How to Fight (Mindfulness Essentials)

This is another wonderful novella in the Mindfulness Essentials series. Each one can be read on its own or in any order. This installment focuses on tempering anger and practicing loving speech. I feel like this one, along with How to Love, has been the most impactful in the series for me—perhaps because they emphasized ideas and concepts I personally needed to hear. It follows the same format as the others, with short chapters of teachings and allegories, mixed with simple but elegant drawings. The end includes practices and mantras. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration. I loved this essential book in the Essentials collection. It’s going on my reread list, and I can’t wait for the next installment, How to See. Favorite quotes: “We “kill” our anger by smiling to it, holding it gently,looking deeply to understand its roots and transforming it with understanding and compassion.” “Practice embracing and looking deeply to see the real roots of your anger. When insight is born, you will be free.” “When you remove the conflict within yourself, you also remove the conflict between yourself and others. One arrow can save two birds at the same time—if the arrow strikes the branch, both birds will fly away.” My Enjoyment 5/5

I bought this for a Buddhist perspective on dealing with what is going on in the country. I’m very political so can’t stick my head in the sand. Every page is a short contemplation. Keep it in my coffee table and open up a page to read anytime I feel agitation or upset and get a shift and a new perspective. Grateful I found it.

I find myself returning to this book again and again, and each time I find it more relevant and profound. Hanh uses deceptively simple language and so makes it easy to understand his interpretation of Buddhism, but one must not mistake the simplicity for a lack of depth. Applying Hanh's mindfulness to my life has made me a calmer, more compassionate person. For example, like many people, I am naturally prone to retaliate against hurtful comments by slinging more hurtful comments in the aggressor's direction. But, as Hanh convincingly explains, hurting someone—even in retaliation—harms oneself more than it harms the intended target, and it certainly harms the relationship as a whole. One must instead look to others with compassion to understand their own suffering. When one realizes that they, too, are suffering, one no longer feels the need to harm them. If you have an attitude of compassion and understanding, you will improve the lives of everyone around you—including yourself. This is merely one of the many beautiful teachings to be found in this wonderful book, and Hanh explains them all better than I can. I implore you to read it for yourself and think deeply about how you can apply the lessons of mindfulness and compassion to your own life. It has been one of the best things I've ever done.

Reading the works of thich Naht Hanh has really helped me in the last year to calm my mind and deal with my suffering in a way that doesn't harm others. I am glad I got a chance to read his work

A simple clear roadmap for navigating the complex, anger, resentment and violent thoughts and feelings inside ourselves and with others.

Such a good book! Easy read, perfect buffer for when you’re trying to deal with mad emotions with friends or loved ones definitely puts things into perspective!!

I’ll say the one thing that bugs me first. There’s a lot of repeat ideas and you’ll be like, “He already said this, but now this is just a different story to say this.” It’s a little annoying… however I can understand why he says the same idea in a different way because one way of saying it might not resonate with you. So basically you have to read the whole book and extract whatever concepts you want. I thought I didn’t care about the tree trunk and the branches passage, but naturally my brain took hold of that one. I’m also not going to tell you what it means. You’ll just have to read it. I will say that this book has helped a little bit (I’m no saint after reading it). You have the power to catch yourself being angry and try to chill yourself out. I do have a favorite line that I remember daily, still not going to tell you, but you know, you gotta try not to be pissy all the time. And as a side note, there was 1 or 2 passages that I completely disagreed with (reconciling with people who have already died… I don’t have the book in front of me, but there was another passage about smiling to someone who’s angry at you. I’m about to break my rules because the book is worth a read, but I think if you do that to a pissed off guy that seems like he has no problem with violence, you’re going to get clocked or worse. Read the room peeps. Know when you’re in actual danger). The end section has techniques to deal with your anger (which I think most of the answers to deal with your anger come from the first 90 something pages, but I digress), and the suggestions were eh. The peace treaty and the peace note are not for me. But I’m not docking points for this because I can disagree and riff off his ideas to make my own theory on matter. As long as your idea makes you suffer less without anyone else suffering, I think Thich Nhat Hanh will be cool with it. Overall, I did get something out of this book. Thus 5 stars.

Simply written, engaging and impactful.

I am very happy with this book and I have all the books in the series. Recommend it.

From How To Fight To How To Not Fight! Isn't it the Path To Understanding, Peace, Love And Compassion? Breahing In And Breathing Out!

Come tutta la serie dei "librini" -guide sulla mindfulness, anche in questo Thich nhat hanh offre la sua visione, per me preziosissima, sul conflitto. Un breviario facile ma profondo, che agirà sui vari piani di esperienza di ognuno.

Food for thought. I love the emphasis on listening with compassion and mindfulness, trying to understand the other side. Quite repetitive. I think it’s better to read a little bit every few days and then take a few days to ‘digest’; it’s not a book that I would read cover to cover. I read it after “Anger” by the same author, which was even more thought provoking.

I am happy to have it. Lots of good information 👍. Thanks.