Customer Reviews

City Dharma: Keeping Your Cool in the Chaos

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I heard Arthur Jeon speak on NPR and was so amused and inspired I went to his website, citydharma.com. I read excerpts from the book without intending to buy it, as I've read a lot of spiritual books and feel like I have had enough. But his excerpt was both real and deep at the same time---I could relate and I ended up buying the book.

Most of the spiritual books I've read are about two things, changing yourself or believing something unbelievable. City Dharma doesn't ask you to do either. And it doesn't ask you to go sit on a mountain. City Dharma quite simply asks you to wake up from the trance of your reactive conditioning, endless story, and neurotic thoughts so you can experience your connection with your true nature IN THIS MOMENT. This is called waking up and he teaches that you can be "awake" no matter what is happening, lessening the suffering we create for ourselves.

All this isn't communicated in a way that is esoteric, dry or precious. The book is broken up into chapters including work, violence, noise, relationships, status envy---all the stuff we encounter living in the modern world.

The examples in the book are funny and obviously from real life and the applications of his teachings are immediately relevent. They have given me a different perspective and stick well after the reading.

Like all the best spiritual teachers I've encountered, from the Dalai Llama to Thich Nhat Hahn, this book is both profound and humorous. Light but deep. I'm convinced those two qualities go hand in hand with true wakefulness.

This is a delightful collection of "case studies" in dealing with the human condition. It is an inspiring and entertaining read. Yes, humor does belong in spiritual seeking and Mr. Jeon is right on target with his "comic" consciousness. Its up to date, reflects our world here and now (not 2000 thousand years ago) and yet stays in line with the essence of all the Great Teachers and Avatars (Christ, Buddha, Krishna etc.) Highly recommended!

Jeon takes us through stories that are as fresh and surprising as they are illuminating in their outcome and their message. When is non-violence the wrong choice? How do you thwart an obstinate, power-mad beaurocrat? How is poker a spiritual pursuit? How do you end a relationship? At the same time, Jeon blasts through the illusions of New-Age spirituality; that happiness and sucess are just a few affirmations away and creating your reality is as easy as creating a mental picture. What he does offer instead is a way to go through life engaged but not obsessed, compassionate but not blind A wonderful, illuminating read even for the non-spiritual among us.

I want to thank Arthur from the bottom of my heart for City Dharma. I cherry picked a couple of pages in my library, nearly fell off my chair with what I was reading & promptly borrowed the book. I have now read up to page 52 & the Tracey story has hit me right between the eyes like a sweet, beautiful sledgehammer! I have been depressed on & off for most of my adult life & I can see so clearly why & the way out now. I think you have just saved my marriage!!!! I cannot recommend this book enough!

This is truly a user-friendly dharma book. Jeon takes us on a romp through cities from Santa Monica to Johannesburg with stories of real life difficulties and resolutions that are full of humor and wisdom. With not an ounce of spiritual mumbo-jumbo or new age belief, Jeon manages to deliver an authentic spiritual experience. A must-read for the discriminating seeker.

A good friend of mine gave me this book, perhaps as a not-so-subtle way of telling me I need to keep cool in the choas of my own life. What I thought was an amusing joke from a friend has turned out to be a truly helpful gift -- Arthur Jeon's insights and stories are practical, smart, and easy to work into your life. The book is quick and fun to read and several times a day I find myself thinking about what I've read and reacting to my world a little differently. Somehow Jeon's taken all the great teaching of Eastern Thought and turned them into an easy-to-get manual for adding meaning and fun and reducing stress in our crazy Western World. Highly recommend!

Using examples from his own life that resonate with everyone, Arthur Jeon has created a book that is relevant, timely, instructional and entertaining. He writes with extraordinary insight and a balanced perspective. This is a book you'll want to refer to again and again.

Arthur gently instructs us in how to become more mindful in our day-to-day affairs. Who among us wouldn't like to be more "cool in the chaos?" And if we can't always be cool, we can still be aware of what we're doing and the impact our behavior has on the world around us. I don't think it was Arthur's intent to create a treatise on how to live, but he's provided us with a path that, if followed, will help open us to possibilities that we might not have otherwise been aware of. And if we choose to act on this awareness, it has potential to deepen us in extraordinary ways.

This is a wonderful book with wisdom and value that you can draw from in every present moment. If you read no other book this year, read this one. You and everyone around you will benefit.

I have to say, this book was much welcome to me as I'm a city dweller (not sure if it's a good thing) and Arthur's words really hit home.

I've read many books on Dharma/Zen...many of which were good, but the written words in "City Dharma" moved me. I've been in many of the same situations many of the people in the book found themselves in. The book just proved to me that everything one looks for in life is right there in front of them, easily within grasp. As they say, sometimes the answers are right under our noses. And it's not to knock the search that many of us have gone through only to find ourselves right where we started, but the journey itself that became so life-revealing.

Read this book...you will not be disappointed.

City Dharma was truly helpful and insightful. I spend almost every minute of every day, or so it seems, stressed about something, or stressed that I can't think of anything to be stressed about. Each chapter relates to a concern of mine, and the author makes me feel that I am normal for my feelings, that others have the same issues, and that there is help. This is the first book that I have read that is easy to understand and fun to read, and I actually feel that I can easily follow what the author suggests and feel better about myself, my life, and other people. Most books I read get put on the shelf after I am done, or eventually sold to a book store. City Dharma is with me forever! I carry it around and refer to it over and over again, and I get a positive boost when my mood is otherwise. I can always count on this book to pull me out of a funk. I even bought a copy for a friend with chronic stress and anxiety. If I could only get her to relax long enough to sit down and read it! I highly recommend this book.

City Dharma helps the reader reflect on every day choices and the consequences of those choices beyond the place and time of our act. For me, the book is about consciousness, connections and flow of energy--good and bad. The "voice" of the book is unpretentious, humorous and observant without being judgemental.

Arthur Jeon encourages the reader to acknowledge the "full package" or "big picture" of city life (poor/rich and nice/rude people, thoughtful/selfish drivers, honest/deceptive street people, etc...), and not simply dissect each individual component of urban society and observe or judge one piece in isolation of the whole.

Jeon's original approach is to highlights components of the big picture and the lessons they offer by putting the reader in the context. He achieves this through anecdotes that will resonnate with any city dweller. If the reader is open to a shift in perspective, the book has the power to change a person's outlook on urban living.

With this fresh take on city life, the world doesn't seem like such a bad place and my community becomes a place where I can make a difference.