Customer Reviews

Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Most of the Dharma books that I've read fall into two categories: lightweight new-age fluff or heavily-footnoted scholarship. This book avoids both extremes. It's very compactly written, with no apparent filler. (If anything, I think he is too brief in touching on some important points.) I find the title of the book to be a bit unfortunate, but it's actually appropriate to the subject matter.

The book is structured around the Four Noble Truths, and as a long-time Buddhist (with a strong predilection for scholarly detail) I thought that it couldn't teach me anything new. It did, though, and on a number of levels. You might think you know all about the 4NT, but this version from the Samyutta Nikaya really adds a new dimension, and is directly applicable to one's practice.

In short, I give this book a pretty-much unqualified rave. A few stylistic weaknesses and an overuse of italics, but in content it's deeply inspiring and immediately useful.

Phillip Moffit has articulated the core teachings of the Buddha in accessible and down to earth ways that relate soulfully and imaginatively to daily life. The teachings are affirming; and one cannot help but feel empowered and befriended by Phillip's nurturing voice and courageous stance.

Perhaps the best Dharma book I've read. Like all gifted teachers, Phillip presents complex ideas in a way that makes them easy to grasp - regardless of one's level of practice. The book is readable, and the concepts can be readily applied to daily life. Dancing with Life is a great teaching tool too - one that I'll use for years to come.

As a long time practitioner in the Theravada tradition, I expected this book to be a bit "light" on content. In reality, this is one of the best workbooks for walking the path that i have come across. Moffit interprets Ajahn Sumedho's explication of the 12 aspects of the four noble truths in terms of modern life, and thereby turns what was previously an intellectual teaching into an eminently practical day-to-day guide for real life in a hectic, stressed-out world. I have read this one over and over as we learn, forget and relearn these vital teachings, and progress deeper in understanding

Moffitt's book is a gem: it is a handbook to help us develop and hone our skills so that we respond to our suffering in a way whereby we are not defined by it. The book--an explication of the Four Noble Truths, which is the Buddha's primary teaching--is well organized, full of examples from Moffitt's life and the lives of his students, and is eminently readable, His style is lucid and alive, and his book is a treasure to savor. I highly recommend this book to anyone whether or not they are familiar with the Buddha's teachings.

Written by a man who walked away from his position as CEO & Editor in Chief of Esquire Magazine, this treatise is the real thing! Given his command of knowledge in all matters literary, what could have been another cerebral exercise is in fact a work of heart.

Two days ago, I encountered Phillip walking down a rural road at sunset. In silence, we passed one another. Although, I don't really know this man, there existed in that moment an implicit recognition of mutual presence and purpose. When our gaze met and held, I found there... joy, a radiance, peace. No kidding.

Having just finished my read of "Dancing with Life", I thought, "here is an author, a teacher... who literally 'walks his talk' ".

The book is like that--filled with easily understood and accessible content, literary references, stories, metaphor, and allegory. He skillfully integrates case examples from the lives of his students, and wisdom gleaned from years of study in the original Buddhist texts. Backed by his very real practice and lived experience, the content comes alive in one's heart, and is not easily forgotten.

A central theme encourages the reader not to rely on conceptual teachings of the Four Noble Truths; rather, to intentionally pursue a 'lived" or "felt experience" of the insights through the practice of mindful meditation. Ultimately, the possibilities are limitless.... to fully embrace all of life at T.S. Eliot's dynamic "still point" is readily available... that place where suffering and joy passionately tango together in the dance of life. A highly recommended read!

Dancing with Life. This book can make a difference!
Although a student of yoga for many years, I had never explored Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Phillip Moffitt came to Seattle and talked about his book Dancing with Life. I bought the book with a great deal of curiosity, and it quite literally blew me away. It was as though Moffitt was adressing each chapter directly to me. ALL the chapters speak to the very heart of what it is to be human, deep sorrow and joy alike. He speaks with passion, yet plainly, leading you through the Buddha's Four Noble Truths: a path for finding freedom from suffering. Moffitt puts on the page so many personal insights as to how we may move to living our lives more happily, more at ease, regardless of daily difficulties, struggles. Hope!
As an artist, I also especially loved the "dancing with life" metaphor he spins, interwoven with the beautiful poetics of T. S. Eliot, creating a brilliant fabric that you want to wrap, embrace yourself with over and over again. Since reading the book, I have joined a meditation study group and find myself on my meditation cushion several times a week. DWL is one of those rare books that can influence you. This book can make a difference!

Best book I ever bought. This has real answers and solutions to coping with life and finding true meaning.

This book is a practical guide for using the principles of Buddhism in dealing with the issues in everyday life. Being a recent follower of Buddhism, I found it the first book that presented to me easily understandable and concrete steps to use in my life.

The author uses the Four noble truths as a framework but is really writing about the psychology of mindfulness and un-mindfulness. The reader will understand the truths of the Buddha in a personal way, something the more common philosophical or intellectual approaches don't accomplish. By this I mean that the author brings home the fact that while there is a great deal of suffering and unsatisfactoriness in the world, one can tune that suffering out through selfishness, materialism, etc. On the other hand, the most profound suffering occurs within one's own mind and from that there is no escape, except through the means of the four noble truths.