How to See Yourself As You Really Are [Unknown Binding]

Dalai Lama XIV (Author), Jeffrey Hopkins (Narrator)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audioworks; Abridged edition (December 19, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 0743563557
• ISBN-13: 978-0743563550
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)

More About the Author

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 to a peasant family in northeastern Tibet and was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. The world's foremost Buddhist leader, he travels extensively, speaking eloquently in favor of ecumenical understanding, kindness and compassion, respect for the environment, and, above all, world peace.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

186 of 194 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buddhist practice in a nutsehll, January 9, 2007

By 

Z. M. Ridgway (Waco, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to See Yourself As You Really Are (Hardcover)

This is a very comprehensive guide to Buddhist meditation practices. Delivered as always in the Dalai Lama's distinctive style - full of humor, joy, and gentle compassion.

The one proviso regarding this book - unlike many of the Dalai Lama's other books, this book is actually intended as a guide to practitioners of Buddhist meditation, and not as an informative source for interested non-practitions (like "The Art of Happiness).

175 of 185 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The path to enlightenment, April 7, 2007

By 

Steve Burns (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: How to See Yourself As You Really Are (Hardcover)

I believe the Dalai Lama is the closest thing we have to a Buddha on earth. His writing is full of grace and enlightenment. In this book he takes on the difficult task of explaining the true condition of a human being-impermanent conditional consciousness. This topic is very difficult to explain by putting it into words. The Dalai Lama does a great job and then follows up with many exercises. Here is how I would summarize this books teachings:

We are not our body, nor even our mind. if we were we could not say my mind or my body. Then what are we? We are "like" and illusion existing through our 5 aggregates, body, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and consciousness. No "I" can be located. The closest we can come is understanding that we are consciousness observing the present moment, all else is thought and mental formation. Who we think we really are is just a mental formation we hold in our mind of our beliefs about ourselves our religion, height, weight, name, etc. Enlightenment is simply understanding this and the nature of reality.

I hope I did some justice to this books topic, but I highly recommend reading this book to move farther down the road to enlightenment.

89 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Number One Pick, March 2, 2007

By 

buddhaboy bob - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to See Yourself As You Really Are (Hardcover)

I have over 100 books on buddhism and meditation and if I had to pick my favorite this is it. To me it contains everything an aspiring buddha needs to know and practice.Especially good if you don't have access to a teacher or a spiritual center.