Making Space by Thich Nhat Hanh

Rating: WARTY!

Having listened to - and quite enjoyed Happiness by this same author, I was very disappointed in this book. It's essentially about making some sort of space or setting aside some corner in your home where you can take time out to meditate or contemplate - a quiet zone, a refuge, or whatever. That's really all there is too it but the book is sort of fluffed up with some other stuff, a good portion of which I skipped because it was so boring and repetitive.

While I understand that positive thinking can indeed improve your outlook and your health to at least a small extent, and can even improve your performance at tasks, this idea that you can change the world with it isn't so valid in my opinion. While a good attitude toward other people can improve relationships, the act of simply wishing well of everyone and wishing them good health and so on isn't going to change the world! if that were possible, it would have already happened. I read an estimate online that somewhere between 200 million and 500 million people meditate worldwide, including some 20 million in the US. Wasn't it the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who claimed that if 1% of the world meditated it would change the world? That 1% would be just 70 million, so despite having at least three times that many, nothing has changed! In fact, this year it got worse! QED!

It's true to say that meditation can make people feel more compassionate, but it does nothing overall to reduce violence, prejudice, poor social connection, or anything else like that, save maybe giving the practitioners themselves a little peace of mind and perhaps slightly better health. At best it's a selfish pursuit. There's nothing wrong with guarding one's health and adopting a positive outlook, but let's not pretend there's more to it than that.

The same applies to this very short book. If you want a quiet space in your home, then by all means create one. You're in a pretyt poor state if you need a guide to help you do that! Failing the physical space, create one in your own mind where you can isolate yourself at least mentally, and at least for a short while, to center yourself and calm yourself. There's nothing wrong with that and it can offer benefits, but that said, and unlike the other audiobook I read by this author, I do not think this particular book was a worthy read for how little it offered, and so I cannot commend it.

Happiness by Thich Nhat Hanh

Rating: WORTHY!

This is the first of two audiobooks by this author I shall be reviewing. I believe in being centered and calm as much as possible, although there are serious times when I'm tried and stressed over things - and you know, no one seems to care about that. When was the last time you went to a doctor and they asked you about stress in your life? Yet I read online that maybe 75 percent of doctor visits are for problems that can be linked to stress, such as accidents, cancer, heart disease, lung and breathing problems, and suicide. That's why I found this interesting and plan on reading it again. It offers simply ways to be centered and mindful, and to calm one's thoughts.

The books starts out simply and takes the listener step by step through the methods and techniques aimed and removing turmoil from one's mind. The central tenet is to try and live in the moment and not let your mind run away with things that may or may not occur in your future. The book asserts that all of Thich Nhat Hanh's key practices are collected in this one volume, which is quite short, but not criminally so. The useful aim here is to incorporate these practices into your everyday life, so you aren't required to sit in the lotus position and deeply mediate. Instead, you can practice some of these techniques while driving to work, while walking across the parking lot to enter your workplace, or the grocery store, even while waiting in line for the restroom at some busy function!

The author not only discusses what to do, but how to approach what you do with the right attitude to enhance its success. In a world like this one has become this year, when everyone is being tried and tested severely every day, it cannot hurt to find ways to ease our minds, remain calm, and don't sweat it! So I commend this book as a worthy read (or listen, since it was an audiobook!).