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Smile at Fear cover art

Smile at Fear

By: Chögyam Trungpa,Carolyn Rose Gimian - editor,Pema Chödrön - foreword
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman,Karen White,Steven Crossley
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Summary

Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears - perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, of financial hardship, or of losing a loved one. Chögyam Trungpa shows us that most of us suffer from a far more pervasive fearfulness: fear of ourselves. We feel ashamed and embarrassed to look at our feelings or acknowledge our styles of thinking and acting; we don’t want to face the reality of our moment-to-moment experience. It is this fear that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering, despair, and distress.

Chögyam Trungpa offers us a vision of moving beyond fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and delight in life that lies at the core of our being. Drawing on the Shambhala Buddhist teachings, he explains how we can each become a spiritual warrior: a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness. "The ultimate definition of bravery is not being afraid of who you are," writes Chögyam Trungpa. In this audiobook, he offers the insights and strategies to claim victory over fear.

©2009 Diana J. Mukpo (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What listeners say about Smile at Fear

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Accessible Buddhist mentality

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Gives alternative and practical advice on dealing with a common modern day issue

What did you like best about this story?

The humor the author uses to relate the subject to the listener regardless of there geographical location be it the East or West

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favourite?

Only a Narrator in this book. The voice was pleasing to listen too and very apt for the subject matter

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Noo. I felt it was better to split the book into smaller chunks to absorb the subject better. I listened in about four sittings.

Any additional comments?

Excellent listen, more practical and useful than one might imagine, easily absorbed by people with little or no history in Eastern philosophy and teaching

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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so good

I loved this. Chogyam Trungpa explains things in such an honest, humorous and lucid way. This book in particular develops a narrative of ideas in a clear and progressive manner that it helped me recognise the universal truth of what he was describing in my own experiences. This is immensely reassuring and gives me confidence and a willingness to trust the dharma. Samsara is something to be embraced and used because its traps and pitfalls can be used as fuel for greater understanding, its loneliness as fuel for compassion, and fear as the stepping stone to fearlessness.

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4 people found this helpful

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Not what I was expecting (10x better)

simply put, this book is easily digestible, accessible and an enjoyable read. well performed too.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Some good content, but some distracting elements.

The narration is problematic; it sounds quite wry and almost sarcastic, where the material suits a more powerful and grounded voice. there are some obscure references and examples used to make points, which doesn't help with the clarity of the message.

The strength is in the assuredness of the overall message; It promotes a strength based on gentleness, patience and understanding. There are also some basic messages repeated frequently that will work. 'Just Meditate' would be one of them, and it doesn' try to make this any grander an event than it needs to be: there's some basic instruction anyone could follow, then you simply do it every day. It's this kind of thing that works best.

I think there are more engaging books on the topic of improving oneself, reimagining the World and interacting with others that are more concisely written and presented. This is by no means a bad text, just maybe more of a companion to works by Eckart Tolle, Alan Watts and the like.

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2 people found this helpful

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Couldn’t get into it.

The narrator did a good job but unfortunately the book itself wasn’t something i could relate too. Bit of a weird teaching!

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2 people found this helpful

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What even?

The warrior, the sun in the East, the setting sun, the sun in your heart, the moon in your head, the female principle that could be male, the male principle that could be female..... What??
Very little actually useful information. I only got half way through. Maybe it improves and actually gives advice or explains things later on. I just can't go on listening to it going round and round in circles of words that usually mean things but now mean something unknown and unknowable to me.
Perhaps if a person is already familiar with these terms and their wider meaning in context then this encoded book becomes clear.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent wisdom and inspiration

Love this though I personally found the narrator to be quite irritating. The text itself is excellent, straightforward and profound at the same time as well as very entertaining.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Good book

A lot of information about fear, how to tackle it and also understand where it comes from.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • ZK
  • 08-01-22

Lovely narrator voice

Definitely a book that I will be listening to again and again. Very insightful. 👌🏻

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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One of the best things I have ever read

The narration is a bit odd but this is one of the best books I've 'read'. I'm gonna look for more books by this author. Amazing stuff!

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1 person found this helpful