Taming the Tiger Within

So after looking for this book for a month after finishing it, I found it hiding in a jacket that I rarely wear. Taming the Tiger Within by Thich Nhat Hanh, one of my favorite current writers/teachers, is meant mostly to deal with emotions such as anger.

Taming the Tiger Within offers just under 300 pages with only a paragraph or sentence per page addressing topics on how to transform anger to compassion and also how to transform fear into love, which relates to relationships or just daily life. I strongly recommend this quick read for those like myself, who hates being angry.

Below are some quotes from the book:

"Recognize and embrace your anger when it manifests itself. Care for it with tenderness rather than suppressing it."

"Inside every one of us is a garden, and every practitioner has to go act to their garden and take care of it. Maybe in the past, you left it untended for a long time. You should know exactly what is going on in your own garden, and try to put everything in order. Restore the beauty; restore the harmony in your garden. If it is well tended, many people will enjoy your garden."

"The reason we are foolish enough to make ourselves suffer and make the other person suffer is that we forget we and the other person are impermanent. Someday, when we die, we will lose all out possessions, our power, our family, everything. Our freedom, peace, and joy in the present moment is the most important thing we have. But without an awakened understanding of impermanence, it is not possible to be happy."

"When you try to make each other suffer, the result is an escalation of suffering on both sides. Both of you need compassion and help. Neither of you needs punishment."

"If you allow compassion to spring from your heart, the fire of anger will die right away."

"To meditate means to be invited on a journey of looking deeply in order to touch our true nature and to recognize that nothing is lost."

Hope you enjoyed.

Stephen DeMent