Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: wholesome concentration, lifetime precepts, gross greed, Skillful Effort, Skillful Livelihood, Four Noble Truths (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Meditation is like walking toward happiness. And Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is like a tireless bricklayer, constructing a path brick by brick that allows us to make that walk. Without the path, he says, all the walking in the world won't help. Of course, as a Buddhist monk, his blueprint was created long ago in the form of the Buddha's so-called Noble Eightfold Path. In the same clear language that has made his Mindfulness in Plain English a perennial favorite, Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness is his attempt to explain this timeless path of morality, concentration, and wisdom. The gist of the book comes down to the use of the word skillful in the heading of each of the book's chapters. Living well is a skill that takes both practice and understanding. With stories, bulleted summaries, quotes from the sutras, and, most of all, a knack for relating to our everyday concerns, Henepola Gunaratana skillfully teaches us how to refrain from causing others to suffer. This, along with ending our own suffering, leads to happiness. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly

In the books for Buddhist beginners that now crowd the shelves it is common to find explications of the faith's various tenets serving to structure and sometimes to title the works. Typically then, in Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness, Gunaratana, who is the Buddhist chaplain at American University and the president of the Bhavana Society in the Shenandoah Valley of West Virginia, delves into the "Eightfold Path" of understanding, thinking, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. Each chapter devoted to these efforts explains the wisdom of these skillful pursuits and then closes with a "key points" list to summarize highlights. This work is best suited to readers who are very new to Buddhism or who want a taste of the tradition served in a thoroughly American style. Gunaratana (Mindfulness in Plain English) writes in a very simple form and uses highly accessible illustrations to teach. For example, "Even though unskillful deeds may bring temporary happiness when, for example, a drug dealer is pleased with his shiny new car the Buddha pointed out that wrong actions always lead to harm." Though this book is too elemental for most devoted practitioners and does not particularly distinguish itself among the many of its ilk, it may find a useful berth where many voices and versions are generally desirable.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications (May 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0861711769
• ISBN-13: 978-0861711765
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walking the Buddha's path., April 30, 2001

By	G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In this much-anticipated "sequel" to his 1993 meditation guide, MINDFULNESS IN PLAIN ENGLISH, Bhante G. recognizes that understanding the Buddha's teaching requires effort. "It is certainly much easier," he writes, "not to strive, not to change, just to take life for granted, and to continue in whatever patterns of thought and behavior have become your comfortable habits" (p. 247). Bhante G's new book may be read as a "complete guide to happiness," summed up in the eight steps (p. 1) of the Noble Eightfold Path: "skillful understanding" (pp. 25-55), "skillful thinking" (pp. 57-89), "skillful speech" (pp. 91-108), "skillful action" (pp. 109-132), "skillful livelihood" (pp. 133-148), "skillful effort" (pp. 149-192), "skillful mindfulness" (pp. 193-222), and "skillful concentration" (pp. 223-245). These eight steps are the spokes of the wheel of clarity, Bhante G tells us, and he encourages us to "set the wheel spinning" through our daily practice (p. 51) with the goal of finding "inner light, inner brightness, inner warmth" (p. 251).

Bhante G. is a good teacher, and he illuminates his discussion with interesting anecdotes. "The present moment is your teacher," he writes in the same straightforward style as his previous book. "Turn it into your personal laboratory. Pay attention. Investigate. You alone can generate wisdom in yourself" (p. 253). "Walk the path for yourself," he tells us. "The path is spread across all the experiences of your life as you cultivate increasing skillfulness in thought, word, and deed" (p. 256). This is a "sequel" that stands on its own, and like MINDFULNESS IN PLAIN ENGLISH, this book is sure to become a trusted dharma resource on my bookshelf reserved for life-changing books.

G. Merritt

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eight Step Program for Living, July 26, 2001

By	Missing in Action (Idaho Falls, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana has summarized all of the Buddha's path to happiness, everything we know about affecting change in our lives, and everything that psychology teaches us about healthy living into a single, easy to read, easy to apply manual for happiness. This book is a gem! It can be used for inspiration, or instruction. It can be read countless times for added insight. If you are inclined toward Buddhism, or at least are taken with the Buddhist perspective, you will appreciate the straightforward approach he takes to describing the eight steps. If you are not Buddhist or so inclined, you might be put off with some of what you read (the Author clearly believes that the Buddha's way is THE way, and you might be inclined to think of Jesus as the way, or someone else), but I think any rational person would recognize the power and potential for creating change that is captured in this book.

The eight steps are:

1. Skillful Understanding - recognizing the roles of cause and effect, and truly understanding the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha

2. Skillful Thinking - Emphasis on understanding how our attachment to things is the source of our suffering (letting go), the practice of loving-friendliness, and practicing compassion.

3. Skillful Speach - Special emphasis on truth-telling, gentle speach, and avoiding useless chatter.

4. Sillful Action - Particular attention to the Five Precepts, namely abstaining from killing, stealing, speaking falsely, sexual misconduct and misuse of intoxicants.

5. Skillful Livelihood - Understanding that how we make a living can have negative or positive impacts (skillful or unskillful) on our path to happiness.

6. Skillful Effort - Recognizing and dealing with the hindrances and fetters that keep us tied to our unhappiness.

7. Skillful Mindfulness - A study of mindfulness practice in terms of the body, feelings, the mind, and mental objects.

8. Skillful Concentration - Teaches what concentration means in the context of meditation, and how it is developed through the four stages to full Concentration.

At each step, you'll recognize yourself and the things you do that hold you back from the path of happiness. You'll find solace in the knowledge that you are not alone (these are common to all us human beings), and relief in learning how to see things differently so that the world you live in works FOR you and not against you.

This is a wonderful book, and anyone who feels they need to make changes in their life would benefit enormously.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and Lucid, July 29, 2004

By	M. A. Rivera "mrivera652" (West Orange, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unfortunately, a prior reviewer's comments were somewhat unintelligible and punctuated by non sequiturs. It is in stark contrast to the substantive and coherent work by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.

I have long sought a practical and comprehensive manual that could clearly explain and outline, in both detail and simple language, the fine points of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. Not only has Bhante accomplished this with beautiful clarity, he has done so in a manner that lends itself to easy application within one's daily life. This is not to say that applying the Buddha's doctrine is necessarily a simple process, but merely that (for those interested in Buddhism) reading this book should eliminate any procrastination in commencing the Path because of any possible lack of understanding.

While the present work was published subsequent to Mindfulness in Plain English - by the same author - it can stand alone quite well. In fact, I would recommend that Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness be read first, before proceeding to Mindfulness in Plain English - as it seems a more natural progression. But, really, this is just a matter of personal preference.

Anyone purchasing this book with the expectation of gaining a greater understanding of Buddhist doctrine in layman's terms is, in my humble opinion, unlikely to be disappointed.