The Way Things Are: A Living Approach to Buddhism for Today's World

by Ole Nydahl

This seminal work offers the liberating and powerful methods of Diamond Way Buddhism for readers seeking to incorporate Buddhist practice into their daily lives.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Philosophy, Self Help, Religion, Meditation

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ole Nydahl, also known as Lama Ole, is a lama providing Mahamudra teachings in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the early 1970s, Nydahl has toured the world giving lectures and meditation courses. With his wife, Hannah Nydahl (1946-2007), he founded Diamond Way Buddhism, a worldwide Karma Kagyu Buddhist organization with over 600 centers for lay practitioners.

Nydahl is the author of more than twenty books (in German and English) about Diamond Way Vajrayana Buddhism, with translations into multiple languages. Titles include The Great Seal: Mahamudra View of Diamond Way Buddhism,The Way Things Are, Entering the Diamond Way, Buddha and Love and Fearless Death.

Reviews

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious about Buddhism for years and I decided to stop being just curious about it and instead become active. This book is truly amazing and wonderful. I learned so much about Buddhism and it confirmed my "suspicion" that Buddhism is the only "religion" that makes any sense. It's actually a very good thing and a wonderful & fulfilling way of living. It promotes compassion for everyone, wisdom, calmness, working on yourself, not giving meaning to things that are not eternal and most of all, being responsible for your own actions (karma).

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some concepts of Buddhism are very difficult to understand by the "western" mind. And this book was aimed to help people of western countries to understand the main concepts of one of the oldest religions in the world. But the way it was done was not necessary suitable for this kind of purpose. The main principles and core ideas of Buddhism were presented very briefly and in a quite instructive way as the reader can just know about them. Then their importance and how they differ from the ideas in other societies, religions and cultures were not shown. This could a be a big help in understanding them by today's terms.

The level of the details described some parts of Buddhism teaching left me confused. The author for example tried to go deeper in explaining differences between kinds of Buddhism teachings leaving more important parts not sufficiently clear.

People that are looking for a book that is easily digestible should try something different.

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn't resonate with me the way Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jack Kornfield, or the Dalai Lama's books do. The overview of Buddha's life was clear and succinct. In the later chapters, a lot of concepts were presented in a very short space. I find spiritual concepts difficult to grasp, anyway, so I think more applications and discussion are helpful for me to move beyond the theoretical. I also found the digressions on avoiding "politically correct" thinking to be strange, but maybe times have changed.

[Cheryl Goveia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The clearest approach to practical living in the Great Way. Lama Ole makes the teachings of the the Buddha modern and applicable.

[Riki (˶˃⤙˂˶) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 💫

Interesting and enlightening. Enjoyable.

（^人^）

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concepts of Buddhist belief are often quite difficult for the average western mind. I remember taking a Buddhist overview class in university and being completely lost. A few years later, I was drawn to another more in depth class. This class was taught by a man with passion and patience who walks the path himself. The right teacher truly makes all the difference.

The Way Things Are is written by Lama Ole Nydahl. This man truly has a gift. He takes the basic concepts of Buddhism and relates them to his readers in such a natural way. Moreover, he connects these notions to living in 21st century America.

If you are looking for a basic understanding of Buddhism, The Way Things Are is a very good choice. You’ll get a very good overview that you can actually understand. The author also provides some invaluable hints on how to find a good master.

[Rosemary Kline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be really unclear, especially concerning transference of energies, karma, reincarnation, and others. I found this vagueness symptomatic of uncertainty, but it seems to be written with conviction. I also feel that the regular mentions of these concepts isn't very practical. I would've enjoyed it more if living concepts were the focus as the title implies. Not what I was hoping for from an introductory book. With that being said, I appreciate many of the fundamental ideas of Buddhism and applying them has been USEFUL for living a less stressful life.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear and practical overview of Buddhism for the modern West, this book is extremely helpful in orienting the new practitioner. At the same time, it contains such a depth of information that even experienced practitioners will find it elucidating. The edition shown in the picture is now out of print and the book has been expanded and re-edited in an edition of the same title by O Books.

[Rita]

Started it and have to start over... a book to read again in different moments in life, because there are always new things to learn...

[Szabolcs Bökönyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an amazing book which gives you a great introduction to the Dharma and always a good reference point for your practice.

[Vasilisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing guide to principles of Buddhism.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt kinda culty. The intent is there, but it dives a little too far past the original Buddhist message for my taste.

[Kofeina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warto wrócić

[Claire Botman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inspired by a meditation session with the Gyuto monks of Tibet when they visited our town I walked around the corner to the library & browsed the Buddhism section, picked this up expecting an accessible read, as the title suggests. The story of Buddha's life is nicely written but if you've got any interest at all in the subject you will have read it elsewhere, nothing new here. The rest of the book was a thinly disguised plug for the author's Diamond Way Buddhist centers.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the way things are..what there is more to say???
dharma expalined for westerners by Lama Ole

[Dendina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Цялостно книгата е хубава, но определено по-лесна за възприемане от тези читатели с утвърден характер. Човек ме трябва да вярва сляпо на всичко, което чете, същото важи за тази книга. Съветът ми е да не се използва за самопомощ, не е такава идеята с която е написана. По-скоро е за разясняване на някои правила.

[nenetto · Rating 1 out of 5]

De vez en cuando hace alusiones demasiado políticas y de opinión personal que no tienen que ver con la práctica budista.

[Evalitera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr viel Info ... too much?
Das Buch habe ich versucht zu lesen, mit Hörbuch habe ich es geschafft.
Obwohl ich mich schon mehrmals mit dem Buddhismus beschäftigt habe, die vier edlen Wahrheiten, der achtfache Pfad ist hier viel Neues.
Also hier geht es um den tibetischen Buddhismus und den Diamantweg.
Man kennt Theravada das kleine Fahrzeug
Hinayana das grosse Fahrzeug aber den 3. Weg?
Nun ja der liegt mir wegen der gefühlt 11000
Niederwerfungen u.ä.
Zum Abschluss noch 3 Meditationen.
Gut ich war Neugierig, tendiere aber eher zum Zen ... wenn

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book can be read in a single sitting. First of all, it's written from the perspective of a westerner which makes it accessible for western readers, but it's also pretty short. Still the basic concepts are explained, and more "complicated" or advanced topics are also mentioned. There are also meditations described, which are practical as well.

[Staceydz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy is a quack.

[Alfons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vajrayana

[Piotr Małecki-Jurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductory book addressed to people looking for consistent information about buddhism today.

[Paula Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro de cabecera, de esos que cambian constantemente con uno, a los que uno les encuentra siempre algo nuevo. Es casi un manual. Maravilloso como su autor.

[Svein Ove · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way things are. The title captures the content perfectly.

[Aleksandar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an interesting book, to get an insight into esoteric Tibetan Buddhism.

It's a short book, so many of the concepts aren't explained in detail so it's like a sci-fi story at times.

It's incredible to me how much contempt for Christianity and Islam is shown by the author, who is a Lama and is supposed to be an enlightened being. How can I trust a person who speaks about Christianity in a serious book, while being clueless about it? It seems that many of these Western Tibetan Buddhists do that all the time. Just explain your practice and outlook, there's no need to insult and lower other paths (especially when clueless about them), it's sad that we even have to talk about this.

He constantly stresses that they don't need a God as a reference etc., then speaks about celestial Buddha forms with multiple arms and invoking a golden form of Lama that radiates energy into your forehead, throat and heart...

All in all, it confirmed some of my thoughts about these forms of Buddhism - they are mostly a mish-mash of traditional Theravada Buddhism, Tibetan folk pagan religions, yogic and tantric methods with primesses of cult-like Guru/Lama worship.

In my modest experience, Theravada is 'real' and most effective Buddhist path, with no bells and whistles.

[Alejandro Barquero · Rating 3 out of 5]

He leido este libro porque recientemente empecé a visitar un centro Budista del Camino del Diamante.

Para mi mente secular, es un poco dificil absorber los conceptos metafísicos mas allá de una devoción, entonces en los párrafos donde Ole habla de conceptos como *campos de poder* quedé desorientado (no es una queja sobre el libro, es una experiencia persona)

Lo que mas me sirvió del libro fueron las explicaciones de como las religiones de creencia son distintas a las de experiencia, y realmente interesante la explicación historica de esta divergencia entre tradiciones.

Tambien muy valioso que Ole enfatizara en lo importante de evaluar al maestro para evitar situaciones que causen confusión y experiencias perturbadoras.

[Pyzor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naprawdę sporo można się z niej dowiedzieć
Często język jest ciężki do zrozumienia, ale może to część tłumaczenia na polski
Czasami miałem wrażenie, że w połowie rozdziału temat zbacza na coś całkowicie innego niż było w tytule
I czasami rzeczy były naprawdę ezoteryczne

Ale poza tym, części których mnie nie przekonały nie było dużo. Wcześniej byłem na wykładzie o buddyzmie, który pozwolił mi chyba złapać więcej. Nie wiem, jak czytałoby się to "od zera"

Ale były momenty naprawdę świetne. Porównania do oceanu, metody medytacji, czy rzeczy, od których boli trochę głowa na początku
Ogólnie daje dobrą ocenę, myślę że warto było go przeczytać, dało mi sporo rzeczy i nie zniechęciło do czytania o temacie dalej!

[Enya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was very good, it helps a lot and everyone would have very good use of this book and it helps a lot if you do what it says in the book. It is kind of complex so I would recommend it to an adult or young-adult. I think that if you are very stressed you need this book. I liked the engaging start and the very good ending, full of explanations of why and everything. The book had a lot of details so that made it very good also.

[Marcel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introductory book to Diamond Way Buddhism. Personally, I didn't feel like I learned much from this book what I didn't know before, but it was a good way of refreshing some topics and remembering some of the most important principles of the Noble Eightfold Path. I'll be doing the meditations provided in the book to gain a bit more insight into this particular school of Buddhism.

[Rafal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Książka napisana jakby w stylu pop-buddyzmu, "amerykańsko-marketingowo", z nieco zbyt oceniającą zachodnią perspektywą (np. 'w Afryce jest na pewno smutno, bo biednie'). Osobiście wolę też bardziej obiektywne pozycje, bez wiary w czary.

Dwie gwiazdki to pewnie za mało, ale trzy to już za dużo.