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The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking: Skillful Thought for Successful Living

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The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking
Tibetan Bön medicine is one of the world's oldest and most sophisticated systems of healing -- and the only one endorsed by the Dalai Lama. In The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking, Christopher Hansard draws upon the practices and principles of Bön, along with his own knowledge of Tibetan teachings, to offer a series of simple, soulful meditations and exercises that can help you achieve spiritual, emotional, interpersonal, and professional success. You'll learn how
• connect to the energy of positive thought -- one of the most powerful
energy resources
• trust your inner wisdom and make decisions with greater ease
• confront your fears, accept disappointment, maintain hope
• enhance your relationships by giving unconditional love and helping others
...and much more. You are what you think -- and with this book as your guide, you can direct yourself toward greater freedom, meaning, and lifelong happiness.

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

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237 people want to read

About the author

Christopher Hansard

10 books13 followers

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5 stars
71 (37%)
4 stars
53 (27%)
3 stars
44 (23%)
2 stars
14 (7%)
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9 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Marcus.
16 reviews16 followers
August 8, 2008
Anyone who ever read or had interest in reading "The Secret" should give this a read instead. Rather than simply arguing for the effectiveness of positive thought, it delves into the practical and metaphysical mechanics of how thought patterns resonate as circumstances, as well as giving dozens and dozens of useful visualizations and meditative techniques for actually training your brain for positivity thought the same way you train your body for health.

You can actually use this book to build a custom meditation regimen that focuses on your problem areas of thinking, the same way a custom workout regimen nails your trouble spots.
Profile Image for Moriah.
Author 1 book16 followers
May 11, 2013
A wonderfully written and easy to understand book on Buddhism. Sometimes in reading sacred texts, ideas and philosophies becomes somewhat of a college course rather than pleasurable reading. This book is very useful in lessons of forgiveness, spreading yourself too thin and learning to have a balanced relationship with yourself. Very easy meditations suggested with visuals that make integrating them as a part of daily life quite easy. You don't have to read this book chapter to chapter. Great advice on work life, friendships and family living. Wonderful read.
Profile Image for Helena.
Author 3 books36 followers
November 18, 2018
Skilful thoughts for successful living. That's what the cover says. On the inside, this book is very clear about one thing: Through Thought we create our world. And yes box, we sure do.

A book I will reread more than once, I already know!

https://helenaroth.com/the-tibetan-ar...
Profile Image for Alexander  Gil.
295 reviews
August 31, 2021
Hansard touches on some great points and speaks about Bön in a light I have never heard before.
The stories are greAt and the examples. I enjoyed the end and also the idea of which thoughts you should not harness and why you do. Integrity, identity, thoughts, this book helps you grow into the best you.
Profile Image for Tatiana Kim.
217 reviews16 followers
February 21, 2018
book itself is quite good, but maybe this is translation issue, the meditation technique is strange. also author describes one successful example in each chapter, and i would say they are too good to be true.
Profile Image for Kamala.
4 reviews
July 17, 2008
I like this book. It has a sort of fairy-tale beginning when the author is chosen by his master on some random beach, and his parents actually let him go off and study with the guy.

What I hate about it: the meditations are often extremely confusing, and so sometimes I have to keep re-reading them, which makes it not at all like meditating. Also, the stories at the end of each meditation that prove how amazing that meditation is are really really hokey. Really, he's a fairly bad writer, but you can tell that he's a good teacher (unfortunately I'm very picky about my prose).

Anyone have a good suggestion for a beginner's alternative?

What I love about this book: it opened my eyes to a lot of the issues I never knew I had, and it's helped me to be more mindful. I hadn't heard my heart beat since the fifth grade, I think, and that's in a lot of the exercises. It helped me survive a break-up.
Profile Image for Amy.
119 reviews
October 6, 2012
I could not bring myself to trust the author, and ultimately could not finish the book. While I definitely do agree that worlds are created and destroyed in our minds by our thoughts and perceptions, to claim to use the power of your thoughts to change the course of other people's lives or to cause someone to do something that they would not otherwise have done is either dishonest or delusional. We do not control the actions or thoughts of others, but are indeed the masters of our own mental headspace and our own actions.
Profile Image for Devika Koppikar.
77 reviews7 followers
February 23, 2011
I haven't finished it, but as noted in another review, the meditations were long and confusing.

It had some good ideas - like thinking in a way whereby you make negative thoughts go away.

However, whenever an author suggest a set method for doing something and insists you do it only the way he suggests, I get a bit weary.

I returned the book back to the library - but might check it out again sometime.
Profile Image for Nancy.
700 reviews10 followers
November 29, 2011
A nourishing book I would say. The introduction is called “Fire in the Heart”! This book teaches about skillful thinking and how to train your brain to think positive and move away from negative thinking – really good training for me. I loved this book and will read it again and again I know.
Profile Image for Julia Papworth.
22 reviews3 followers
April 1, 2013
This is really a reference book, to go back to over and over again, each time gleaning more wisdom. The thought focus work, like anything practiced repetitively, becomes more powerful through time; one learns to have a trained mind. Fantastic book.
10 reviews3 followers
September 13, 2008
I am just using this book for a source of meditations to direct my inner life Based on ancient Tibetan practice callsed Bon.
Profile Image for Cristina Reyes.
2 reviews
August 19, 2012
Inspiring book. Deep, with common sense. Budhist chamanism. Realistic exercises. It´s good for a chage in your life. It´s a good book to give to someone as a token of appreciation.
Profile Image for Lori Gertz.
Author 3 books5 followers
December 31, 2012
This is a great book of meditations and visualizations. Sometimes we all need a little tool to go deeper with our meditation practice.
Profile Image for Hayley.
5 reviews
February 8, 2013
Picked this up in a second hand bookstore for 1 pound ages ago and have now bought it for all my friends!! My go to book whenever I need a life pick me up! Wonderful
Profile Image for Matúš.
132 reviews1 follower
September 12, 2023
Christopher presented some great ideas to think about and integrate into life, but I find many of them difficult and can't really figure out where to start.
8 reviews
July 25, 2007
Don't miss this! Fantastic! Calm thoughts in a frantic world!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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