Welcome to a new Non-Fiction Feature, friend! A book that gave me company during a long flight was Being Peace, a well-known book by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. I loved it’s teachings and wanted to highlight this book to you right away.
Being Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh | Goodreads
An ideal starting point for those interested in Buddhism, Being Peace contains Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on peace and meditation. Using real examples from his own life, as well as poems and fables, Nhat Hanh explains his key practices for living right in the moment we are alive. These lessons are taught with fine writing and sparkling phrases that draw the reader in and make Being Peace an audiobook that encourages multiple listenings. Still as timely as when it was first published over twenty-five years ago, Being Peace is a revelation for anyone concerned with the state of the world and the quality of life.
Being Peace – Book Review
I love Thich Nhat Hanh’s work and this short book, listening time of under 3 hours, was great company on a national flight. The printed and ebook copies have art for each chapter. The audiobook is narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.
The first lesson that stood out to me from Being Peace was about smiling. “When we sit down peacefully, breathing and smiling, with awareness, we are our true selves, we have sovereignty over ourselves”. Smiling is a great way to tap into the peace and calm inside us and I love how Hanh delivers, iterates and reiterates this message.
I also like how he linked peace to taking care of ourselves and how sitting and breathing is a way to be alive in the moment. Even since I started reading about Buddhism and practicing meditation, I have come to rely on my breath like never before and reading Hanh’s words during my journey relieved stress while reminding me to practice. This mantra is helpful:
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Thich Nhat Hanh in Being Peace
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment.
I know this is a wonderful moment.
What I didn’t expect Being Peace to talk about (and it did) was the decision to have children. Hanh beautifully expresses the magnitude of the decision while also not putting pressure on anyone to have kids. He asks readers to meditate on the world that they are bringing new life into. There are also strategies in this book for meditation with children and how families live together in the Plum Village. I enjoyed the encouragement to write love letters and create a breathing room in the house.
I have read fiction about the Vietnam War and this was my first time learning about the war in a nonfiction setting. Hanh writes about the suffering caused by the war, the way to keep our hearts open to compassion and how to work with anger. He shares the seven practices of reconciliation that have evolved in Buddhist monasteries.
This book is a great introduction to Buddhism as well as meditation. The stories of Buddha were enjoyable and insightful. In the ‘Interbeing’ chapter, Hanh writes about how Buddhism and Western society can take the best from one another and grow together. I learned about the numerous ways Buddhism is practised around the world, how it has been influenced by China and Korea to name a few places, and how each part of the world is unique in its practice. I had never thought about that before. The chapter elaborates on the two promises and Fourteen Mindful Trainings that practitioners undertake.
Reading Being Peace generated feelings of calmness and peace in me. It’s a book about simple ideas that can change our lives for the better and I will return to it again in the future.
Have you read Thich Nhat Hanh or plan to? Before this book, I learned from Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames. Add Being Peace to your Goodreads or look it up on Audible as the audiobook is available to add to the library for its members!
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