"This small book conveys with clarity and concision some of the spiritual teachings and practices we urgently need to help balance the materialism of our age--compassion, love, kindness, a skillful mind, and a peaceful heart."

– from the foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"This small book reveals the need to combine faith with practice, freedom with responsibility, and action with contemplation...Grounded in the basic trainings of body, speech, and mind, this little text is illuminated by the kind of humor and personal insights that inspire even seasoned practitioners, while pithy practice guidelines keep the journey on track."

– Eastern Horizon

"In this short but substantive volume, Joseph Goldstein, who lectures and leads retreats around the world, presents his thoughts on the practice of compassion, love, kindness, restraint, a skillful mind, and a peaceful heart as an antidote to the materialism of our age."

– Spirituality and Practice

"In this new book, one can 'hear' Joseph Goldstein's characteristic voice--down-to-earth, good-humored, keenly interested in the play of mind."

– Inquiring Mind

"The absence of peace, says vipassana (insight) meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein, is why our minds and our world can spin out of control. Peace, he says in this very readable book, is the foundation for healing. Without it, he says, we cannot be of real help to others. Goldstein's writing, the poetry, haiku and passages by other teachers--the Dalai Lama, St. Francis of Assisi, Thich Nhat Hanh and others--are a fertile ground to inspire peace and gauge progress."

– Arkansas Democrat Gazette