Love Hurts: Buddhist Advice for the Heartbroken

by Lodro Rinzler

Overview

Buddhist-inspired advice for working through romantic breakups and other painful emotional periods—by the best-selling author of The Buddha Walks into a Bar...

Buddhism has a lot to say about suffering—and there are likely few times we suffer more intensely than when we break up with a romantic partner. It feels like you may never recover sometimes. But Lodro Rinzler has wonderfully good news for those suffering heartbreak: the 2,500-year-old teachings of the Buddha are the ultimate antidote for emotional pain. And you don't need to be a Buddhist for them to apply to you.

In this short and compact first-aid kit for a broken heart, he walks you through the cause and cure of suffering, with much practical advice for self-care as you work to survive a breakup. The wisdom he presents applies to any kind of emotional suffering. It's a great, practical offering of consolation for someone you know who's going through a tough time, and for yourself when you're looking for the light at the end of the tunnel in your own situation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611803549
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	12/13/2016
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	350,785
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

LODRO RINZLER is a teacher in the Shambhala tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. He has taught numerous workshops and retreats. His column "What Would Sid Do?" (Sid = Siddhartha, the Buddha) appears regularly in the Huffington Post. He is the founder of the Institute for Compassionate Leadership, an educational organization that trains young professsionals in enlightened leadership skills, and he is a cofounder of MNDFL, a meditation studio in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/10/2016
“The only way we can get through our heartbreak is to sit in the middle of that terrible, devastating, world-changing experience,” writes Rinzler (The Buddha Walks into a Bar...), Shambhala Buddhist teacher and advice columnist for the Huffington Post. While heartbreak often means the loss of a romantic partner, Rinzler expands on that definition to include “the vast pain that we suffer in response to our expectations not being met in some way.” Not meant to be read front to back, the book is composed of short chapters in the form of encouragements and anecdotes to help sufferers fight their way through darker moments. Chapter titles include “What Is Love?,” “If You Feel Like You Can’t Eat,” “If You Want to Know How the Buddha Handled Anger,” and “If You Feel Like You Might Need a Good Kick in the Pants.” Inspired by a residency Rinzler had at New York City’s ABC Garden & Home, where he made 20 minute “heartbreak appointments” with the general public and wrote down his experiences at a desk in the store’s display window, the book captures the intimacy of those encounters with touching levity, never dwelling on the sorrow, always turning back to positive, forward-thinking exercises and thought experiments. Rinzler melds his Shambhala training with sharp humor, an eye for detail, and deep empathy in this superb book for any heartbroken reader. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

This is not a book, it is a vast offer of friendship. In heartbreak, one moment you are fine and the next you are enraged, hopeless, ravaged by sadness, or all of the above. Wherever you are—and whether your heart aches due to lost love, illness, death, or basic disappointment in life—Lodro Rinzler has the wisdom you need in the exact moment you need it. If you have ever wished for a smart, kind, discerning, and ridiculously funny friend to accompany you, encourage you, challenge you, make you laugh, and point you in the direction of true healing, here he is."—Susan Piver, author of Start Here Now and The Wisdom of a Broken Heart

“The good news about heartbreak is that it, like any painful emotional state, will eventually change—guaranteed. But until that guarantee kicks in, Lodro Rinzler’s book serves as one of the best first-aid kits I’ve seen. He offers the heartbroken much realistic  comfort, but also insight that will be useful not only for navigating their own way in  the sea of painful emotions, but for being a source of consolation to others. ” David Richo, author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships

From the Publisher