Synopses & Reviews
Review
Praise for the authors
Less:
Loaded with practical, applicable insights and suggestions to simplify work and daily existence.” Peter Coyote, actor and author
Review
Zen monk Lesser makes a case for embracing paradoxes to succeed in every arena in life....This compassionate and sage tome...is likely to help many make life-enhancing changes.”
Publishers Weekly
Cognitive dissonance has never felt so pure and poetic. Full of wise irony and simple truths, this book is a treasure for the ages.”
Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels and author of Emotional Equations
An illuminating and insightful book.”
Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness
Marc Lesser shows us a path through the contradictions within us....A wonderful and profound book.”
Van Jones, president of Rebuild the Dream
After a lifetime of Zen study, Marc Lesser has distilled the life lessons of Buddhist practice into sane, eminently useful, result-oriented procedures that will cut through confusion, anxiety, and self-defeating behaviors....I cant recommend this book highly enough.”
Peter Coyote (Hosho Jishi), actor, writer, and Zen priest
In our work together at Google, I have seen firsthand Marcs extraordinary melding of Zen teacher and business leader, a combination that some people might consider a contradiction. Now in this extraordinary book, Marc shows us not only that contradictions are everywhere, but that embracing them can actually make us happier!”
Chade-Meng Tan, Googles Jolly Good Fellow and bestselling author of Search Inside Yourself
Know Yourself, Forget Yourself is a treasure trove of applied wisdom.”
Joan Halifax, founding abbot of Upaya Zen Center
Marc Lessers life experiences as a Zen student and priest, CEO, small business owner, consultant, and executive coach give him a unique perspective on how to enhance your life by increasing your gifts to everyone you engage with.”
Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben and Jerrys
Marc Lesser has given us a leadership bible that, if practiced, will tap into the power of our own inner awareness and gently nudge us to transform ourselves, our relationships at work and home, and in the process, our country and world. This book is a gem.”
— Congressman Tim Ryan, Thirteenth District in Ohio, author of A Mindful Nation
Synopsis
Our brains seek order and resist the unexpected, inconsistent, and counterintuitive. But life is more often paradoxical than predictable which is why formulas for fulfillment and success often fail. Instead of fighting the tide of contradiction and confusion, Lesser teaches simple tools and practices for understanding, and even embracing, them. Readers learn to master five core competencies, including the titles Know Yourself, Forget Yourself; Fight for Change, Accept What Is; and Embrace Emotion, Embody Equanimity. The result is balance, a version of Buddhisms middle way,” which prompts understanding of what is required in any given moment and actions that skillfully dance” with paradox in enriching and joyful ways. Bolstered by the latest in neuroscience, this guide is nuanced and direct, profound and practical.
Synopsis
We all yearn for clear-cut answers to lifes problems, yet we rarely get them. Formulas fail and contradictions mount. In
Know Yourself, Forget Yourself, executive coach and mindfulness teacher Marc Lesser shows that understanding and embracing the points where life feels most confusing, most contradictory can lead us to more satisfaction and joy.
Lesser provides clear guidance and simple practices for embracing five central paradoxes in life and navigating them to increase our effectiveness and happiness. Influenced by the revolutionary mindfulness and emotional intelligence trainings he helped develop at Google, Know Yourself, Forget Yourself is a profound book about cultivating the emotional skills to understand the right path through difficulties and challenges.
About the Author
Marc Lesser, the CEO and cofounder of the nonprofit Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, lived at the San Francisco Zen Center for ten years and is the former director of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He lives in Mill Valley, CA.