Wonderful and inspiring book! ( )

Originally published in 1987, Being Peace outlasts its post-Vietnam, Reagan-Era milieu for the most part. No doubt the many references to nuclear proliferation will seem a bit dated, but the wisdom is that suffering is indeed universal and timeless, so we need not jump far to find the proliferations and crises of our own time. Further, anyone aware of Nhat Hanh's work with the Vietnamese boat people will understand that this is not some monastic who sat on a cushion away from society, but instead a powerfully invested human being. For those skeptical about Buddhism, this book does much to explain that one should not be looking for "a Buddha from the outside" but instead, " it is our "own Buddha that calls us."

Thich Nhat Hanh is surprisingly witty at moments, slipping in a surreptitious lesson in a parenthetical comment: "The technique (if we must speak of a technique), is to be alive...". His blend of storytelling, poetry, and prose, makes this primer on some basic sutras and concepts of Buddhism extremely accessible. There are definitely worldly pleasures about which he has some strong feelings, and initially I rolled my eyes a bit at his disdain for television. However, when he says "telling the television to come colonize us"--that language made me understand. It isn't television, but how we use it to escape from the present, or rather WHEN we use it to escape from the present. He doesn't soapbox on this particular point, but I did find myself wondering what he thought of audiobooks...

Nhat Hanh died in January (2022), and we lost a voice that managed to move beyond dogma toward a practical understanding of being, really. In a rather slim volume (or short audiobook, if you prefer), he offers precepts (or rather "mindfulness trainings") of Thiền Buddhism, parsing (a bit) that which is monastic and that which can be followed by the layperson. I struggled a bit with his explanation regarding awareness of injustice, but not taking sides. His point, if I understand it, is that it isn't about absolution or even forgiveness, but to understand the universality of suffering and existence of compassion. This may be something I never quite internalize. However, I was very much struck by Mindfulness Training no. 11, wherein he compares compassion to a North Star---it is there to light the way and we move toward it, but like the North Star, we do not arrive AT it. This may seem like a more fanciful way to espouse "it is the journey, not the destination", and it is, but the poetry of his language seems more meaningful than your typical inspirational poster or Pinterest meme. His poem "Please call me by my true names" is a powerful moment, and I'd invite anyone to go to the Plum Village website to listen to him read it: https://plumvillage.org/articles/plea...

"I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,/to fear and to hope" he tells us in the poem. He quips later in the book "Don't just do something, sit there." And by the time we reach that point of learning, we get that it isn't some sort of cutesy verbal trinket because he has put much spirit and energy into explaining what "sit" means in the meditation tradition. We understand that a smile is a gift of the spirit, not an indication of happiness. Edoardo Ballerini captures the spirit of Nhat Hanh's voice, which truly smiles at us, like a Buddha. In fact, he tells us that if we must bring a Buddha home to adorn our breathing space, to be sure to find one that is smiling and relaxed. If we do not find such a beautiful Buddha, he tells us, then we should find a flower instead, because the flower is a Buddha.

This is not a book for someone looking for a guide to serious practice. It is, however, a book full of wisdom and grace, that can make connections for us if we just take the time to listen. ( )

This book has actually changed my life for the better. It is helping me to be more mindful, less stressful, and to appreciate life on a deeper level. The author is a Buddhist monk, but the wisdom within is universal. I believe anyone would benefit from reading this, especially in today's noisy, fast-paced, multi-tasking world of information overload. There's no religious doctrine here, no political leaning - just simple but powerful zen. I listened to the audiobook, then immediately had to buy a hard copy so I can have it on hand to refer to when life gets tough. It's one of those books everyone should have. ( )

Since its publication in 1987, "Being Peace" has become a classic of contemporary religious literature. In his simple and readable style, Thich Nhat Hanh shows how our state of mind and body can make the world a peaceful place. We learn to transform the very situations that pressure and antagonize us into opportunities for practicing mindfulness.

I didn’t find this book to be as easy-to-read as ”Peace is every step”, which I previously reviewed. I feel that it goes more deeply into things and thus is more challenging.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist from Vietnam who now lives in exile in France. He recently had a stroke at the age of about 90 and was seriously ill, but survived.

This book is a collection of talks he gave to peacemakers and meditation students in 1985.

He tells us of the importance of walking meditation and smiling, and offers a short poem we can recite from time to time, while breathing and smiling.

“Breathing in, I calm my body
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
I know this is a wonderful moment.”

“When we sit down peacefully, breathing and smiling, with awareness, we are our true selves, we have sovereignty over ourselves.”

Meditation helps us to return to our true self. “Practicing meditation is to be aware, to smile, to breathe --- We go back to ourselves in order to see what is going on, because to meditate means to be aware of what is going on.”

The capacity of waking up, of being aware of what is going on “in your feelings, in your body, in your perceptions, in the world” is called Buddha nature.

“Someone who is awake, who knows, who understands, is called a Buddha. Buddha is in every one of us.”

Dharma is what the Buddha taught. “It is the way of understanding and love – how to understand, how to love, how to make understanding and love into real things.”

Dharmakaya means the teaching of the Buddha, the way to realize understanding and love. Sometimes if we don’t do anything, we help more than if we do a lot. We call this non-action. That is also an aspect of Dharmakaya – not talking, not teaching, just being.

Every day we have many feelings. “Practising meditation is to be aware of each feeling.” “Practising Buddhism is to be alive in each moment. When we practice sitting or walking, we have the means to do it perfectly. During the rest of the day, we also practice. --- The sitting and the walking must be extended to the non-walking, non-sitting moments of the day. That is the basic principle of meditation.”

In order to understand, you have to be one with what you want to understand. You do not stand outside of something to contemplate it. “Non-duality is the key word for Buddhist meditation.”

To sit is not enough. We have to be at the same time. When you breathe and smile, you are the breathing and the smiling. If I am angry I do not fight that. “I know that anger is me, and I am anger.” Since I am anger, if I annihilate anger, I annihilate myself. If I cannot be compassionate to myself, I will not be able to be compassionate to others.

The first thing to do when we get angry is to produce awareness. “I am angry. Anger is in me. I am anger.”

In Buddhism, knowledge is regarded as a block to understanding. Understanding means to throw away your knowledge.

We cannot bring about peace by demonstrating against nuclear missiles but by our capacity of smiling, breathing and being peace.

Meditation is not to escape from society, but to prepare for a re-entry into society. This is called “engaged Buddhism”. If we leave society, we cannot help change it.

“ --- a meditation center is where you get back to yourself. You get a clearer understanding of reality, you get more strength in understanding and love, and you prepare for your re-entry into society.”

We need to bring the practice from the meditation hall into our daily lives. We need to practice breathing between phone calls, or practice smiling while cutting carrots.

A gatha is a short verse. Thich gives us one to be recited before phoning anyone:

“Words can travel across thousands of miles.
They are intended to build up understanding and love.
Each word should be a jewel,
A beautiful tapestry.”

The author is peaceful and wise and this little book helps us to assimilate some of this peace and wisdom. Therefore, I strongly advise that you read both this book and his others. Then we can contribute to the spread of peace and wisdom in the world, even more than we already do. ( )