5 stars for Opening the Door of Your Heart: And other Buddhist Tales of Happiness by Ajahn Brahm.
I read this book more than fifteen years ago. Due to recent events, I go in search of this book. I know it is sitting somewhere, untouched through the years, on one of my bookshelves. Aha, there it is. My treasure of a book, with Ajahn Brahm's writing and signature, dated 8 August 2004. To this date, I still find it weirdly ironic that out of so many of my favourite authors, I have gotten a Buddhist monk to autograph my book; though not just any monk, but Ajahn Brahmavamso! As strange as it may seem, not only is this the first, it is also my one and only book to date, that is signed by the author, and witnessed by yours truly.
Opening the Door of Your Heart is a collection of stories, 108 of them. Though the stories are all short, they are long in wisdom, insight and inspiration. They are heartwarming, touching and funny. They are there for a reason; to help us change our lives for the better, to guide us towards meaningful and purposeful living, to realise contentment and to find true happiness.
As I reread this book, I am astounded once again by the timeless wisdom inherent in the stories. This book was first published in 2004, way before the massive influx of smartphone such as iphone and android phone, and social media with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Watsapp and YouTube to name a few, dominating our everyday life. Regardless of the timeline, the tales that Ajahn Brahm shares in his book cleverly encompass everything. It does not matter when the stories are written or if they pertain to technology or social media, so long as you are willing to open the door of your heart, this book will give you what you need - hope, forgiveness and freedom from pain, guilt and fear.
One cannot tell much just by looking at the title of each short story. You will need to go one step deeper by reading each story, sometimes even twice, to gain the moments of insight, love and compassion that flow through Ajahn Brahm's stories. What I like most of all is that the teachings in his book do not impose. In fact, they feel mostly like a way of living instead of a religious belief. And so, I feel thoroughly at ease reading and digesting this collection of timeless stories of which many are true to life.
The book starts off with a story on two bad bricks. Ajahn Brahm draws an analogy between the bad brick and the mistake we humans make. Because of our mistakes, we become blind to everything else. We focus exclusively on the faults, the two bad bricks, and we fail to notice the rest of the good bricks, the perfect bricks. To quote "We've all got our two bad bricks, but the perfect bricks in each one of us are much, much more than the mistakes. Once we see this, things aren't so bad. Not only can we live at peace with ourselves, inclusive of our faults, but we can also enjoy living with a partner." Who knows there can be so much wisdom in a simple wall of bricks, of 2 bad bricks and 998 good bricks.
Many meaningful and interesting stories follow after the two bad bricks. I shall not expand on them but leave it to readers to find out for themselves. But I do feel the need to say something about how the book ends off cleverly with a tale on the worm and his lovely pile of dung. Why, you may ask, is it that the book ends with such a story? Well, the way Ajahn Brahm put it across, it is because some people do not want to be free from trouble. They are too attached to their burdens and do not want to be happy. To quote "One hundred and eight times the deva (a heavenly being) tried to lead the poor worm out from his miserable dung pile, but the worm was so attached to his lovely pile of dung that he always wriggled back! So eventually, the deva had to go back up to heaven and leave the foolish worm to his 'lovely pile of dung'." With that, we come to the end of the 108 stories as told in this book. What a brilliant way to wrap up the stories!
There is a season for everything. When I was young (not that I am that old now) and well and carefree, I remember feeling nonchalant when I first read this book. Now, years later, burdened with life's worries, the indifferent feeling is completely absent when I read this book again. In its place however, is the feeling of richness as the stories resonate powerfully with me. I feel as if these tales are written and tailor-made just for me and for whoever I share my book with.
Once again, I read this book from beginning to the end. Though I have finished reading it, I know in my heart that this will not be the last time I am going through the book. How wonderful will it be, when one day, in the future, when I read this book, I can feel indifferent all over again. Till then..
Publisher: Hachette Australia;; 1st edition
Publication date: 1 Aug 2004
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
The most difficult stage of the journey out of guilt is convincing ourselves that we deserve to be forgiven. The stories given so far are there to assist us, but the final step out of the prison is made alone.
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
If kindness is imagined as a beautiful dove, then wisdom is its wings. Compassion without wisdom never takes off.
*** Favourite Quote 3 ***
To think that you will be happy by becoming something else is delusion. Becoming something else just exchanges one form of suffering for another form of suffering. But when you are content with who you are now, junior or senior, married or single, rich or poor, then you are free of suffering.
~ Opening the Door of Your Heart: And other Buddhist Tales of Happiness
Ajahn Brahm
@}--->>--->>-----
In times of uncertainty, words of comfort are essential, and the stunning overseas sales of this title are testament to its universal appeal. These modern tales of hope, forgiveness, freedom from fear and overcoming pain cleverly relate the timeless wisdom of the Buddha's teachings and the path to true happiness in a warm and accessible way. Ajahn Brahm was born and raised in the West and in his more than thirty years as a Buddhist monk he has gathered many poignant, funny and profound stories. He has tremendous ability to filter these stories through the Buddha's teaching so that they can have meaning for all sorts of readers.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
Add to:
Links to purchase:
No comments:
Post a Comment