There are 21 selections in this excellent anthology of writings by and about the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh put together by Jennifer Schwamm Willis. In his nomination of him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity." This activist, writer, poet, and teacher has modeled engaged Buddhism for forty years and is constantly adding new and compelling ways to bring about peace in the world. He is featured in the Living Spiritual Teachers Project of this website.
This book contains excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh's journals, poems, gathas, advice on meditation, musings on interbeing, a tribute to mothers, wisdom on cooling the flames of anger, a tribute to Vietnam veterans, practices on mindfulness, along with contributions by bell hooks, Trevor Carolan, Daniel Berrigan and the editors of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. In a piece from Being Peace, Thich Nhat Hanh demonstrates the simplicity, clarity and clout of his vision:
"Anything that can help you wake up has Buddha nature. When I am alone and a bird calls to me, I return to myself. I breathe, and I smile, and sometimes it calls me once more. I smile and say to the bird, 'I hear already.' Not only sounds, but sights can remind you to return to your true self. In the morning when you open your window and see the light streaming in, you can recognize it as the voice of the Dharma, and it becomes part of the Dharmekaya. That is why people who are awake see the manifestation of the Dharma in everything. A pebble, a bamboo tree, the cry of a baby, anything can be the voice of the Dharma calling. We should be able to practice like that."
