Fear: A Powerful Guide to Overcoming Uncertainties and Personal Terrors, and Finding Peace and Freedom from Anxiety, by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

I really have enjoyed reading Thick Nhat Hanh. I really love the wisdom of Buddha. What I enjoy most about Thich Nhat Hanh writing is he is also very spiritual and respects the Christian faith. He to is connected to Christians. I myself Love the teaching of Jesus and I find that Thich Nhat Hanh writing helps me grow in my faith both in understanding the Creators love, & the teaching of both Jesus & Buddha. Most importantly he dose not sway someone to believe what he does but rather he encourages the reader in their faith (whatever that is: Christian, Buddhist or other), and thier relationship with the creator by being mindful, being present in every moment and facing their fears. This book addresses many different kinds of fears, from personal relationships to dealing with death. Understanding our own fears gives us freedom to love more deeply every person we meet. After all the greatest Universal Law and commandment ever given is to LOVE -ONE-ANOTHER. I hope you find deep peace and love in his book. I highly recommend it.

I think this has come to be my favorite book by this wonderful person. Certainly among my favorite books for its insight into meditation, self-knowledge, and the ability to live with sanity. Really outstanding book. I am humbled by it. I go back to it again and again, like I do with The Power of Now and Mindfulness In Plain English and Jane Robert's The Nature of the Psyche.

This is a fantastic book. I am not a Buddhist, but this is one of my absolute favorite books and can easily be the main guide for how you live your life. It doesn't just cover fear, it covers all difficult emotions and gives you a tips for taking care of them. I wish I read this 20 years ago. I have read this book at least 7 times. Note: I have had a life long struggle with anxiety and this is the most helpful book I have ever read with regards to managing anxiety and I have read many books on the subject.

Why are we afraid? Well, for one thing, we are all afraid deep down of one thing-annihilation ( well, to be honest, I was afraid of trying to spell annihilation also !) We are afraid of many things really-being unloved, going broke, losing our jobs. Really though, if you ask yourself the question, why am I afraid of being made fun of? Let's get to the bottom of this. If someone makes fun of me, that means they don't like me. If they don't like me, then others won't like me. If others don't like me, I will have no one. If i have no one, I will be miserable and alone. If i am miserable and alone, I will die. If seems dramatic when I write it all down, but if you really dig deep, this is the real reason why we feel bad when someone doesn't "love" us. If i get fired, I'm unloved. If you get dumped, you feel unloved. Being loved is one of the basic human needs. We all have this basic desire to just survive. Stop looking at every moment of suffering as something that drums up old feelings. The past is gone. When we get anxious, we live in the future, When you are depressed, you live in the past. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us to be mindful. To accept our past. To realize, we are all pieces of the same puzzle. He reminds us , we will die. Everyone we love, will die. Absolutely nothing is permanent. We can't take anything with us, yet every day we try and accumulate more. More money, more fame. We do this because we believe the more we have, the better we will feel. The better we feel, the less we will die. This is obviously not true. Once you accept impermanence, and accept the fact that one day, we will get old and die, then you will really find peace, It's not from accumulation. Peace comes from acceptance of the inevitable. This all may sound morbid, but this is the essential beliefs of Buddhism. There is no birth and no death. Anyway, I am probably getting a bit deep for this review. I think any read by Thich is a great read. He has a calming style in his writing and his books put things in perspective. I prefer his "Miracle of Mindfulness," but i think this is a quick easy read that is a nice addition to anyone's spiritual journey. The reason I took a star off is because I think it gets a little weird at points. There are some good meditations in here, but there are points where he says, sit down, and talk to your inner child by pretending they are sitting across from you. Maybe some may enjoy this, but I just felt strange attempting to do it. Anyway, I hope you all find peace in your never ending journey!

I stumbled upon this book after years of dealing with growing fear, anxiety and anger-related issues that were greatly impacting my private and professional life, robbing me of a good night's sleep and just plain making life miserable. When I bought this book, I was battling moderate depression that was transitioning to severe depression, I knew I had to act fast before it completely incapacitated me. I noticed in the comments that someone had recovered from a moderate depression and I had also heard talks by Thich Nhat Hahn online which attracted my interest with their 'unconventional' approach. I was ready to put any good advice into practice and not just for the short term. Not only was the mere reading of this book comforting and relieving for me, but the exercises it introduces helped me transform fear in an unconventional way. Though in the presence of intense emotions, perhaps even in a panic attack, my first reflex was to run, to find a way to escape, the exercises suggest meeting it head on - but not with aggression or in a challenging manner as proposed by some of the inevitably flawed techniques I have tried - but with compassion, curiosity and concern. Thich Nhat Hahn suggests that we observe our emotions, acknowledge them - even handle them with the concern we would for a crying baby through deep listening - and begin to work our way back into the present moment, back to ourselves. By sticking to the exercises in this book and filling my mind with good food for thought (reading more books on this subject, watching dharma by Thich Nhat Hahn on youtube), I moved from being consumed by despair, fear, frustration and the psychosomatic illness that accompanies it to being on the road to recovery. About four and half weeks after starting the book and encountering 'Thay's' approach to 'the art of suffering' I am working again at full capacity, sleeping through the night for over two weeks now, restoring harmony to my relationships and starting to enjoy life again, which is no small feat considering where I started only a month ago. I am also experiencing a clarity of mind that I have almost never experienced. As my back was up against a wall, I started practicing his exercises right away and multiple times every day in a gentle and cautious fashion. I believe that this and good food for thought were what got me back on track - without drugs or any other treatment of any kind. I have read many books on how to deal with fear, phobias and panic attacks, still my depression and anxiety continued to advance and cripple my life even further. I stumbled upon the books by Thich Nhat Hahn quite literally in my darkest hour. I hope that my story can give others in crisis and despair the hope to carry on. Barely a month after starting this book, I am largely restored, but still have a ways to go so I will be continuing to practice and to gain insight through introspection, mindfulness and reading more Thich Nhat Hahn not to mention others like him. As I regain my strength, I am compelled to share this experience to help others suffering like I did.

This book gives practical exercises that are helping me deal with anxieties endemic to modern life. What I admire about the author’s techniques, is that they do not require purchases of equipment or programs; all that is required is the ability to breath, the desire to practice the techniques recommended, and an open mind. Highly recommended.

To me, the focal point of Thich Nhat Hanh's writing and teaching is Mindfulness. Because my introduction to his writing was "The Miracle of Mindfulness," my initial reaction to the present work was that it is redundant. And it is, by itself or by comparison. But then, with the realization that I was not reading a textbook on Quantum Field Theory or some such thing, I saw the entire work as a mantra. Can a Hindu exhale "Om" too often, or an Australian Aboriginal "tatay um boray ritma loo loo" to often? No. So this reader was transformed midway through the book. This is a gem, as are his other works I've read. He writes with the clarity of a meditation hall bell. His style is as facile as a clear stream. Need I say more?

My favorite zen mater ! Every sentence is so powerful. Highly recommend to you! Everyone will benefit from reading his books