Rating: 
Summary: Pure inspiration
Review: "Genuine happiness, or enlightenment, is already within us; we have only to reveal it. As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness flows through open lives." - Taro Gold
In just a few words of a good quote, you see the big picture or universal truth. This is a collection of Eastern Wisdom and contains quotes by Buddhist and Eastern thinkers such as Nichiren, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mahatma Gandhi. Taro Gold sees these quotes as "guideposts." He believes in having an open mind and in illuminating your life's path with wisdom from great thinkers. Taro also includes: The Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds
Short Allegories
Short Biographical paragraphs of Historical Figures quoted in this book
Longer passages for reflection
Common Sense Quotes
Universal Truths
Eastern Wisdom An Iris represents Faith, Hope, Wisdom and Valor. Not only is the cover beautiful and filled with this flower, the entire books is beautifully illustrated in an ornate fashion. Almost every page has a beautiful border and then the quotes are in black ink and easy to read on cream-colored paper. I've been contemplating the reality of how we become what we think. Lately I've been watching how my own thoughts change my behavior. Taro Gold has included a wonderful quote from Mahatma Gandhi about this: "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny." This beautiful book will have me contemplating "thoughts" for a long time! An enjoyable collection of quotes to reflect on in moments when you want to think more deeply about life and your own journey to lasting happiness. A book you will love adding to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Condensed Eastern Wisdom
Review: "Genuine happiness, or enlightenment, is already within us; we have only to reveal it. As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness flows through open lives." -Taro Gold Taro Gold has spent much of his life living overseas. He has traveled to over thirty countries and has lived in Australia, Spain and Japan. This is the second book and larger edition of "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life." The author has also written extensively for international Buddhist publications and is currently living in California. Quotes have always intrigued me because they contain condensed wisdom. In just a few words of a good quote, you see the big picture or universal truth. This is a collection of Eastern Wisdom and contains quotes by Buddhist and Eastern thinkers such as Nichiren, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mahatma Gandhi. Taro sees these quotes as "guideposts." He believes in having an open mind and in illuminating your life's path with wisdom from great thinkers. Taro also includes: The Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds
Short Allegories
Short Biographical paragraphs of Historical Figures quoted in this book
Longer passages for reflection
Common Sense Quotes
Universal Truths
Eastern Wisdom An Iris represents Faith, Hope, Wisdom and Valor. Not only is the cover beautiful and filled with flowers, the entire books is beautifully illustrated in an ornate fashion. Almost every page has a beautiful border and then the quotes are in black ink and easy to read on white paper. Some of the quotes do not have sources and are probably sayings passed down through many generations. These include Japanese, Buddhist and Chinese proverbs. I've been contemplating the reality of how we become what we think. Lately I've been watching how my own thoughts change my behavior. Some of the quotes deal with the inherent nature of mankind or ask: "What is truth?" Taro Gold has included a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny." This beautiful mini-book will have me contemplating "thoughts" for a long time! An enjoyable collection of quotes to reflect on in moments when you want to think more deeply about life and your own journey to lasting happiness. A book you will love adding to your inspirational quote-book collection.
Rating:
Summary: A little fresh perspective in this book...
Review: "Thought shapes reality . . . Happiness shapes thought . . . Openness manifests happiness." So states the brief introductory paragraphs to this sweet little book of quotations from the Eastern wisdom traditions. The author poses the central question: how to open our lives to the inherent joy that flows through us simply because we're alive and life itself is joy that runs like spring water through open earth. The answer, he suggests-impressionistic at best, of course-can be found by contemplating the wisdom that comes down to us in the religious (especially the Eastern religious) traditions in aphorisms, brief tales, and koan-like sayings. Open Your Mind is a short little book, of beautiful composition and design, featuring such statements of wisdom highlighted on pages emblazoned with lovely and intensely colored Japanese and Chinese motifs and backgrounds. Many of the sayings are appropriately familiar: Gandhi, Confucius, or Buddha said . . . Some of them seem to be original to the author, Taro Gold, especially those that summarize so-called "common sense" (like "Always say what must be said"). Gold has succinctly stated the obvious, but in ways that intend to make it fresh and striking for the reader who picks up the book and pulls out a quotation or two for meditation or musing. The book would make a sweet gift to a friend-or perhaps to oneself. You never know when you're going to need a moment of reflection and a little help in putting things in perspective. So Taro Gold offers a little fresh perspective in this book and from his place as a young (and cute-the back flap of the dust cover shows his adorably smiling face) gay man, of Japanese extraction, working in Buddhist publishing ventures: staff writer for World Tribune and associate editor of Living Buddhism magazine. He's described as a world traveler, an actor (HBO's "OZ"), a model (for Versace Intimo and Occhiali), and a songwriter (with a CD soon to be released in Japan). I'd recommend this book if only to support and encourage such a wonderful sounding model of young gay life. What a good reminder and "dose of reality" to learn that among the models showing off Versace jeans is a meditator and spiritual apostle. How nice to have popular and dismissive stereotypes of the young challenged! Regular readers of White Crane Journal will recall that I am particularly fond of the Mahayana Buddhist myth of Avalokiteshvara, the young and attractive-and, I think, gay-sounding-Buddhist saint (called a "bodhisattva") who gave up his own nirvana to be reincarnated as everybody in order to alleviate suffering and save all sentient beings. Well, when I look at the little photo of Taro Gold, I can almost literally see Avalokiteshvara shining forth through his eyes. As, indeed, says the myth, is absolutely so. And you can hear Avalokiteshvara's gentle and saving wisdom coming through the quotations and wisdom nuggets of this book. What a treat! And-much better than the usual Thou shalt not's and Anathema's of popular American religion-what a good statement of the truth that religion really should be about: Open Your Mind, Open Your Life. Reviewed by Toby Johnson in the Winter 2003 issue of
White Crane, A Journal of Gay Spirituality
Rating:
Summary: Pure inspiration
Review: "Genuine happiness, or enlightenment, is already within us; we have only to reveal it. As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness flows through open lives." - Taro Gold
In just a few words of a good quote, you see the big picture or universal truth. This is a collection of Eastern Wisdom and contains quotes by Buddhist and Eastern thinkers such as Nichiren, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mahatma Gandhi. Taro Gold sees these quotes as "guideposts." He believes in having an open mind and in illuminating your life's path with wisdom from great thinkers. Taro also includes: The Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds
Short Allegories
Short Biographical paragraphs of Historical Figures quoted in this book
Longer passages for reflection
Common Sense Quotes
Universal Truths
Eastern Wisdom An Iris represents Faith, Hope, Wisdom and Valor. Not only is the cover beautiful and filled with this flower, the entire books is beautifully illustrated in an ornate fashion. Almost every page has a beautiful border and then the quotes are in black ink and easy to read on cream-colored paper. I've been contemplating the reality of how we become what we think. Lately I've been watching how my own thoughts change my behavior. Taro Gold has included a wonderful quote from Mahatma Gandhi about this: "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny." This beautiful book will have me contemplating "thoughts" for a long time! An enjoyable collection of quotes to reflect on in moments when you want to think more deeply about life and your own journey to lasting happiness. A book you will love adding to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational guideposts based on timeless Eastern wisdom
Review: "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life" is more specifically a book of Far Eastern Wisdom, with an emphasis on Buddhist thought along with such thinkers as Nichiren, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mahatma Gandhi. This is not surprising because Taro Gold has written extensively for international Buddhist publications. There are not quite enough entries in here to read one a day for an entire year, but it is in the ballpark. That comes into play simply because whether we are dealing with an aphorism such as the Japanese proverb "Even dust can become a mountain" or Gold's observation "We achieve relative to what we believe," or a paragraph telling the story of a small bird named Tasoo, these are thoughts that need to be digested. A thought a day would be the preferred way of working you way through "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life" as opposed to reading all 101 pages in a hour or two. This volume might reflect Eastern Wisdom in general and Buddhist thinking in particular, but there is universality to such wisdom that clearly transcends the idea of culture or religion. The book is not organized thematically, so it is not a question of finding a particular area of interest but rather working through these thoughts from start to finish and letting the whims of fate determine what you read when. Books like this are useful, not because they reveal truths, but rather because they remind us of them. This volume also has the virtue of being illustrated with subdued but elegant paper and border designs, all in keeping with the spirit of the words contained upon these pages. This is a nice little book that you can keep on your nightstand and it can be the first thing you look at in the morning or the last thing you read at night, depending on your personal preference for the rising sun or the setting sun.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: 'Open Your Mind, Open Your Life' is the best collection of wisdom I've ever found. The enlightening theme is that 'true happiness is within us all; we have only to reveal it.' This book is filled with hundreds of simple and inspiring guideposts based on the timeless wisdom of Eastern thought, including my personal favorite: 'The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud.' It's compact size allows me to carry it along for those times when I need a little extra inspiration and guidance. One of the most valuable books I've ever bought for such a low price.
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: As far as collections of wisdom go this book is as good as it gets. I like it so much I've bought 10 copies to give to family and friends. Reading from it always brightens my day.
Rating:
Summary: Open Your Mind, Open Your Life
Review: Elegantly designed, succinctly presented inspirational for the gift book crowd (givers and recipients alike), anchored well by Gold, who has successfully cauldroned his personal studies and travel adventures abroad into this warm and wise comfort. Westerners curious about traditional Eastern thought but who thus far have been timid about looking forward in that direction are on safe and sound ground here as the words of Confucius, Mahatma Gandhi, Nichiren and Lao Tzu too bubble gently to the surface. Three hundred plus wisdoms later (all of which have been nicely honored by the addition of accompanying, tasteful design elements), readers and seekers will magically realize that the thoughts within have also now become the love within - which of course handily replaces the fear now out.
Rating:
Summary: brings peace to my heart
Review: I am a 48 year old mother, wife, daughter, secretary, etc... who was losing touch with reality, close to losing my mind!
Buying this little book has saved me. I carry it in my purse and read it over and over, while waiting in line, waiting on teens, sometimes just during a break, and almost always in the morning. In the mornings I read until I feel at peace and ready to take on the world, again. Thank you Taro Gold for your book.
Rating:
Summary: Love these books
Review: I belong to a reading group in my local neighborhood library, and one of the folks in the group suggested Taro Gold's books of wisdom to us. Since then, we always open and close our meetings by reading a thought from Open Your Mind, Open Your Life. I keep a copy at work to start my day off on a positive note as well. Taro Gold's books have become my favorite gift to give to friends for birthdays, graduations, and any time I want to uplift someone's spirit.
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