Handbook for Hard Times cover art

Handbook for Hard Times

A monk's guide to fearless living

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Handbook for Hard Times

By: Gelong Thubten
Narrated by: Gelong Thubten
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

'Thubten is a very generous and kind monk who writes with the lived honesty and humour of someone who has experienced the wisdom he shares. His writing is full of inspiration but also the pragmatism needed to form a sustainable practice. He clearly illustrates why we all need meditation and mindfulness in our lives.'- Benedict Cumberbatch

From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller A Monk's Guide to Happiness, this audiobook aims to help listeners discover a creative, transformative approach to dealing with life's challenges and difficulties.

We all go through hard times. We can experience moments when life feels like an uphill struggle, leading to unhappiness and stress. Perhaps we are feeling sad, anxious, or struggling to deal with something bigger, such as a bereavement, a loss, a painful ending or a broken heart. It is during these challenging times that we could do with some help with our thoughts and feelings.

In HANDBOOK FOR HARD TIMES The Sunday Times bestseller Gelong Thubten will guide us to understand that happiness, kindness and resilience can be cultivated through embracing life's difficulties as opportunities for transformation. Meditation and mindfulness practices help us to access deep reserves of inner strength as we learn how to 'lean into' our suffering. Thubten suggests how we can find meaning in pain and discomfort, transforming deeply ingrained patterns of fear and resistance.

As we discover how hard times can enhance the development of mindfulness, compassion and forgiveness, we can develop a fearless outlook on life and lasting, unshakeable happiness.

This approachable and practical audiobook is designed for modern times, and will be a valuable resource to anyone during times of struggle, but also during all times to encourage and build resilience and help us find inner contentment and peace.

(P) 2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2023 Gelong Thubten
Buddhism Personal Development Personal Success Spirituality Meditation Mindfulness Happiness

Listeners also enjoyed...

Bliss More cover art
Finding Peace cover art
A Mindfulness Guide for Survival cover art
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying cover art
Travel Light cover art
Buddhism and Stoicism cover art
From a Mountain In Tibet cover art
The Buddha's Way of Happiness: Healing Sorrow, Transforming Negative Emotion, and Finding Well-Being in the Present Moment cover art
The Mindful Twenty-Something cover art
The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation cover art
How to Find Stillness Within cover art
Our Pristine Mind cover art
Buddhism for Beginner's, Meditations for Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking Meditation: 3 in 1 cover art
Cave in the Snow cover art
From Mindfulness to Insight cover art
Your Year For Change cover art

Critic reviews

A powerful, personally revelatory, but above all a practical book about how to deal with adversity. This
guide to survival by a Buddhist monk with a troubled back story is the real deal. (Melanie Reid)
Through his own personal experience of transformation from crippling anxiety and depression, Gelong Thubten is a most qualified guide in the journey from darkness and turmoil towards inner peace and positivity. At a time when many of us are experiencing a 'new level of societal fear', everyone can absolutely benefit from this accessible and supportive life handbook. (Annie Lennox - Singer, songwriter and activist)
No one is more brilliant at bringing you out of the dark and into the light. (Ruby Wax)
This is a timely and practical guide to help us navigate the fear and challenges of the times upon us. Uplifting and empowering! (Mo Gawdat)
This book helps us with one of the most important aspects of our time and human existence - how we can go inside ourselves to find peace, happiness and learn about ourselves. Only by going inwards and becoming comfortable with all our emotions can we enjoy life more and enhance our contributions to the world. It is written in such an enticing and accessible manner that it really is indispensable for this journey we should all take into ourselves. (Andrew Bovarnick, Global Head, Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems, United Nations Development Programme)
This is the anti-self-help book that everyone should be reading. Thubten shows us that life's most important lessons are often hard won, and that embracing these experiences, while difficult, offers a path to freedom. A courageous book that inspires by example. (Ashish Ranpura, MD, PhD, Clinical neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist)
All stars
Most relevant
I was waiting a very long time for this release and it didn’t disappoint! Excellent audiobook!
I have the first book as well and I have listened to that audiobook many times . Thank you for your wisdom .

Handbook for hard times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Clarity of thought and voice. A wonderfully useful and comforting book. Thank you very much..

Wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A practical guide that actually helps! As someone who has used numerous resources I found this book during a very difficult time in my life and it has saved my life. I’m so grateful and thankful and I I hope others can find this book as helpful as I did.

Finally some answers

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

From the moment I pressed play I was hooked. It has inspired me to look more into a Buddhist way of life

A must listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Excellent clear sighted guide.
Author's narration was first class.
Loved that all meditations in full

Crystal clear view of the path

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews