How to See Yourself as You Really Are

By: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins PhD

Narrated by: Jeffrey Hopkins PhD

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

In How to See Yourself as You Really Are, the world's foremost Buddhist leader teaches listeners how to recognize and dispel misguided notions of self and embrace the world from a more realistic and loving perspective.

Step-by-step exercises help listeners shatter their false assumptions and ideas and see the world as it actually exists. His Holiness sets the stage for discovering the reality behind appearances. But getting past one's misconceptions is only a prelude to right action, and the final section describes how to harness the power of meditative concentration to the service of love, and vice versa, so that true altruistic enlightenment is attained.

Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's own life experiences, How to See Yourself as You Really Are is an inspirational and empowering guide to achieving self-awareness that can be enjoyed by spiritual seekers of all faiths.

©2006 His Holiness the Dalai Lama. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Great Book

I have heard it said by s scholar that His Holiness the Dali Lama thinks that a Western audience would benefit most by understanding emptiness. This book indeed beautifully fulfills his belief.

There really is no technical discussion of the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, karma, rebirth, the Wheel of Samsara, the five aggregates, etc. which can be found it other of his work's. The achievement of this book is to explain a nuanced and technically full expose of emptiness in a brilliantly plain spoken manner.

I enjoyed Mr. Hopkins lively translation and the short chapters regarding a.that at times is torture to read and mind bending to understand. I also found his voice soothing and authorities.

A few extra treats is that the Dali Lama talks a bit about himself in a revealing way. There is no doubt that he wrote this book with in a passionate and truly heartfelt manner. I also found his meditation suggestions after each major topic to be rich and instructive.

My regular 'go-to' book for centering my thinking

Every person needs a serious self reflection from time to time. This book provides a virtual mirror so that if you have been through a crisis are are currently suffering from a crises or know you are heading for a crisis, then I submit to you that you will find this book very useful and helpful. The messages and analogous story will help you with your ability to cope and to find a common neutral alignment with your personal perspective. I believe this book has been a means by which I take a moment to contemplate all that I am and where I am going. I further believe that I am going in the right direction and when I find myself engaged in circular thinking and stuck as if caught in a snow drift or Quagmire...all I need to do is pull out a chapter or two and take it in as if it were my private little self therapy session. I cannot stress enough how painful it is for me to watch others in circular state of existence. I hope this review is taken seriously and I speak from personal experience. I also teach public education K-12 and I have worked with people who truly have been suffering from some of the most profound disabilities that can bedevil a human being. Conducting oneself in a mindful way is the only way to 'fly'. listen to the Dalhli Llama's words of wisdom and begin to feel strength and confidence in your life I each and every day.

Excellent intro

On my second play, book has some very insightful tips with how to approach life's day to day struggles and and see them for what they truly are.

Could have been better!

Different narrator would have certainly made significant (Positive) effect on quality...
Narrator might be a learned person, but might not be the best choice when it comes to narration....

Narration fast and dry; the writing, decidedly wester

The narration is fast, dry, and textbook like, very unlike books any books narrated that were written or coauthored by the Dalai.

The writing structure is also decidedly western.

There are a lot of great messages in the book, but the reader must wait till the build up in the first half of the book is finished to enjoy the messages in the second half and summary portion.

Appreciation for the few beautiful messages this book offers requires the patience of the Buddha (humorous satire intended).

Good instructions on learning more about the self

The narrator did a very good job. I felt like he really has an understanding of the subject matter.
There were a lot of good instructions given to progress your meditation to a higher level. Some of the Buddhist discussion on self was a little hard for me to follow. I need to listen again. I have read a few other books that discussed the concept of the self; and I don't think any of those authors did a better job. Well worth the time listening to several times to help gain more pease and happiness in your life.

One of the best books on His Holiness

Would you listen to How to See Yourself as You Really Are again? Why?

I deeply appreciate all the insights in this book. There is always so much to learn from each book on his holiness

Thank you

Thank you… for inspiration, insight and the tools to break down false projections.
Now, how do I achieve the discipline necessary for the job.

Very thorough, but very complex

First off I had no problem with the narrator, he did a good job on a very complex book.

The subject matter of this book is very complex and I would not recommend it to people who are not familier with buddhist concepts. However this book is a treasure of wisdom supported by analytical arguments which are very well structured and arranged.

This is THE best book I have read on this subject, you also REALLY have to concentrate while listening (not a light listen) . After listening (at least twice) you will have a lot of contemplation ahead of you...

Very Thorough

Yes as per the other comments the narrator is very monotone, but personally I was able to get past that once getting into the meat of the book about 2 hours in. From there on I was continually surprised at how carefully and thoroughly the subjects where explained. I have read a number of books on emptiness but this is definitely the most extensive guide to actual contemplation of the subject. To the point that yes I will be also buying the book to use as a study guide, which in itself is somewhat impractical from an audio book format.