Description
- Thich Nhat Hanh The Art of Power
- or any subject related to stress and/or anxiety management
Your book report is to be four pages typed, double-spaced, using 12 font and normal margins on the book you selected. Choose a book on any subject related to stress and/or anxiety management. In your report you are to summarize the book (the main ideas in the book), your opinion of the book and why, what did you learn that you might apply to your life, and would you recommend this book to a friend. If yes, describe why, and if no, describe why not.
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Running Head: THE ART OF POWER
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The Art of Power
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
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The Art of Power
Stress is a common problem resulting from the high demands to meet the expectations from
relationships, work, and economic pressures. Many people worldwide struggle to manage stress at
home and at work which puts their health and happiness at risk because stress has physical and
emotional effects. Thich Nhat Hanh's book, 'The Art of Power,' offers effective stress management
strategies which can help individuals and organizations to break stressful habits and lead happier,
more productive, and healthier lives (Hạnh, 2008). Thich Nhat Hanh is a world-renown
Vietnamese spiritual leader, poet, Zen master, and peace activist. Hanh is also a renowned author
with several national and international best-selling books. The Art of Power, published by Harper
Collins, has nine chapters that redefine how people think about power.
Book Summary
The first chapter, True Power, presents that power brings happiness and not suffering,
arguing that true power is achieved when people live their everyday lives deeply, taking care of
themselves, their families, and communities. Hanh offers five spiritual powers; the power of faith,
diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and insight (Hạnh, 2008). He describes faith as trust and
confidence, the first energy within a person that makes them strong. Faith provides a path that can
free, liberate and transform individual afflictions, thereby giving them power. Faith and confidence
result from practices that bring concentration, mindfulness, and joy. A person feels lighter,
confident, and free, which brings happiness that comes from within. The power of diligence allows
people to return to their best and highest self if they constantly maintain the practice. Hanh
encourages people to practice diligence every day with support from friends, family, and
community. It involves meditation while sitting, walking, mindful breathing, and eating to nourish
diligence continuously and steadily, which is the second source of power. The four elements of
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diligence include giving no chance to negative emotions, claiming and replacing the negative
emotions, inviting positive manifestations, and always keeping good mental formation in the
conscious mind.
True diligence makes people extraordinarily powerful because it allows them to transform
themselves, their communities, and their environments. The third power, mindfulness, describes
the energy of the awareness of what happens at the present moment. Mindfulness makes people
fully alive and fully present, thereby living happily every day of their lives. It involves recognizing
things the way they are, recognizing what is going on in the present moment. Mindful people can
recognize positivity and have the ability to enjoy the moments, meaning that they can nourish and
heal themselves. Mindfulness also helps people embrace and get relief from negative situations
and experiences. Concentration is the fourth power that allows people to look deeply into their
realities to get insight that can liberate them from suffering (Hạnh, 2008). None self,
impermanence, and inter-being concentration help people achieve great breakthroughs, bringing
insight into their lives. The fifth power is insight, and it cuts through all suffering, including anger,
despair, fear, and discrimination. Insight into living the present moment can transform the
impermanent things in human life, including poverty, injustices, misunderstandings, violence, and
conflict. Insight is a superpower because it brings deep attachment to reality, which means
compassion instead of fear. The four sources of power bring tremendous happiness to the lives of
individuals.
The second chapter talks about handling power skillfully through leadership since people
begin turning for an individual with five power sources for advice and influence. Hanh provides
three virtues that can help individuals skillfully use their power, including cutting off, loving, and
insight (Hạnh, 2008). Cutting off cravings, anger, and ignorance requires self-mastery and brings
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power...