Name: The Cow in the Parking Lot
ISBN: 9780761158158

Susan Edmiston

Leonard Scheff

Uses simple Buddhist principles an easily understandable way, this book may help readers replace the anger in their lives with a newfound contentment.

A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

The Cow in the Parking Lot

Nadine 

Ok so there’s a theme in my reaction to these books - they’re almost universally annoying- albeit for different reasons - this one was ok except for the fact that the narrator insists on reading the quotes from non USA people in this terribly demeaning and quite honestly racist accent. 
If you access the book do so in print and NoT the audio version!
Do better narrators !!

Elizabeth Garza

I recently read another book, I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, and in one of the essays Bogel talks about how books come into our lives when we need them most. Sometimes we don't even realize we need the book, but then we read it and realize, "Wow." 

*slow clapping for the universe and it's impeccable timing* 

This book came to me when I needed it and I honest to goodness feel different in a subtle, but distinct, way after reading this book. Its writing is accessible, the exercises are actually useful, and it had some really good tips for those of us looking to be free from anger.

Don’t get mad. Get calm. Ask yourself: “Do I really want to be angry?” Leonard Scheff, a trial attorney who used anger to fuel his courtroom persona, realized the answer had to be no. Anger is toxic. Anger is in the eyes of the beholder. Using simple Buddhist principles and applying them in a way that is easy for non-Buddhists to understand and put into practice, Scheff and Susan Edmiston have created an interactive book that helps readers change perspective, step-by-step, so that they can replace the anger in their lives with newfound happiness. Based on the Transforming Anger workshop Shceff created, The Cow in the Parking Lot shows how anger is based on unmet demands, from the reasonable (we want love from our partner) to the irrational (we want respect from a total stranger) to the impossible (we want someone to fix everything in our life). The authors show how, once we identify our real unmet demands, we can dissolve the anger. The same is true for our “buttons”—once we understand them, we can defuse what happens when they’re pushed. We learn to laugh at ourselves, a critical early step in changing angry behavior. We learn how to deal with the anger of others, and ultimately how to transform anger into compassion. And finally, we learn the liberating truth: Only you can make yourself angry.

The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

Lance Willett

Recognizing anger as unmet expectations and unclear communication helped me break through my own blindness in this area. I woke up!

We believe that we know what makes us happy and what is in our best interest, only to have life inform us differently. When our goals and expectations are not met, we often become frustrated and angry.

Easy read with interesting anecdotes and simple lessons to apply daily.

A few other favorite quotes:

If you are unwilling, for some reason, to reveal what you want, ask yourself whether your reason is a valid one. If it is, you will at least understand your role and responsibility in the anger you feel when it is not met. In other words, it’s important to recognize that you have a choice and are not helpless to act in the situation.

“Once you give up your attachments to things like anger,” he said, “you become more aware, and it opens the door to things that you might have missed out on before. It may feel miraculous. But it isn’t. It’s just what’s there.”

The Cow in the Parking Lot A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

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