Book Introduction

“The Buddha was the first psychologist in humanity who dissected the human mind.” Dr. Tony Fernando, a psychiatrist who has led actual clinical practices in Australia and New Zealand, explores the sources of anxiety and suffering, focusing on the teachings of the Buddha, which penetrated the workings of the mind 2,600 years ago.

Based on his monastic practice and 20 years of clinical experience, he explains how desires, thoughts, emotions, and relationships amplify suffering, and presents methods to loosen this structure. This book, which unravels dukkha and papanca in the language of modern psychology, serves as a practical guide for those living in today’s world.

Table of Contents

Foreword Life has a deeper meaning ...12

Part 1 Right View____Correct Perspective

Changing the way we see: Why do we misunderstand happiness?

Chapter 1 Journey Towards Happiness

Why enjoyment is abundant yet the mind feels empty ...23

Like a wild dog that moves restlessly ...30

The stress diagnosed by the Buddha ...31

Will having the things we want truly make us happy? ...34

Liberation from the thought that we must do ...37

Meaning-making about oneself ...40

Bad thoughts multiply the more we ruminate ...43

Chapter 2 We Are All Crazy

The illusion of being rational ...48

Desires created by the mind ...50

Ice cream melts, and desires swell up ...54

How to live healthily with desires ...56

It could be that or it might not ...60Read more

From the Book

• P. 12
• 
  
• I believe the Buddha was the most insightful psychologist in history. He profoundly understood why we experience pain and stress. The Buddha urges us not to blame those around us but to look within ourselves, observing how our excessive thoughts complicate situations. As a mental health professional, I deeply resonate with his teachings. Thus, I fully experienced Buddhism ... Read more

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• P. 31
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• 2600 years ago, the Buddha's approach to stress is similar to how doctors diagnose and treat illnesses today. First, the Buddha diagnosed his own experiences of stress and suffering. He then concluded that everyone experiences stress and suffering. The Buddha clearly explains why we endure stress, suffering, and dissatisfaction: we cling to things ... Read more

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• P. 61
• 
  
• Master Ajahn Chah constantly reminded his disciples of the wisdom of “Mai Nai (impermanence).” Mai Nai means it could be or it might not. Everything is inherently uncertain. Indeed, everything is like that. Weather, health, relationships, thoughts, emotions, and even matter at the atomic level—all things in the world are in constant flux. It may sound pessimistic at first ... Read more

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• P. 72
• 
  
• The process in which the mind becomes engulfed in thoughts and stories or ideas, spreading like a whirlwind, is called ‘papanca’. When caught in papanca, the mind summons past memories, creating all sorts of complex narratives. Scenarios are generated that have almost no possibility of actually occurring. The mind weaves together memories, thoughts, conversations, opinions, fears, and frustrations, producing emotions that are almost irrelevant to the current situation... Read more

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• P. 88
• People often misunderstand that common points are necessary for a good conversation. When conversing, having a bit of curiosity about the other person leads to natural questions, rather than just looking for common interests. In fact, if my recent experiences differ from those of the other person, the conversation may flow more smoothly. Anyone has the skill to initiate interesting conversations.
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Recommended readings

• Meeting in our language, the gentle comfort of Buddha
• Bringing warm wisdom tailored to our lives, rather than truths from afar.
• In an age where stimulation and anxiety have become daily life,
• experience the techniques of inner peace taught by the Buddha in your own language.
• It will be the warmest and most practical remedy for your weary heart. - Joo Yeojin (CEO of Haetal Company, author of Awakening!) 

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About the Author and Translator

Tony Fernando (Author) Author's File

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He is a psychiatrist and a world authority in sleep medicine. He has temporarily ordained four times and has practiced as a monk, implementing Buddhist teachings in his daily life for many years. He has devoted his life to exploring 'practical methods to reduce mental suffering' that bridge medicine and spiritual practices.

He served as a psychology professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand for 20 years, encountering countless patients in his practice. During this time, he realized the limitations of conventional treatments in addressing mental suffering fully. Subsequently, he actively applied the teachings of the Buddha and meditation in clinical practice, leading to significant changes in the lives of many patients. For these contributions... Read more

• Recent Work:  <Living According to Buddha's Words>

Kang Jeongsun (Translator) Author's File

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• Majored in English Education and English Language studies, currently active as a translator affiliated with Barun Translation. Notable works include Very Secular Wisdom and Regarding Your Potential. Recent work:  <Writing and Resting> … a total of 8 publications (view all)

Provided by the publisher

Book Introduction

“The Buddha was the first psychologist to dissect the human mind”

★★ The most popular psychiatrist in Australia and New Zealand

validated the ‘User Manual for the Mind’ through real clinical practices and monastic training

★★ A provocative work that integrates the Buddha's mental training methods with modern psychology

In life, there are moments when we are walking a smooth path and suddenly, ‘bang!’, we unintentionally collide with obstacles or fall into pitfalls. No matter how careful we are, there are times when someone else bumps into us. So how can we navigate this perilous journey of life smoothly?

Tony Fernando, a popular psychiatrist in Australia and New Zealand, has spent 20 years meeting patients with various mental issues seeking his help. Despite living in Australia and New Zealand, often ranked as the most livable countries in the world, people continued to experience dissatisfaction and anxiety about life, which drove them to seek him out.

Tony Fernando was no different. He prided himself on living a perfect life, but he too had to spend days filled with anxiety and pain while pursuing more happiness and comfort. Therefore, he began to study someone who fundamentally explored human suffering — the Buddha, who had pierced through the workings of the mind 2,600 years ago and spent a lifetime training it.

A world-renowned mental health specialist

applies the Buddha's teachings and notices changes in life

To closely learn the Buddha's teachings, the author left everything behind to become a monk and states, “The Buddha's enlightenment is not a mysterious revelation. He meticulously observed how the human mind creates suffering, systematically explaining how anger and anxiety, attachment and addiction arise and why they repeat.”

Remarkably, the Buddha's approach is not very different from the central questions addressed by modern mental health medicine. In fact, the Buddha diagnosed the human mind like a disease, identified the causes, and offered concrete methods to reduce suffering. He named the cause of suffering ‘dukkha’ and described the state of exacerbated thinking as ‘papanca’. In modern psychiatry, dukkha relates to ‘stress’, while papanca corresponds to ‘overthinking’.

This book serves as a user manual for the mind, showing how desires, thoughts, emotions, and relationships intertwine to amplify suffering, and how we can loosen those ties, incorporating the author's firsthand experience of practicing the Buddha's teachings and 20 years of psychological knowledge from his clinical practice. Following how the insights from 2,600 years ago connect with today’s mental health knowledge, the Buddha’s words begin to read as the most practical guidance for living in the present.

For those who have regularly read psychology books yet still feel their mind is fluttering, those seeking not vague comfort but specific methods to reduce suffering, those who find religion burdensome yet search for sentences that support their lives, and those looking for new attempts at achieving inner peace like meditation, this book will serve as the most realistic guide.