The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down
Guidance on the Path to Mindfulness from a Spiritual Leader
Ratings22
Average rating3.8
"The world moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to. In this bestselling mindfulness guide -- it has sold more than three million copies in Korea, where it was a #1 bestseller for forty-one weeks and received multiple Best Book of the Year awards -- Haemin Sunim (which means "spontaneous wisdom"), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the United STates, illuminates a path to inner peace and balance amid the overwhelming demands of everyday life. By offering guideposts to well-being and happiness in eight areas -- including relationships, love, and spirituality -- Haemin Sunim emphasizes the importance of forging a deeper connection with others and being compassionate and forgiving toward ourselves. The more than twenty full-color illustrations that accompany his teachings serve as calming visual interludes, encouraging us to notice that when you slow down, the world slows down with you." -- Back cover.
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Ah well. I don't feel great giving 1 star to a dharma book, since obviously (a) its heart is in the right(est) place and (b) I'm a Buddhist! But, well, Buddhism is all about non-attachment, and I musn't be attached to dharma merch just for the sake of it, and so I consider it my duty to honestly point out when stuff is a slog, boring, a chore, and/or doesn't resonate. While this book had some good points - e.g. the value of silence, of waiting, of time, of contextual compassion gravitating outwards from the self to loved ones to community to everyone, etc - I felt like most of it didn't really land with me. By the near-5 star rating by ~2k folks on GR, it looks like it landed with a lot of others - so your mileage may vary!
So basically this is a short-ish book of “soft style” Buddhist-ish platitudes. The author, Zen monk and college prof Haenim Sunim, apparently got big on social media, and, indeed, a lot of this book just feels like one very long Twitter Moment/Storify/etc. They're organized into short chapters around stuff like Love, Work, and Spirituality. Here's some examples:
“Life isn't a hundred-meter race against your friends, but a lifelong marathon against yourself.”
“If you have led an honorable and honest life, there is no need to be afraid of speaking the truth.”
“The more grateful we feel, the happier we become. This is because gratitude helps us realize we are all connected. Nobody feels like an island when feeling grateful. Gratitude awakens us to the truth of our interdependent nature.”
