Reasons Why You Should Read This Book!
Recently, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has instructed me to read up this book and to write a blog post about it. At first I did not think much of this book and I was just judging the book by its cover, thinking that it wouldn’t be interesting. Not long after reading the book, I started realizing how much it relates to me and in this case, most of us. If you read this book, I am sure you will be surprised by its accuracy and on-point explanation, it basically describes about our lives and the problems that we constantly face. If you want to get this book, it is available here.
How I feel about this book:
I believe this book is very beneficial for all of us to read. This book has widen up my mind and taught me how to look at things from different perspectives. It also teaches me how to become a better and kinder person. What do I mean by being a better person? Being a better person does not mean you HAVE to be a Buddhist, you HAVE to pray to Lord Buddha, you HAVE to sit under a tree and meditate. No, being a better person has nothing to do with our religious choices, you can be a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and so on, the point is not the religion. What I mean about being a better person is that we become more kind, more aware of our speech and action, learn how to solve the problems that we come across independently. Below are some of the points that stuck out to me, of course these are just a few of them. I highly recommend everyone to read this book, not only that it inspires me to become a better person, it also broadens up my mind.
Dharma
Dharma is about developing a beautiful and harmonious relationship with people around us. Although from the outside it may seem like there’s no difference between doing secular work and dharma work, but in actuality, Dharma brings all of us closer to one another, we learn to accept and forgive each other’s flaws.
Change
If we seek for a change in relationships with our partner, parents, siblings, friends and so on, we don’t find faults in others and we don’t blame others for who they really are. No one is perfect, therefore we have to abandon our expectations and just accept ‘samsara’. Yes it’s a big word I know, it takes a lot of determination and practice but if we are sincere about changing, it can definitely happen. Since we are in Dharma, we should learn to let go of the past and focus on the present and make the best out of it. We must always be nice to others irregardless of how they treat us.
Giving
Giving does not necessarily need to be done physically in the form of giving gifts and so on. Giving can also be expressed through actions, thoughts and words, but how? By stop talking back and being defensive to people when they confront us or when they are just generally questioning us. If you find it difficult, you can start with talking nicely and respectfully to your parents, partners, friends, colleagues and so on.
Letting Go and Moving On
We must learn to let go of our attachments, be it in the form of branded items like cars, bags, houses, antiques, jewelries, money, food, love, hate, likes, dislikes, friends, parents, relationships, siblings, everything that is existent in samsara because they are all unreliable and impermanent, nothing is permanent. When they are gone, we should just learn to let it go. It will definitely hurt a lot but there’s no point of holding on to it so tightly. I am not saying that we should just abandon all these and go to meditate in a cave, what I am saying is that we must not be overly-attached to all of these. It’s impossible to forget about our attachments in one night, but if we are determined to make the change, slowly we will realise that we become lighter and happier.
What Happens When We Don’t Let Go?
Being too attached to someone or something will not bring us anything but suffering and upon the time of death, there’s a higher chance of us taking rebirth in the three lower realms. The reason why spirits exist is because they are too attached to their attachments and therefore they have created the karma to come back as spirits to linger around their possessions. What kind of possessions? Anything, you name it, be it a person, a place, a branded bag, jewelries and mostly our own gross body. I have heard about a story of a person who was tremendously attached to his treasures and even at the time of death, he still could not let go. He eventually taken rebirth and returned as a snake that resides around his residence to ‘guard’ his treasures. But the thing is that, what can he do with all the treasures now? Whatever outer wealth we have in this life can never be brought to our next life, it has never happened before and it will not, it’s impossible.
Living Happily
One of the best ways to live happily is by reducing our anger. But how? By stop pointing fingers at others even if they are at fault, because with actions like this, we create more unhappiness. When a person is wrong, we correct him/ her in a friendly manner in order to avoid arguments. There are times where we just want to look good and win the argument, then we end up hurting these people and leaving them no choice but to stay away from us. We must not expect others to change, we should be the one to transform for the better. We may be able to convince a few people to change and sometimes, they really do. But do bear in mind, the world does not revolve around us and therefore we can’t expect everyone around us to change and we just stay as where we are. To think like that, it shows how arrogant and selfish we are, how do we deserve happiness if we were to think and act this way?
Nothing is Permanent
Everything is impermanent and because nothing is permanent, we have to make the best out of everything we can now before it is too late. For example, I am still living under my parents’ ‘big umbrella’, but how long more can I stay under their umbrella? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Eventually it will come a time where they have to pass on as well and the umbrella will be gone forever. Just like what Kensur Jampa Yeshe Rinpoche said: “That way of living- depending on the wealth of our parents, family or love ones- is a speedy way of burning up our merit and creating the causes for not having any later.” So what will happen to me when my merits are all used up? Isn’t it better to start being independent now so that we can survive in the outside world when out parents are gone? For me, I will continue to study harder, finish my homework without having being prompted to, use my free time to think of what I want to study and what to be in the future.
Projection
Projection is also another thing which we must let go of. We have been projecting our expectations lifetimes after lifetimes, therefore it has become a ‘natural state of mind’ for almost every single one of us and that makes it very difficult for us to overcome. But it is not impossible, projection is the main cause of arguments, disharmony, conflicts and disappointments. We cry, we fight and we do all sorts of things, be it to get someone back or just simply to release our emotions. All these arise from false projections/ expectations.
Cherish
We must always appreciate and cherish all the good things we possess now, for example the Dharma. Serve our guru with tremendous respect even if the guru manifests what may seem ‘negative’ in our silly mind. The guru is the most important portal for us to achieve enlightenment, without the guru, there will be no Dharma; without the Dharma, there will be no liberation from all sufferings. Therefore, it is very important to serve the guru with respect and love, treat him the way how we would treat the Buddha.
Attachment to Happiness and Attachment to Hatred
This is also one of the main things which we have to look after in our lives. Emotions are just temporary feelings, it changes according to the situation and environment, it does not stay stagnant. Take our mother for example, when she’s nice and buys us what we want, we can be very nice to her, treat her with a lot of care and love and give her the best we can (for that moment). But the moment she stops doing it, we can immediately become angry and yell at her. Our current state of mind is as unstable as an animal, for example a dog. When we are nice to our dog, feed it well and give it a lot of love, of course it will become attached to us automatically. But the moment we start abusing it, the feeling of loved and the sense of belonging can be immediately turned into fear. We cannot really blame the animals because they do not have high intelligence like how we do, so what excuse do we have now? There’s no point of being attached to temporary emotions because again, nothing is permanent.
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The Peace book teaches us the truth that we need very badly. In our daily life, so many things draw us away from the truth, by entertainment, shopping, and so on.Harmony, love, care and forgiveness is what we need to practice day after day so that it becomes natural with time.
One thing good is that nothing is permanent, not even our deluded mind and we all have a choice we can make each and every day when we wake up. We can choose to be positive and negative and the path we take for that day creates positive or negative circumstances in the future.
Well summarized by Edward. Many people talk about having peace but just merely talk about it instead of working out to achieve peace. I think it’s not they don’t want to have peace but just don’t know how to realize it. I found what Edward pointed out here is very relevant and it’s important to put into practice in order for us to see the result. What stroke me from the points described is letting go. It’s not easy as it says but it’s the truth if we don’t let go we will hold on to the wrong view and perception which resulted in us not able to move forward.
From this book, I also learn that many things happen from our wrong projection which resulted in us to a wrong action. Many people will choose to run away but it will not help us, in fact, the issue will keep haunting us. What we need to do is to face it and take responsibility for our actions. Read this book which will give you the insight of how we can achieve peace from the inside that will bring outer peace from our realization.
Thank you Edward for writing and sharing the book review of ‘Peace’, added with your comments and points of view in order to help the readers to understand more about peace. Upon reading through the blog post, one of the sub-topic from this book review that left me with much insight is ‘Change’. Our world is currently degenerating as many people tend to be more attracted and influenced by the entertainment, lust, materialism, travelling and ways of living instead of allocating a portion of time to engage in spirituality. Hence, our peace and happiness should not be relied on the outer factors but more to our personal learning, understanding and practice of spirituality or Dharma which can open up our mind to see things from different angle and eventually can lead us to gain higher attainments. A positive change in our mind can lead to more positive results on the outside.
Thank you with folded hands,
kin hoe
Reading this nicely written article from Edward reminds me so much of the way Tsem Rinpoche’s gives dharma talk and teachings. Someone way back told me dharma of one aspect of buddhism can relate and interlink with other teachings of buddhism. How true it is when Rinpoche speaks the dharma, he can expound on one topic of the dharma and link to other aspects of the dharma, and Rinpoche can talk about so many more aspects of the dharma effortlessly.
One of Rinpoche’s skillfulness and strength is that he is able to bring the dharma alive and in very layman terms across to wide eyed students like myself. His talks are always in modern day terms and has an evergreen appeal to it.
Thanks for sharing this book review…..interesting there s so much to know and learn from , even though it just a review all from Ronpoche teachings.I read it over and over again to understand better.Mr.Edward Ooi…did a good job putting all important points down for us to understand better.Thanks you Mr Edward Ooi I will recommend this book to my friends .May all of us be blessed and be more compassionate.
With folded hands
Dear Edward,
Thank you for this book review on the book titled “Peace”, published by Kechara Media & Publications which is based on His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche’s teachings.
I love it that you have summarised your thoughts and opinions, and infused it with teachings from the book to give a snippet of the wisdom filled teachings of Rinpoche. It is nice that you have highlighted the most important points for you from the book, and given examples to support your believes.
Thank you for sharing this with us. What hit me the most was the attachment we have, whether to happiness, to hatred, to our projections, our pride or materials, and that usually is what holds us back the most in life.
It definitely is a book for all who just needs to find peace from within.
Thank you
Carmen
Thank you Edward for the nice review and write up on this book.
I love the way you deliver the review by summarizing all the important point in different paragraph. It is very easy to understand and remember the point.
I love to recommend this book to my friends that are new to Buddhism, or even non Buddhist. They always find that this book is very good that everyone also can be benefited from this book.
Thank you
“When a person is wrong, we correct him/her in a friendly manner in order to avoid arguments. There are times where we just want to look good and win the arguments, then we end up hurting these people and leaving them no choice but to stay away from us.”
這個現象如今充斥著整個網路世界，人們無禮地利用鍵盤毫無責任感的批評任何他們覺得看不過眼的事，尤其是『事實』，因為『事實』刺痛他們，他們就惱怒、咒罵、貶低，從而得到爽快與優越感。為了一時的情緒與面子，卻造成無辜者的傷害甚至陰影，這是非常自私的行為。
EGO這個東西每個人都有，適當的表現是可諒解的，但不可以無理。無理的人只懂雄辯，而有智慧的人不會為了顧及面子去引發爭吵，而是要探究真理，這叫思辨。
另外，關於attachment這件事也是越來越可以表現在現今的虛榮世界裡。人們追求名利、財富，拋棄正義與真理，追求表面虛無的花花世界，更可悲的是這被當成理所當然。執著於任何事，都不會對人生帶來好處，有的只是無止盡的痛苦，只是個人不自覺而已。自覺的人會懂得放下執念，往正面、理想的道路去前進。
Thank you Edward for sharing your thoughts with us. This is a very good book to read and change our life if we want to be happier. All the teachings in the book we can apply immediately in our lives, the easiest one to start with is to change the habit of finger pointing people as mentioned in the article under the heading “living happily”. This is easy because it does not depend on another person or factor. At the end of the day, it is our state of mind determines our sadness and happiness. Learn how to control our mind and we shall be the master to our happiness.
Edward, your book review is to the point and easy to understand. You have written very well and have matured so much. This book is very easy to read and can relate to our lives.
A lot of people wants happiness in their lives but they also expect happiness comes in a certain way or look. If the person or situation does not match their expectation, then they become angry and that defeats the purpose of being happy. So, lose the expectation and take life as it is. Most of all, lose the anger to preserve the peace of the situation and maybe our perception will also change.
Taking life as it is does not mean that we give up and just let time pass by. We must still continue to strive for the best to be kinder, more compassionate, to love more and to achieve peace. It may be time for me to read the book again.
Dear Edward,
I like what you wrote: “Being a better person does not mean you HAVE to be a Buddhist, you HAVE to pray to Lord Buddha, you HAVE to sit under a tree and meditate. No, being a better person has nothing to do with our religious choices…” Sometimes people just tend to link kindness to religion and one of the common belief is that being a religious person or when u have belief, you must be kind and compassionate. To me, as long as you’re a human, you have to be kind,
Having wrong perception will lead to more projections and expectations, and that they will lead to more negativities like what you’ve mentioned: disappointment, disharmony and conflicts.
I also like how you mentioned our emotions are just temporary feelings and it changes according to the situation and environment. Most of the time we’re very caught up in our emotions that ruined so many things in life, be it relationship, career and even health. Thanks for pointing out how the negativities that has been deep rooted in our gross mind is affecting our everyday life. Dharma is the only way to confront our own negativities, deal with it, overcome it and transform.
This book is highly recommended to all newbies to Buddhism.
感谢Edward的分享
尊贵的第廿五世詹杜固仁波切总是不失传统传承，但却能够把超过2500多年的佛陀教诲，与最贴近我们现代新新人的方式，给完美无瑕的诠释出来。
追求一份内心的宁静，是现在每一位忙绿的都市人，所仰望的，宁静是一个简单的名词，但是要真正得到一份内心的宁静，的确是非常不容易的，当一个人内心能够开始宁静下来的那一刻，您也许将会发现，你当下，过去所有的种种点点滴滴的人，事与物都会产生了微妙的变化，而且是美好的变化。
和谐，爱，关怀与原谅是我对宁静的诠释，而你对与宁静的诠释又会与尊贵的第廿五世詹杜固仁波切，或对我的诠释有着不一样的想法吗？
《宁静》这本书乃由尊贵的第廿五世詹杜固仁波切的许多的短篇开示汇编而成。内容主要讨论创造内、外环境宁静的重要性。书中还以大量现代化、生动，且与我们的日常生活息息相关的例子提醒我们，宁静始于每个当下；我们所活着的的每一刻，所说的每一句话或所作出的每一个行动，都能用来创造内、外环境的宁静。
谢谢
Jerry Sito
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKwrxT5koc8
Love this video we made for this book… very creatively shot and captures the essence of content.
Dear Edward,
Thank you for this detailed review of this powerful book. Indeed the Peace book teaches us the truth that we need very badly. In our daily life, so many things draw us away from the truth, by entertainment, shopping, and so on…
Yes, the most important thing is Dharma and to let go of our attachments and focus on what is important. Not thinking why is the other person like that, but why do I react like that.
Harmony, love, care and forgiveness is what we need to practice day after day so that it becomes natural with time.
Your review has inspired me to read the peace book again. Dharma is most important and we are blessed to have a precious Guru who showes us the way always.
Thank you Edward and keep it up!
This is a “universal” Buddhist/Dharma book that every beginner should get. The topics covered are very relevant to our daily lives, and H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has the ability to give Dharma that always touches the heart and not dry, which means Rinpoche already actualized all the virtues that he taught. This book should be the “Buddhism 101” for all time.
Thank you Edward for your book review.
Hmm, i have got to say this: you are lucky you got to read these meaningful books at such a young age. It will be useful for you as you face more of samsara and its various delusions.
Fact is, we can’t end the delusions, suffering and disappointments in samsara. However, we certainly can change our attitudes towards it.
This book touches on aspects of Dharma and relate it clearly to our everyday life situations and experiences.
One of the reasons I always enjoy Kechara Media a& Publication books is that they are most relatable. THey also make difficult and profound subjects less abstract and more applicable.
Again, thank you Edward!
Based on what Edward has written here, it pretty much summarises how much he has understood the book. It’s very good to know that he has realised so much and that his dharma knowledge has grew, it’s easier to say than being done. I hope that Edward will apply what he has learnt into his daily lives so that he can transform for the better.
One of the points that stuck out to me was the one that talks about “projections”. We have been living our life with a lot of projections, and it’s not just this life, it goes all the way back to so hundreds and thousands of lifetimes before this. Therefore, it has become a natural state of mind to have projections, it’s like an instinct now. Yes it’s not easy to break our projections but nothing is easy in life anyway. We often have wrong projections about life, about people, about things and how it should be. It has brought nothing but sufferings and pain. Therefore, it is very important to realise it now and break the habit to we do not suffer as much later on.
We cultivate an attitude that dharma practice is key to our Buddhist practice. Buddhist practice and the support of within the community is important. We let go our attachments and practice dharma with peace. In the book clearly Rinpoche has explained very ell. The peace book has widens mind and taught us how to look at things from different perspectives..
Thank you for this book review Edward. You did a good job summarising the salient points.
Everybody talks about world peace and yet it would be very difficult to achieve that when we don’t even have peace within ourselves. Our environment is a reflection of what is going on in our lives.
All the points Edward summarised are valid but for me ‘Projections’ is the most common trigger for discord. Projections refers to our expectations of how everything and everyone should be and when things don’t happen the way we project and expect, it is often taken as a personal attack that justifies retaliation.
I like what Edward has written very much, he brings across the meaning of the book very well, I like his line “Dharma is about developing a beautiful and harmonious relationship with people around us.” This is a very beautiful and an apt explanation. Everything else here, including Living Happily, Giving and Letting Go and Moving On, can all be encompassed as part of the above phrase.
Edward has really absorbed the essence of this very good book, in fact. It is a very good summary of what he has learnt. I am very happy to see Edward has written this post and that he has benefited even from something that he thought would not have thought interesting or worthwhile.
Thank you Edward for sharing what you feel about the “PEACE” book and what you have learnt. I’m glad to know the book has widen up your mind and taught you how to look at things from different perspectives.
I like the themes/categories you listed, these are very important topics. Also, your points are good and not too long, which makes them easy to read.
I especially like your last explanation on “Attachment to Happiness and Attachment to Hatred” where you point out that our current state of mind is as unstable as an animal and we should not be attached to temporary emotions because nothing is permanent. This is a good concluding theme that relates to other themes of projections, nothing is permanent, change and letting go, which you have listed in the earlier part of your sharing.
I will share this review with others, your review and sharing is a wonderful read. Do write more!
Dear Edward,
I am so happy for you to have these realisations from reading the book. I like the way how you have separated each part with a sub-heading that people know what they can expect before reading what is written.
Through each of the sub headers that you have broken down for us, it clearly shows a step by step menu that we can all follow after we read the book. By applying what is needed mentioned in the book, we will see ourselves transform. By being more calm, we will be happier as there are lesser things that will be able to irritate ourselves.
Personally, the most important points that are being highlighted her in the article will be the importance of knowing that nothing is impermanent, our projections, and the attachment to happiness and hatred. Knowing things are impermanent is good because we will stop taking things that are around us for granted, starting to appreciate more so that we will know that things can change anytime and we should never be over comfy with what we have now as any thing can happen to us or the people around us.
I enjoy the part about projections very much because it acts as a mirror for all of us to take a step back and look at our own projections. How sometimes we set impossible limits for others. Yet when others do the same to us, we will not accept what is happening. It is just sad to see that sometimes we are not able to do things or we stay unhappy due to all these projections that we have. They are like boulders that constantly weigh us down.
What you have mentioned above about the attachment to happiness and sadness is also a projection that we have. It is through the actions of what others do that we expect or want that affects our moods. With this said, it will only make s people that are difficult people to work with as our emotions are constantly on a roller coasts that makes others worry when they hang out with us.
Edward,
Judging from your book review, it sounds like you have understood the book well. I hope now you have the knowledge, that you can start putting it into practise. Why? To bring peace in your home, in your mind, in your family 🙂
Of everything you wrote, the advice that I found immediately relevant to me *when I was your age* was when you wrote “For example, I am still living under my parents’ ‘big umbrella’, but how long more can I stay under their umbrella? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?” At your age, that thought struck a very deep chord in me because it always made me think, how much longer WILL they be around? Since I am only going to be with them for another x-number of years, what can I learn and what SHOULD I learn to make sure I’ll be okay when I am on my own?
So you’re in a similar situation. You have the benefit of loving parents who are supportive of everything you do, so never be afraid to try new things. Try and keep trying, and if you fail it’s okay because your parents are still there to catch you. You will fail once, twice, three times, four times but one day, you won’t fail and you will succeed instead. Having your parents there to catch you is MUCH better than always trying, and not having anyone there for support.
Please keep reading and writing, I enjoy seeing what you have to say!
Dear Edward,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this book. I like how you organised the content into different subjects and share your understanding of them. This book covered many useful subjects, it is definitely worth reading.
Each subject helps us to understand the important aspects of our lives, guiding us towards ultimate happiness. If we realised each of them, we will be freed from many negativity and get to experience true freedom for sure. Among them, I personally feel the understanding and realisation of the impermanence nature of everything will speed up our pace in letting go of perceptions, at the same time increase our faith in dharma. With this realisation, we will then be able to change for the better, live happily and appreciate all the we have.
Dear Edward
Thank you for your commentary of the PEACE book. The book is not at all boring and it touches the root cause of our problems – which is anger, projection, expectation and attachment. I have read this book before but even until today, I am still working to eliminate the root causes within myself.
Thank you for reminding us again that nothing is impermanent and the root causes of our problems
Valentina
That’s a nice relateable like review from Edward. Thank you. Peace is something that we always think in terms of world peace but very few think in terms of inner peace. Even then, very few understand what that entails. I certainly wouldn’t claim to be an expert on this subject matter. But I have several ideas considering all these years of listening to Rinpoche’s teachings and trying to absorb and retain what Rinpoche had said before.
For me, I think inner peace is when I know I have done the right thing, from completing my sadhana daily to being conscientious and completing all of what I need to do in a timely manner. Inner peace for me is when I feel I have accomplished something beneficial for the day. All of these leads to a sense of well being, which is just another fancy phrase to mean inner peace.
Inner peace to me is also when I have shared the Dharma or I have acted in a way that benefitted someone or even when I have restrained myself from acting habitually in a negative manner.
Wow thank you Edward for your very insightful review of this Peace book. Yes it is also one of my favourite books as it transcends all boundaries. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to be better, kinder person, that is true. If anything by being spiritual we should automatically be better because we should be embodying what of faith teaches. But truth be told this is not often the case because knowing is one thing, applying it is another and we all need to start applying it.
For example we can take our anger as one habituation to cut down by applying the teachings, and in my case it would be Dharma and Buddha’s teachings seems to show us a very clear antidote to help us cut away from this afflictive emotion. It can take many years and even then this life may not help you eliminate it entirely, but we need to start somewhere because who wishes to live in misery for the rest of their this life?
And I like your thoughts on attachments and the examples you gave that showcases our attached mind that is very unstable and flippant. It shows the nature of our monkey mind. Hence there’s no point of being attached to temporary emotions because it deceives us and increases our pain and suffering again, and reinforces our attachments further. But one thing good is that nothing is permanent, not even our deluded mind and we all have a choice we can make each and every day when we wake up. We can choose to be positive and negative and the path we take for that day creates positive or negative circumstances in the future.
I’m glad you read Peace and wrote this article, Edward. Well done, kiddo