The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Guide to Cultivating Loving-Kindness

by Ayya Khema, Leigh Brasington (Editor)

Beloved Buddhist nun Ayya Khema expertly guides the reader through ten meditations on generating loving-kindness and cultivating the fifteen wholesome qualities necessary for igniting compassion and boundless love.

Having escaped Nazi Germany in 1938, Ayya Khema has singularly profound perspective on creating peace, unconditional love, and compassion. She gently teaches that inner peace is not necessarily natural or innate. Instead, peace should be considered a skill that needs intentional practice—every day. Peace is the sum of many parts, namely the fifteen wholesome qualities the Buddha himself noted in the Metta Sutta, including usefulness, mildness, humility, contentment, receptivity, and others. Ayya Khema expertly guides us through each individual condition, using her trademark humor and personal narrative, to help each reader shape their own path to self-transformation.

The second part of the book includes an eye-opening discussion of metta (loving-kindness) as both a morality and concentration practice, as well as ten meditation practices that use visualizations rather than more traditional mantra repetition. These visualizations include your heart as a "Fountain of Love," reaching those close to you and those far away, and a "Flower Garden," where we tend to the blooms in our hearts through love and compassion and share them with others. Edited by her student and retreat leader, Leigh Brasington, this book is a complete course in practical ways to calm and brighten our minds.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion

176 pages, Paperback

Published July 19, 2022

Reviews

[Kay Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of transcribed talks and teachings given at various retreats by the late Ven. Ayya Khema. This is not an easy read. It is however an in-depth collection that looks at man kind how we as individuals fit in and how we can be better, kinder, more caring, more peaceful for ourselves and others. I didn't agree with everything said nor did I take everything said nor t I took enough from this reading that made it worthwhile.

[Kevin Halter · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is plenty of wisdom to be found in Ayya Khema's Path to Peace.
One of the most intriguing and beautiful things was scrumptious of the turns of phrase and the succinct ways in which that wisdom was presented.
I would however recommend that the book not be approached as a typical book but rather as a guide book-- explored, read, and re-read.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #Shamballa Books for the ARC of Ayya Khema's #PathtoPeace.

[Paul]

This is series of short talks, so it is a quick read in some ways. Some of the chapters may take some contemplation and reflection. There's a lot of wisdom here, and I found the last half's focus on love to be excellent. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

[Dana Larose]

Ayya Khema always writes with such clarity and warmth.

[Brian Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator was superb in reading these short talks. If anything, she enhanced the content. I prefer to read books, but I am glad I listened to this one.

These Dharma talks present wisdom in a way anyone, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, seeking truth can benefit from. I would not hesitate to recommend The Path of Peace to my non-Buddhist friends.

One sentence stands out to me from these talks. The words apply in a culture, which as Khema says, speaks head to head, not heart to heart - "It’s only with the heart that we get the response that the heart of others can give."