Zen in the Art of Helping

by David Brandon

Book Overview

Book by Brandon, David This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140191887
• ISBN13: 9780140191882
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant

This book is brilliant and thought provoking. Read the book and let the transforamtion begin.

Powerful message, difficult to read

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I opened this book. The book is largely an account of the author's lessons as a social worker. The premise of the book is that many seemingful helpful actions are motivated by a person's ego.The book provides many piercing insights into human nature. The author argues that many people engage in the act of giving in order to feel a sense of righteousness, in order to indulge in the belief that they are somehow improving the situation of others. The author states that this judgement of "I am right, you are wrong" is fuelled by ego and is sometimes harmful to the other party. The book also discusses other important philosophies, such as the ability to relish the present, rather than whittling time away waiting for the next "big event" to happen in life.Although the content is powerful and provocative, I found the book difficult to read. The author's style is rigid and quite unengaging. The chapters seem logically disconnected and at times the text was difficult to follow. Nevertheless, I think the book contains many powerful messages and is certainly recommended for anyone who believes that they are an altruistic individual.

Beautifully written, full of wisdom

This short book is beautifully written, with wonderfully clear explanations of concepts from Zen, together with simple, and sometimes painfully honest stories from the author's experience. A lot of hard-won, unconventional wisdom is in these pages. I have read the book several times.