Open to Desire: The Truth About What the Buddha Taught (Paperback)

by Mark Epstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Helping readers to reconcile their conflicting thoughts about desire from both a Buddhist and a psychological point of view, Mark Epstein’s well-received book now arrives in trade paperback.

It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, each other, and our world.

Proposing that spiritual attainment does not have to be detached from intimacy or eroticism, Open to Desire begins with an exploration of the state of dissatisfaction that causes us to cling to irrational habits. Dr. Epstein helps readers overcome their own fears of desire so that they can more readily bridge the gap between self and other, cope with feelings of incompletion, and get past the perception of others as objects. Freed from clinging and shame, desire’s spiritual potential can then be opened up.

From the Back Cover
Praise for Open to Desire:
"A masterpiece. . . . It teaches us how not to fear and repress, but to rechannel and harness the most powerful energies of life toward freedom and bliss."
—ROBERT THURMAN

"A fascinating look at the urge for pleasure, with the goal of helping readers accept the sensation of wanting into their lives in ways that are helpful both spiritually and psychologically."
—BODY & SOUL

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (January 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592401856
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401857
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Dr. Epstein, August 19, 2006

By	A Grateful Reader (Wishing for A Humane World) - See all my reviews

I recommend this book to anyone who has ever desired for something that he or she could never achieve. Though I found this book in Religion/Buddhist section of the bookstore, I will encourage non-Buddhist to read this book as well because this books deals with the basic cause of human suffering.

This book has brought enormous amount of peace to me during a very difficult phase of my life.

I am a neo-Buddhist and for the past two years, I had been working on the "cessation of attachment" to objects. I felt that I was almost there.

Then I met a remarkable woman who simply swept me off my feet with her beauty and intelligence. As it happens in life, I will never be able to "have" her. All my self-training on "cessation of attachment" were forgotten. I was missing her so badly that one evening I developed symptoms of a heart attack and had to be admitted in the hospital.

It was at the time of despair and heartache when I found this book. This book has afforded my the best psychotherapy I could ever imagine. This book has taught me to separate my desire from craving. I have learned to preserve and not feel guilty for my desire and fight, to some extent, defeat the craving I had for my friend. I have learned to acknowledge and respect my friend as "whole person" and not only the perspective of her that I see.

I recommend this book to every man and woman of this earth.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eastern/Western Buddhist philosophy, August 20, 2006

By	HH "1ove1y" (Northampton, MA) - See all my reviews

Open to Desire offers great insight to a novice on clarifying eastern Buddhism's view on non-attachment for the western mindset.

To the west, non-attachment to individuals and things is cold and uncaring. However, Dr. .Epstein makes it clear that desire is acceptable and healthy. It is when you breach that desire to an unhealthy state of clinging that manifest into a negative connotation.

Overall, Dr. Epstein makes it clear that through discipline and restraint that you can fully embrace and accept love--and fully be open to desire.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Frightful Misunderstanding of Buddha's Teachings, January 8, 2009

By	Radek Dobias - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book will have many fans since it is written to convince one to follow and enjoy various attachments. It contains a frightful misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings regarding the nature of suffering, self, and the path to liberation.

Epstein: "Allowing ourselves into desire's abyss turns out to be the key to a more complete enjoyment of its fruits." Open to Desire, page 41.

Buddha: "I have always taught that sensual pleasures are an obstacle to practice." Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 22.

I would challenge the author and the fans to spend a week reading Buddha's original teachings as recorded in the Pali cannon (such as Dhammapada), and then compare them with the book.

Open to Desire is a book for those who want to continue to cling to their attachments. It has nothing to do with Buddha's real teachings.