Ryushun Kusanagi's The Practice of Not Reacting - Buddhism - 2026

I didn't realize I was a reactor until I read this book. Then I saw it everywhere, in my racing thoughts, my clenched jaw, my habit of replaying conversations I wish I'd handled differently.

found me at the right time. I was tired. Not physically tired, but the kind of tired that comes from carrying the weight of every small frustration, every perceived slight, every moment I let someone else's mood dictate my own. I didn't have words for it. I just knew I was exhausted. Then I read this book. And I felt seen. Kusanagi, a Buddhist monk, writes with the clarity of someone who has spent years sitting with his own mind. He offers a simple but profound insight: hardship is part of life, but suffering is a choice. It is not what happens to us that disturbs the heart, it is the desires, aversions, and judgments that arise in the mind. When we stop reacting, the mind settles and we find peace. That sounds simple. It is not. But Kusanagi does not ask you to be perfect. He asks you to practice. To notice. To observe your reactions without getting swept away by them. He writes that reactions are like waves in the ocean, they arise and pass. The goal is not to stop the waves, but to stop being pulled under by them. I started practicing. Not perfectly. Not consistently. But I started noticing. I noticed the tightness in my chest when someone said something that stung. I noticed the spiral of thoughts that followed. I noticed the stories I told myself, about what they meant, about what it said about me. And I started letting those stories go. Not all of them. But enough. The practice has not made me peaceful. It has made me aware. And awareness, as Kusanagi writes, is the beginning of freedom. This book is brief, but it is not shallow. It is the kind of book you read in one sitting, then return to again and again. It is not a book to be consumed. It is a book to be lived. Three Lessons (from the book, through the lens of my experience): 1. Suffering is not what happens to you. It is how you respond to what happens. I used to think my stress was caused by external events. Now I see that it is caused by my reaction to them. The events will happen. I get to choose whether I add suffering to them. 2. Reactions are habits. And habits can be unlearned. I have been reacting the same way for years. The book showed me that these reactions are not who I am. They are patterns. And patterns can be changed. 3. The one who can watch their own mind is the one who is free. This is the most important lesson I am still learning. Observing my reactions without getting caught up in them, without judging myself for having them, is the beginning of freedom. Read this if you are tired. Read this if you want to stop being ruled by your emotions. Read this if you are ready to practice, not perfectly, but honestly. Ryushun Kusanagi has written a book that is both a mirror and a guide. It reflects the patterns you have been carrying, and it points you toward a different way. It will not solve your problems. But it will change how you relate to them. And that, I am learning, is everything. BOOK: https://amzn.to/4xhr8he