An Open-Hearted Life: Transformative Methods for Compassionate Living from a Clinical Psychologist anda Buddhist Nun

by Russell Kolts, Thubten Chodron, Dalai Lama XIV (Foreword)

A beloved Buddhist teacher and a psychologist specializing in Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) provide practical methods for living a life filled with compassion.

     A life overflowing with compassion. It sounds wonderful in theory, but how do you do it? This guide provides practical methods to living with this wonderful quality, based on traditional Buddhist teachings and on methods from modern psychology--particularly a technique called Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT). The methods presented by the two authors--a psychotherapist and a Tibetan Buddhist nun--turn out to have a good deal in common. In fact, they complement each other in wonderful ways. Each of the 64 short chapters ends with a reflection or exercise for putting compassion into practice in various life situations.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Psychology, Health

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Russell L. Kolts, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and professor at Eastern Washington University outside of Spokane, WA, and is founder of the Inland Northwest Compassionate Mind Center. Dr. Kolts regularly conducts trainings and workshops on Compassion-Focused Therapy, as well as on mindfulness and compassion practices. His professional interests lie primarily in the application of CFT and mindfulness approaches to individuals suffering from problematic anger, trauma, mood, and attachment-related difficulties. Kolts has published and presented research in diverse areas such as positive psychology, PTSD, psychopharmacology, mindfulness, and compassion. In his personal life, Dr. Kolts enjoys family time, reading, meditation, outdoor activities, and listening to and playing music.

Reviews

[Carol]

Basic precepts but well written and useful, never dull. Great overview of a complicated idea and practice.

[Joan Porte]

There is really nothing here that I haven't read before but it is a good compendium and I like the little exercises at the end of each chapter.

[Jonathan Mckay]

An Open Hearted life is a mix of psychology and buddhist teachings, a sort of 'Buddhism lite' that provides a gateway into integrating compassion into every day life.

This isn't a book that can be read cover-to-cover, almost none of the ideas are going to be things you haven't heard before. Instead, it's meant to be a series of meditations to cover on applying compassion to different parts of life.

I found the chapters on self compassion and using compassion as a means to deal with negative emotions to be the most useful, and the book contains enough practical advice that I've been able to apply parts of this in real life effectively.

I limited myself to reading no more than a chapter per day, and plan to revisit quite a few of certain chapters in the future.

[Wesley Jackson]

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