Our authors are both monks in the Plum Village lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay). The “Phap” in their names indicates this, and also shows that they are ordained Dharma teachers.
Many topics from Thay’s vast writings are explored here. For example, referring to Thay’s great book about the Buddha, Old Path White Clouds, one author writes: “This book deeply inspired me; insight into how the Buddha reached such a deep level of concentration felt like a profound window in the human mind.” There are also many anecdotes of memoir from the authors, such as this confession, remembering a childhood Boy Scout camping trip: “Standing in the dark on the Appalachian Trail decades later … hot shame returns to my face as I remember asking to call my father to come pick me up.”
A section reflecting on Thay’s original teaching of Interbeing uses it to return to the theme of hiking: “If we’re walking alone, we can still see ourselves as part of a stream of life — one with the trees, the plants, the animals, and the minerals in and around us. We’re not a drop of water cut off from the river. We’re deeply connected to the river, to the whole stream of life. We are never truly alone.”
Mindful walking is the focus of the book. Transformation is its practice. After an introduction, each chapter addresses what arises in the mind and body while mindful walking the Appalachian Trail. Topics include breathing, strong emotions, “thundering silence,” and “walking with ancestors.”
A spiritual practice ends each chapter — including the one excerpted with this review. These practices move well beyond the authors’ experience of walking their trail, into applications of what they learned for other aspects of life. “Walking” becomes a metaphor for living.
