The Art of Communicating

Thích Nhất Hạnh — 2013

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, bestselling author of Peace is Every Step and one of the most respected and celebrated religious leaders in the world, delivers a powerful path to happiness through mastering life's most important skill. How do we say what we mean in a way that the other person can really hear? How can we listen with compassion and understanding? Communication fuels the ties that bind, whether in relationships, business, or everyday interactions. Most of us, however, have never been taught the fundamental skills of communication—or how to best represent our true selves. Effective communication is as important to our well-being and happiness as the food we put into our bodies. It can be either healthy (and nourishing) or toxic (and destructive). In this precise and practical guide, Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reveals how to listen mindfully and express your fullest and most authentic self. With examples from his work with couples, families, and international conflicts, The Art of Communicating helps us move beyond the perils and frustrations of misrepresentation and misunderstanding to learn the listening and speaking skills that will forever change how we experience and impact the world.

Reviews

Lewis Ngugi@ngeshlew

Feb 29, 2024

Relates to everyday decisions and being intentional. Worth meditating on.

Quentin Gibeau@xmas_gonna

Jun 14, 2022

I decided to read more to write more, and the more you read and write, the more one generally becomes careful, purposeful, and intentional with their word. I read Living Buddha Living Christ twice in the past in an effort to bridge understanding with Christians in my life and encourage them to identify the compassion within themselves, and I listened to this book for similar reasons. A Buddhist self help book which was likely fairly profound when written in 2013, much of the subject matter will be familiar to those who have spent anytime being harassed by instagram's algorithmic self help pop-psych agit prop. Featuring such hits as "being open and honest in your communication," "Identifying your suffering and how it affects your communication'" and "how the suffering of others affects their own communication," and "building compassion, and therefore community." And also deepcuts like "Working to address the needs of your inner child," "Learning to forgive yourself and others," and "Healthily processing anger without rewarding yourself for releasing it/perpetuating an anger issue." I think this is a really helpful book that can serve as a refresher and manual in situations involving community building, community organizing, and also just in trying to repair communication within families, especially with elders or estranged relatives. Would recommend if your interested in these things.

Safiya @safiya-epub

Jan 25, 2022

I generally read his books to mark a pause and to just take time and reflect basically on the most intuitive things in life, like communication. The book has a certain easy flow to it, and isn't all too abstract: say a discussion with a friend on what is communication to them, how to deal with non-communication situations and anger... Some of the infos youight already know about other little tricks you discover again. Really his book are to me rather reminders on how to take some distance and see what you can improve in yourself and life in general... The endless quest of self betterment as my friend Aida always says.