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The Second Arrow: Practicing Peace in a Highly Reactive World
Not yet published
Expected 16 Feb 27Enlightenment begins where reactivity ends.
In an era defined by outrage, anxiety, and constant stimulation, The Second Arrow names the hidden habit making modern life harder than it has to our reflex to react.
Popular spiritual teacher Matt Laney takes an ancient teaching of Buddhist psychology and turns it into a sharp, practical framework for navigating a culture built to trigger us. The Second Arrow serves as a field guide for interrupting the split-second reactions that escalate conflict, fuel stress, and erode our relationships, work, and inner lives.
Drawing on both Buddhist and Biblical wisdom that he has studied, practiced, and taught for decades, Laney delivers a fresh, piercing, cross-tradition approach that is accessible to anyone. Through vivid real-world scenarios, personal stories, and hands-on exercises, he shows readers that releasing reactivity and growing into its opposite, Response-ability, is not just a personal improvement project. It is a psychological, relational, social imperative. Our well-being depends on it. Our shared future does too.
Timely, actionable, and highly relatable, The Second Arrow is a crucial field guide for our increasingly reactive world.
In an era defined by outrage, anxiety, and constant stimulation, The Second Arrow names the hidden habit making modern life harder than it has to our reflex to react.
Popular spiritual teacher Matt Laney takes an ancient teaching of Buddhist psychology and turns it into a sharp, practical framework for navigating a culture built to trigger us. The Second Arrow serves as a field guide for interrupting the split-second reactions that escalate conflict, fuel stress, and erode our relationships, work, and inner lives.
Drawing on both Buddhist and Biblical wisdom that he has studied, practiced, and taught for decades, Laney delivers a fresh, piercing, cross-tradition approach that is accessible to anyone. Through vivid real-world scenarios, personal stories, and hands-on exercises, he shows readers that releasing reactivity and growing into its opposite, Response-ability, is not just a personal improvement project. It is a psychological, relational, social imperative. Our well-being depends on it. Our shared future does too.
Timely, actionable, and highly relatable, The Second Arrow is a crucial field guide for our increasingly reactive world.
- GenresSelf HelpSpirituality
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 16, 2027
About the author
Matt Laney
5 books28 followersMATT LANEY is an ordained United Church of Christ minister with over twenty years of service. A longtime Zen practitioner and martial artist, he writes for the UCC’s Still Speaking Daily Devotional (over 30,000 readers) and worked on an early draft of Thich Nhat Hahn's book Be Free Where You Are. With 116K TikTok followers and national media appearances including Comedy Central and The Learning Channel (TLC) and special recognition on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he is a sought-after speaker and spiritual counselo
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Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Second Arrow takes an old Buddhist idea and makes it feel extremely current. Painful things happen. The second arrow is what we add afterward through reaction, rumination, anger, fear, and the stories we build around what happened. Matt Laney applies that distinction to relationships, work, stress, and a culture that seems designed to keep everyone reacting.
I found myself noticing my own second arrows while reading, which is probably the best thing I can say about a book like this. The concept is simple enough to remember when something goes wrong, and I liked that the goal is not to become passive or stop caring. It is to create a little space between what happens and what we do next.
My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advance review copy.
I found myself noticing my own second arrows while reading, which is probably the best thing I can say about a book like this. The concept is simple enough to remember when something goes wrong, and I liked that the goal is not to become passive or stop caring. It is to create a little space between what happens and what we do next.
My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advance review copy.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review