Peaceful Heart

October 5, 2020
In this short but powerful work, Kongtrul (It’s Up to You), a Tibetan Buddhist lama, teaches ways of finding peace and patience in a flawed world. Kongtrul starts by explicating the destructive power of anger—which even in small amounts, he writes, can nullify efforts toward generosity and goodwill—and elaborates on the causes of mental disturbance, including not getting what one wants and getting what one doesn’t want. He then recommends practices and techniques inspired by the work of eighth-century Indian philosopher Shantideva for reducing aggression and building patience, such as meditations on giving up control and a list of “seventy-two ways we get disturbed.” Kongtrul skillfully weaves together the writings of Shantideva with Tibetan folktales and personal anecdotes (such as how cutting down trees to contain a forest fire in Bhutan reminded him that one must “let go of attachments” to control “the fire of anger”), and makes even abstract recommendations accessible, as with his description of the practice of sitting with pain as “simmering.” Buddhists will appreciate Kongtrul’s ode to Shantideva, but even non-Buddhist readers will enjoy this powerful work’s vivid writing and wise instruction.