Skillful Means: Patterns for Success

How much work do you actually get done each day? Be honest. How much time do you spend putting off tasks that you hate, making excuses about why something isn't complete, or playing little scenarios in your head about what could happen if you don't get that job complete? Maybe you find yourself filling you coffee cup more times than you should, chatting with a colleague about last night's hockey game, or find yourself planning your weekend. The end result is usually hurried work filled with mistakes. Although work apathy is common, it doesn't have to be. Much of the problem is that we find no value in our work. Basically, we spend eight hours working today and tomorrow we have to come back to do it all again. However, if we mindfully focused on the job at hand like it was the most important thing to do, like we had a deadline in one hour, and like it was our life's passion we'd get more quality work done in far less time. Skillful Means: Patterns for Success teaches the reader about how to get rid of work apathy while increasing self confidence, self esteem, and personal energy. Some of the topics explored include caring about work, wasting energy, relaxation, concentration, time, how to cope, superficiality, competition, communication, and cooperation. Most of the sections are complete with easy to try exercises to increase skills in these various aspects.

This book is a great manual for having a happy and effective professional life. It is one of my all time favorites. I work as a Business Coach and Life Coach and refer clients to this book regularly. Tulku's basic premise is that creativity is not something only some of us are blessed with, that it is a given for everyone and expressing ourselves through our work is our natural way. Using his Buddhist practice as a foundation, the book is a series of short essays divided into three parts, Awareness, Change and Sharing. Each essay is written with both economy and precision. He makes simple but profound distinctions on topics such as Change, How to Use our Human Resources and Working at the Gut Level. He covers every topic in an incredibly practical and elegant way. I have referred this book to innumerable clients and friends and reread myself half a dozen times, it's simplicity and usefulness is a rare find in business texts.

This is NOT a book for Buddhists. This is NOT a book for Dharma practicioners and students. This IS a book for people who are feeling overworked and overtired. Tarthang Tulku is the author of a great number of books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is a high teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Don't let that dissuade you from buying and reading this book. This is not a book about Buddhism. It is a book about using some ideas and practices that can make our working lives easier. Tarthang Tulku shows us that our work can be a joy, not a torment. He shows us why it should be a source of happiness, and how to make it that way and to keep it that way. This book is uniquely devoid of Buddhist jargon and Tibetan vocabulary. It is brief and easy to read. The author provides clear and lucid explanations of the points he makes, and then he gives us simple exercises to help us experience what he is trying to teach us. You do not have to be a Buddhist to appreciate his message. I got the distinct feeling that this book was not written only for Buddhists, but that it is aimed at American workers, (regardless of religious upbringing)who feel the strain of overwork, and believe that work is interfering with their spiritual life. Sometimes, we resent our jobs, and look at our work as an obstacle to our spiritual growth. Tarthang Tulku shows us that our work can become a major part of that growth.

we will both be happy and rich simultaneously. This book is the pioneer and forerunner of this concept. Later Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche would come out with "Mastering Successful Work". A sequel to this book. "Skillful Means" is his bestselling work to date. Why? Because, to be frank, most people want to be happy and just don't have the time to study and meditate as well. And with familys, the issue is a mute one. There is no time. But if we can convert our working time and taking care of the kids, transform this time, into gaining insight spiritually, then, well, WOW! I have read this book 11 times (yes, eleven!). More than any other book that I have ever read. You will be given a series of lessons on work. When we have lots to do, we tense up. We get the adrenaline flowing. Which is extremely hard on both the body and mind. In fact, you may ask yourself, "Why am I murdering myself like this? Year after year?" Well, the author doesn't want to disillusion you of your beliefs. But the more you relax, the faster you can work. And the better your work is. You will learn about the three mainstays of Skillful Means ("upaya" in Tibetan): awareness, concentration, and and energy or ACE in "Mastering Successful Work". This book is your primer and you will be advised to study it before you attack the next book. According to Tarthang Tulku, the mind is like the lens in a camera. These three factors need to be adjusted according to the work that you are doing. If you are trying to put a thread through a needle, your "C" (concentration) must increase incredibly while your awareness and energy must decline. If someone is talking to you at the same time, your "awareness" must increase thus making sure that you can not put the thread though the eye of the needle! Try it! They don't teach us any of this in school or college. Which is a real misery. Buy these two volumes and learn how to "focus" your camera properly. This can be your meditation. Good Luck.

This is one of Tarthang Tulku's most accessible and practical books. Tulku's greatest gift is his ability to clearly communicate techniques for meditation and mindful living that came from his Tibetan Buddhist experience. Tulku conveys fascinating ideas in simple terms which can be readily applied in anyone's life, regardless of spiritual or religious orientation -- or even what kind of work you do!Most of Tulku's books contain wonderful exercises to practice the concepts he describes, and this book is no exception. For example, the very first chapter describing Inner Freedom offers three ways to practice improving clarity, concentration, and mindfulness. The patterns of success that Tulku discusses in great detail in this book have to do with self awareness, coping with change, and sharing with others. Long before anyone heard the term "emotional intelligence", Tulku was practicing and teaching it.Just reading Tulku's writing improves my facilities for meditation and mindfulness, by focusing my attention on the process of thought itself. It's always a joy for me to read anything written by this master of consciousness!