The Cow in the Parking Lot, Leonard Scheff
The Cow in the Parking Lot, Leonard Scheff
3 Rating(s)
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The Cow in the Parking Lot
A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

Author: Leonard Scheff, Susan Edmiston

Narrator: Bill Mendieta

Unabridged: 4 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/08/2010


Synopsis

Imagine you’re circling a crowded parking lot. Just as you spot a space, another driver races ahead and takes it. In a world of road rage, domestic violence, and professionally angry TV and radio commentators, your likely response is anger, even fury. Now imagine that instead of another driver, a cow has lumbered into that parking space and settled down. Your anger dissolves into bemusement. What has changed? Not just the occupant of the space but your perspective on the situation.

We’re a society swimming in anger, always about to snap. Using simple, understandable Buddhist principles, Scheff and Edmiston explain how to replace anger with happiness. They introduce the four kinds of demands that most commonly underlie anger (Important and Reasonable, Reasonable but Unimportant, Irrational, and Impossible), then show how to identify our real unmet demands, dissolve our anger, and change what happens when our buttons are pushed. We learn to laugh at ourselves, a powerful early step, and realize that others don’t make us angry. Only we can make ourselves angry.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tom on January 05, 2023

Suppose a cow were in your spot (your spot inside a parking lot) A cow stands placid going "Moo." This books asks you: what would you do? Objectively you cannot move A cow yourself. They claim this proves That logic'ly you'll let it go. But me? Is it that simple? No. I know from habit that I'd swear And shoo......more

Goodreads review by Andy on February 12, 2014

This book doesn't try to tackle the big things in life that make us angry--death, illness, etc--but instead helps you to handle the anger that is often a waste of time--like someone stealing your parking space. By tackling those things, the book "trains" you to ultimately handle the bigger causes of......more

Goodreads review by Philip Shade on March 08, 2019

February was, for lack of a better term, emotionally abusive. Problems and situations that would normally knock me off balance for a couple days were happening 2-3 times a day. I don't generally think of myself as an angry person, but I realized the over-the-top amount of pressure had left me exhaus......more

Goodreads review by Jacqui on January 27, 2017

Leonard explains the same concept over and over again in different creative and inspiring ways so you have no other option but to get it. He is encouraging and forgiving, allowing the reader to take what they need from his work. I would highly recommend this for anyone, especially the folks who don'......more

Goodreads review by Brian on February 08, 2021

Scheff and Edmiston conduct a probing, gently humorous investigation of ordinary anger. They invite us to ask what demand is behind our fury, what we expected, what our reaction looks like in the light of day, and what our anger costs. It's well done, and it's perspective altering.......more