The Wisdom Deck ~ A Buddhist Guide to Playing the Cards You're Dealt Without Getting Lost in the Shuffle

5 stars for content, quality, and aesthetics. 3 stars for being stupidly gargantuan, and for having a weird matte finish that makes it impossible to thumb through them without them clumping together. But they're so pretty and well done that I kept my rating at 5 stars. =)I've included photos of the whole deck because the publisher's pics were inadequate. Here are a few more thoughts.* Every card has an active front and back. There's no uniform back-of-card design for the whole deck. If they load to my review the way I intend them to, each photo of the cards shows what I'll call the "back" of the cards, then the "front." (I think all the photos may show up sideways since I took them in landscape mode, but there's not much I can do about that, I don't think. Sorry!)* These aren't really conducive to being used as--or in conjunction with--tarot/oracle cards. They are designed more like study cards, or for meditation... More like a basic Buddhism book in deck form. I had ordered them with the intention of incorporating them into tarot readings, for another perspective, but I just couldn't know what they were all like based on the few measly photos they showed. But I still love them and plan to keep them and try reeeally hard to use them in my readings in addition to studying/meditating with them. Lol* They're a little thicker than playing cards, but not as crazy thick as some tarot and oracle decks. So if you want to riffle shuffle in order to, say, choose a random idea for your day or choose an idea to meditate on, you can actually do it. You can even do it sideways rather than lengthwise if you don't happen to have gargantuan hands that match the gargantuan deck (which is 4.25 x 6.5 inches, or approximately 11 x 16 cm, btw).* The book is very short, as the photos show, cuz... well... there's so much on the cards themselves that there's no need for a long, involved book.* Not sure how the colors will come through from my phone to your device, but I love the color palette. It's slightly muted but without being bland, colorful without screaming... Kind of a desert palette... Blood red rather than clown nose red, mustard yellow rather than banana, dusty pink rather than fuchsia, powder blue rather than Facebook blue, sage rather than John Deere, dusky plum rather than violet, etc. Hope that made sense...Overall, I really recommend this deck. Even the uber large size is necessary. If they were smaller, you'd either need a magnifying glass to read them, or the contents would have had to go into the book, thus negating the whole reason for the cards in the first place.Edit: Now that my review has posted, the photos are COMPLETELY out of order from the way I uploaded them. No idea why that would be, so apologies!

This is a lovely deck. The cards are quite large, so shuffling them to pull a random one won't be easy, but I also don't feel like the deck was designed to be shuffled. Each card has a lesson with a prayer or chant, or explanation summary on the back. Each card is different, and I just gotta say that I'm really happy to have found it. In this day and age of short attention spans, it's nice to have a clear & concise collection of the Buddha's wisdom compiled into a workable format: a card/thought you can pull to meditate on/focus on. Anyway, I can't wait to start working through this deck for myself.You can see a full flip through of this deck on my YT channel

Got the book.... but not the cards? Doesn't this come with the cards as well?

Beautiful cards with beautiful messages. I use one every day. I wake up and read it before I meditate, then read it again before sleep. These are great gifts too. Very well made, sturdy, good quality cards.

Just what I needed to help me get grounded in my morning and keep growing as I explore Buddhism and mindfulness.

What a wonderful gift this makes! Bought this deck for myself and think it's a great idea to present essential Buddhist teachings in such an accessible format. One can just pull a card from the deck to contemplate or find inspiration, or use a card a day (or week) to put a special emphasis on one of the teachings. I have pulled this off the shelf several times and find myself lured into reading them all in one sitting. The experience is completely different than reading a book in that it's a bite-size dose and no commitment! Very much recommend to someone who has a spiritual inclination in any tradition, as a way to become familiar with Theravada Buddhist teachings. Beautifully illustrated and packaged.

I love reading these cards one at a time either before bed or when rising in the morning. I go through the deck one at a time and then start over.The cards make me think more deeply about life and approach life with more serenity and calmness. They give me a fresh perspective. The cards are very sturdy, high quality and profoundly beautiful. I have given the cards as gifts and they have been joyfully received. Enjoy them!

Developing wisdom as a personal value demands that I cultivate it. I love The Wisdom Deck because it empowers my daily cultivation. Whether I wake up to one of these cards, or meditate on one before bed - or both - they give me a focus that is spot on. I appreciate them so much I give them to my friends as gifts.