Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Book of Eastern Wisdom (Large Second Volume) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "True happiness in life is found always within..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book will enlighten and ennoble the reader." -- Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhi Institute Director

"Taro Gold's creations will enlighten and ennoble the reader." -- Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhi Institute Director

Product Description

Why is it that love receives less instruction than the average driver's education class? We don't learn to drive by crashing until we get it right, but this seems to be how we learn about love.

Author Taro Gold offers simple, practical guidance-based on the universal principles of Buddhism--that can steer us through the twists and turns of love. By leading us first to become happy within, Buddhist teachings offer empowering advice on creating the romantic happiness of our dreams.

What Is Love? contains three sections:
Love and Illusion: The Outer Path (Searching Through the Fantasy)
Love and Reality: The Inner Path (Finding True Love Within)
Love and Life: The Middle Path (Creating Romantic Happiness Now)

Inspirational quotes are sprinkled throughout the text, enriched by full-color, Far East-inspired watercolors. Like an elegant bouquet of flowers, it's the perfect gift for Valentine's Day or any other special occasion.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Lionstead Press, Inc.; 2 edition (October 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740727109
• ISBN-13: 978-0740727108
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Condensed Eastern Wisdom, February 20, 2003

By	Rebecca Johnson "SeasonedwithLove.com" (Washington State) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Genuine happiness, or enlightenment, is already within us; we have only to reveal it. As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness flows through open lives." -Taro Gold

Taro Gold has spent much of his life living overseas. He has traveled to over thirty countries and has lived in Australia, Spain and Japan. This is the second book and larger edition of "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life." The author has also written extensively for international Buddhist publications and is currently living in California.

Quotes have always intrigued me because they contain condensed wisdom. In just a few words of a good quote, you see the big picture or universal truth. This is a collection of Eastern Wisdom and contains quotes by Buddhist and Eastern thinkers such as Nichiren, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Taro sees these quotes as "guideposts." He believes in having an open mind and in illuminating your life's path with wisdom from great thinkers.

Taro also includes:

The Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds
Short Allegories
Short Biographical paragraphs of Historical Figures quoted in this book
Longer passages for reflection
Common Sense Quotes
Universal Truths
Eastern Wisdom

An Iris represents Faith, Hope, Wisdom and Valor. Not only is the cover beautiful and filled with flowers, the entire books is beautifully illustrated in an ornate fashion. Almost every page has a beautiful border and then the quotes are in black ink and easy to read on white paper.

Some of the quotes do not have sources and are probably sayings passed down through many generations. These include Japanese, Buddhist and Chinese proverbs.

I've been contemplating the reality of how we become what we think. Lately I've been watching how my own thoughts change my behavior. Some of the quotes deal with the inherent nature of mankind or ask: "What is truth?"

Taro Gold has included a quote from Mahatma Gandhi:

"Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny."

This beautiful mini-book will have me contemplating "thoughts" for a long time! An enjoyable collection of quotes to reflect on in moments when you want to think more deeply about life and your own journey to lasting happiness.

A book you will love adding to your inspirational quote-book collection.

~The Rebecca Review

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember why you're here, February 14, 2003

By	John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I had a dream a few months ago in which I discovered that I had wings. Big ones, too, with feathers and everything. There was no question that I could fly. The only problem was learning to _use_ them; I kept forgetting where the appropriate muscles were.

Well, okay, you don't have to be Sigmund Freud to figure that one out. I mention it here because it's vaguely relevant to one of my favorite lines from this little book. It's a Mongolian saying: "Eagles don't chase flies."

(Pause for a moment and roll that one around in your mind. "Eagles don't chase flies." Grows on you, doesn't it? Now see if you can remember how to flex those wings . . . )

This little book is full of stuff like that -- some original to Taro Gold, some collected from many centuries of (mostly) Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist wisdom, all of it designed to give you a stimulating poke right in your atman-which-is-also-Brahman.

Some of the sayings will hook you right away. Others will look, at first reading, like outtakes from a motivational seminar. But read it twice: even the ones that didn't look so interesting on the first pass will _change_ a little the next time through. At any rate, you can skip the ones that don't grab you; there are plenty that will. (Do you like Thich Nhat Hanh? Then you'll probably like the flavor of this collection, which partakes very much of the same gentle spirit.)

It's a nice collection. And it makes a nice gift: I gave a copy each to my two daughters for Valentine's Day this year.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 8, 2002

By	S. Michaels (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews

This richly illustrated book is filled with great insights. I've been interested in various Eastern philosophies like Buddhism, Taoism, Confucius and so on for many years now and I especially enjoy collections of wisdom and rare quotations. This is the best I've ever found.