live happily every after. To the contrary, Gold's approach is grounded in centuries of Buddhist thought, which is echoed throughout the centuries in other cultures and traditions, as reflected by the quotations sprinkled throughout the book. You will find a Buddhist proverb on one page and a quote from a Woody Allen film on another, all presented in a setting of gentle persuasion and constant encouragement. What makes this an appealing book is not so much that it has something to say, but rather than it finds ways of making you listen to ideas that you have always known, but have managed to forget. "What Is Love?" is a spiritual guide, in the most universal sense of the term.