Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh tells the story of the Coconut Monk, a real Vietnamese monk and selfless peacemaker who established a religious community on Phoenix Island in the Mekong River in the early 1960s. He was imprisoned by the government several times for advocating the peaceful reunification of North and South Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, the island became a haven for both peasants and soldiers. In this picture book, which is illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai, we see that the best qualities of friendship are what are needed to practice nonviolence in our troubled world.
The people living on a small island in Vietnam cherish the monk who sits high in a coconut tree eating coconuts. His two companions are a cat and a mouse who are good friends and great playmates, although everyone expects them to be terrible enemies. The Coconut Monk enjoys listening to the birds sing, but it is hard to ignore the war and the fighting going on around him. In his sadness, he picks up the metal fragments of bombs and bullets and wields them together into a bell. One thing can become another in the service of peace.
The Coconut Monk and his two friends decide to go visit the president and ask him to stop the war. However, the guards at the palace refuse to let him in. He shows them a miracle — the basket where the cat and mouse are playing together:
"I would like all people to live together in peace the way my friends the cat and the mouse do. Surely our differences are not bigger than theirs."
For this, the Coconut Monk is taken to prison, and the cat and mouse join him. He meditates just as he had in his tree and shares his food with his friends. Despite not having much food, the cat does not eat the mouse. Eventually, so many people hear about the Coconut Monk and his peace-loving friends that he is released. The three return to their island, having demonstrated that it is possible to live in peace.
