The Art of Power

By: Thích Nhất Hạnh

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Art of Power, world-renowned Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh offers a surprising and radical new understanding of how we attain true power.

Power is one of the central issues in our lives. From work to personal relationships, the struggle for power plays a pivotal role and, more often than not, prevents us from attaining freedom and happiness. The bottom-line mentality in our culture seeps unnoticed into every other part of our lives. Thich Nhat Hanh illustrates how our current understanding of power leads us on a never-ending search for external markers like job title or salary. This me-first approach to life may have originated in the business world, but the stress, fear, and anxiety it causes are being felt by all of us every day.

Turning the conventional understanding on its head, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that true power comes from within and that what we seek we already have. With colorful anecdotes, precise language, and concrete practices, this book will have an important and lasting legacy on how we understand our culture and choose to live our lives.

(P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
"[Thich Nhat Hanh] shows us the connection between personal inner peace, and peace on earth." (the Dalai Lama)

grateful read

thoughtful wisdom and a depth of connection to the ordinary that will surprise you and push you to lead an examined life

mindful

a good read reminds us that when life gets crazy to stop and breathe that's never bad advice

Prefer His Collected Works

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Maybe - some really good parts just slow to arrive at the point

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I like the mindful joy and deliberate approach but it felt very slow at parts and took a long time to get there. Maybe that was the point.

What about Lloyd James’s performance did you like?

It was mellow and soothing with being boring or sleepy

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

Treating others with empathy

Powerful perceptive prose on living with purpose

Thich Nhat Hanh was the first modern Zen master I read whose writings spoke to me very deeply when I first entered "the Stream" . The clarity of us insights and teachings is laudable and most useful. This book is another gem. I particularly liked the appendix which tells the story of the Patagonia company in the words of its founder. Highly recommended!

Clear, thoughtful, easy listen

This book inspired both the gracious and gentle practice of mindfulness and an activist approach to bring peace through daily decisions of beneficial choices and living.

It's on My Top 3 List

Excellent book. It was so good I listened to it twice, back to back. Thich captures the true essence of Buddhism and synthesizes it for you. He makes difficult concepts easy to understand and you can easily internalize them, make them your own. It's a must read or audio book to listen to.

The best book I’ve ever read/listened to!

I would like to say that’s my name is Chris and that not only is this the 1st book I’ve ever read at the ripe age of 50 and having issues with ADHD, It’s the best book I could ever imagine reading! I think it will help me with my attention, as the five spiritual powers, faith, discipline, mindfulness, concentration and insight are already at work and doing so. My father died just over two years ago and the day before he passed he asked me to promise him to have compassion and after he was dead to continue having compassion. I didn’t understand this but I complied and said I would. Until reading this book I did not understand that one could have compassion for oneself and until I had compassion for myself, how could I have compassion for others. Thank you dad! There is so much more in this book and feel that everybody should read it and should be in a way mandated in our schools. I believe this book was published in 2007 and makes reference to President Bush, however, it is 2019 and I think President Donald Trump should read this book to gain compassion, love and understanding. I also believe all political powers in other countries should read this book as well, Russia, China, Korea, Iraq, Israel, Japan, all and I mean all countries, CEOs of major companies, all persons in a position of power, but really I think everybody should read this book. I am a practicing Catholic at this time and believe in God, however, I intend to live the life of a Buddhist as well. I probably should take more time and meditate before writing this review so that I am more mindful of the words contained within its contents, so I may add to this review at a later date. Love, compassion and understanding. Thank you

Wonderful

This book was fantastic. I'm so happy I listened to it and took all the wisdom I could from it.

Interesting read

This book was always on my to do list. My father bought it for all of his children in paper form around the year that it was published, but I am not the kind of reader who reads with my eyes. So it nestled into the back burner part of my list. Finally, I have come to it, thanks to the narrator and the audio book and some extra credits from my self publishing. I guess my father wanted his children to each self empower towards their happiness, mindfulness, and existing in a way that helps the world. And that seems a worthwhile goal for my father, for his children, and for Thich.

Great book to hardness mindfulness

This is a great book for anyone trying to tap back into the present moment and become mindful.

Only thing I don’t like is the end… I felt it started to drag with irrelevant information

Otherwise, I highly recommend this book. Read it twice already