How to Be Compassionate

By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins PhD - editor/translator

Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD

The surest path to true happiness lies in being intimately concerned with the welfare of others. Or, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama would say, in compassion.

In How to Be Compassionate, His Holiness reveals basic mistakes of attitude that lead us to inner turmoil, and how we can correct them to achieve a better tomorrow. He demonstrates precisely how opening our hearts and minds to other people is the best way to overcome the misguided ideas that are at the root of all our problems. He shows us how compassion can be a continuous wellspring of happiness in our own lives and how our newfound happiness can extend outward from us in ever wider and wider circles.

As we become more compassionate human beings, our friends, family, neighbors, loved ones—and even our enemies—will find themselves less frequently in the thrall of destructive emotions like anger, jealousy, and fear, prompting them to become more warmhearted, kind, and harmonious forces within their own circles. With simple language and startling clarity, His Holiness makes evident as never before that the path to global harmony begins in the hearts of individual women and men. Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama’s experiences as a student, thinker, political leader, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, How to Be Compassionate gives seekers of all faiths the keys to overcoming anger, hatred, and selfishness— the primary obstacles to happiness—and to becoming agents of positive transformation in our communities and the world at large.

©2011 His Holiness the Dalai Lama. All rights reserved. (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Listen, Learn, Practice, Repeat

Would you listen to How to Be Compassionate again? Why?

I have been an on and off practitioner of Buddhism for about 20 years now, so this review is biased, but in this case I don't think that bias is going to harm anyone who might listen to this audiobook because of this review. I will listen to this audiobook again and again, repeatedly, because I do want to learn how to get back to that place where I was a more compassionate human being. The only way to do that is through practice.

What about Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.’s performance did you like?

I think Dr. Hopkins did a fine reading of the material and I am extremely picky about the readers performances.

Any additional comments?

I believe this is a book for everyone, regardless of faith. If we all could practice just a little more compassion, I think the world would be a much nicer place.

Be good, be healthy!

What made the experience of listening to How to Be Compassionate the most enjoyable?

While i run on the treadmill i'm able to listen.

What did you like best about this story?

It provides necessary information to be understand the Dalai Lama's book Beyond Religion.

Which character – as performed by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D. – was your favorite?

NA

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Where love and hate are both ineffective in the expression of compassion.

Great story but poor narration

Would you listen to How to Be Compassionate again? Why?

I love audio books and I love the Dalai Lama and other audio books he has participated in, but this one was poorly narrated, so to briefly answer:

No, because the narration was not paced well. There were awkward pauses after every couple words, as if to drive meaning and give time for it to sink in, but it just made the pacing slow. The narrator was monotone with zero emphasis or emotional content placed on any words. It was so drab I had to stop listening to it in my car because I was becoming dangerously close to falling asleep.

The story and meaning behind the words was fantastic, so the paper bound version would be a more enjoyable experience.

What did you like best about this story?

The Dalai Lama is an excellent teacher who easily explains some of the deepest ideas of spirituality and Buddhism, which is beneficial to both novices and long-time practitioners.

How could the performance have been better?

The translator, spoke in the same pace as the Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama is concentrating to convey his message in English. This is very agreeable when the Dalai Lama does this because he always has a spark to his voice, you can hear his emotions come through, even in his tertiary dialects. However when this is translated to a fluent English speaker, and they use the same pacing, only without the emotional content, it is not as agreeable, to me. In voice, and language, the emotion and inflection behind the voice is extremely important. I could tell he was simply reading. It did not sound like natural talking, feeling the message, it felt like a manuscript was being read. Which from an instructional standpoint, such as in a classroom, this might be tolerable, but part of why I got this book was also for a degree of entertainment, because the Dalai Lama is very entertaining, and the stories in his books are always fantastic, it would be fairly simple to for a narrator to have fun and make it not only educational but entertaining, which makes the mind more alive and awake and able to actually absorb the deeper meanings.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Wanted to...

Logical, clear, and beautiful.

As expected from any material from the Dalai Lama, this book was clear, logical, and not pretentious. the book doesn't just cover on how to be more compassionate towards others, but how it helps us grow, why we should being compassionate towards those who inflict suffering on ourselves and others, and how compassion plays a significant part an hour journey to be free of suffering. I would say that while the narrator was clear and very fitting for the book, he spoke very slowly. I listened at 1.4 speed, generally. Great book, well done narration and highly recommended!