At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk's Life
192At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk's Life
192Hardcover
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Overview
Collected here for the first time, these personal, autobiographical stories from peace activist and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh perfectly illustrate his most essential teachings. The beauty of these simple lessons is that readers do not need to be versed in meditation or Buddhist practices to find peace, sanctuary, and sustenance here.
Told with his signature clarity and humor, these stories are drawn from the long span of Thich Nhat Hanh's life, from his childhood in rural Vietnam to his years as a teenaged novice, and as a young teacher and writer in his war-torn home country. Readers will also join Nhat Hanh on his later travels around the world teaching mindfulness, making pilgrimages to sacred sites, and meeting with world leaders.
This inspiring read follows in the tradition of Zen teaching stories—dharma—that goes back at least to the time of the Buddha. Thich Nhat Hanh uses storytelling to share important teachings, insights, and life lessons. Despite his passing in 2022, hunger for his writing continues to widen and deepen as the benefits of mindfulness continue to seep into the global zeitgeist.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781941529423 |
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Publisher: | Parallax Press |
Publication date: | 11/01/2016 |
Pages: | 192 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Leaf
One day when I was a child, I looked into the water container in the front yard and I saw a very beautiful leaf at the bottom. It had so many colors. I wanted to take the leaf out and play with it. But my arm was too short to reach the bottom of the water container. So I used a stick to try to take it out. It was difficult and I became impatient. I stirred and stirred twenty or thirty times, and yet the leaf didn’t come to the surface. So I gave up and I threw away the stick. When I came back a few minutes later the leaf had come to the surface of the water, and I picked it up easily. In the few moments I had been away, the water had continued to swirl and had brought the leaf up to the surface.
This is how our unconscious mind works. When we have a problem or difficulty to solve or when we want to have more insight into a situation, our conscious mind has to entrust to the unconscious mind the task of finding the insight. The unconsciousness mind knows how to listen and collaborate with us and with our intentions. Sometimes before going to sleep you might tell your store consciousness: "Tomorrow I want to wake up at 4:30"; and tomorrow you will wake up at 4:30. To meditate you don’t only use your conscious mind, what we call in Buddhism "mind consciousness"; you also need to know how to use and trust your unconscious mind, called "store consciousness" in Buddhism. When we plant a seed in the soil, we trust the soil. Mind consciousness should plant the object of meditation into the soil of store consciousness and not wrestle with it superficially on the level of mind consciousness.
When a peace conference takes place, it must be organized in that spirit. We have to rely on the collective insight offered by the collective store consciousness of all those who are in the conference. We should know the techniques of taking care of our collective store consciousness in order to have the greatest insight possible. If we can become more civilized, our legislature will operate like that. Every member will know how to practice so that store consciousness can offer the best insight.
During the day, mind consciousness creates all the conditions for store consciousness to be able to do it; it’s by the practice of deep breathing, calming, looking deeply, and allowing ourselves to be, that we can help our store consciousness to offer the best. Not only psychotherapists, but also members of government should learn how to make good use of our unconscious mind to serve our people in our country and our world. We should all know how to practice to have more insight and to have the best kind of insight. When you offer this way to others, it needs to be based on your own experience of practice.
Kaleidoscope
When I was a child I used to enjoy playing with a kaleidoscope that I made from a tube and a few pieces of ground glass. Whenever I turned it a little bit, I saw many wonderful sights. Every time I made a small movement of my fingers, one sight would disappear and another would appear. I didn’t cry at all when the first spectacle disappeared, because I knew that nothing was lost; another beautiful sight always followed.
When we look into a kaleidoscope, we see a beautiful symmetrical image; and whenever we turn the kaleidoscope, the image disappears. Can we describe this as a birth or a death? Or is the image only a manifestation? After this manifestation there’s another manifestation that’s equally beautiful—nothing is lost at all. I have seen people die very peacefully, with a smile, because they see that birth and death are only waves on the surface of the ocean, just like the spectacle in the kaleidoscope.
Table of Contents
At Home in the World 11
Life in Vietnam 15
Eating My Cookie 16
Time to Live 17
The Joy of Having Toilets 18
The Leaf 19
Drawing of the Buddha 20
Kaleidoscope 22
The Hermit and the Well 23
Gifts from My Teacher 26
My Master's Robe 28
Banana Leaves 31
Cherry Tree in Bloom 32
Closing the Door 34
Ria Greens 36
Washing Dishes 37
Durian 39
Voice of the Rising Tide 40
War and Exile 43
The Last Sack of Rice 44
A French Soldier 46
Fresh Herbs 53
Not Giving Up 54
The Use of Seeing 56
The Airfield 57
Heat 59
At Sea on Solid Ground 61
The Coconut Monk 67
Mindfulness in the Battle Zone 69
The Petition 71
Martin Luther King Jr., Bodhisattva 72
Prisoner of Conscience 74
I'm from the Center 75
This Is Not China 76
Alfred Hassler 77
Call Me By My True Names 79
Healing the Wounds of War 82
Practice Is a Boat 85
First Blossoms 87
The Bamboo Grove 88
The Blossoming of Plum Village 89
Hermitage in the Wind 90
Enjoy Your Sleeping Bag 92
The Peugeot 95
Mr. Mounet and the Cedar Trees 96
Umbrella Pines 100
Binding Books 103
Apple Juice and Pinecones 104
The Happiness of Writing 106
Lotus Tea 108
Brother and Sister 109
The Linden Tree 110
Learning to Hug 111
Nails 112
Tangerine Meditation 113
Raking Leaves 115
Breathing and Scything 117
The Mathematics Teacher 118
A Palm Tree in My Garden 120
I Am in Love 122
An Old Tree Produces New Blossoms 125
Hide-and-Seek 126
At Home in the World 129
Greeting Each Other 130
The Bell 131
The Soul of Ancient Europe 133
A Marketplace Dream 135
Footsteps of the Buddha 138
Two Minutes of Peace 140
Drops of Compassion 142
The Times of India 144
A Relaxing Bus Ride 146
Olive Trees 148
Walking Freely 149
I Have Arrived 151
A Classroom Dream 152
Lettuce 154
Our Two Hands 155
Look into Your Hand 156
Give Me Some Tobacco! 158
The Wave and the Water 161
The Googleplex 162
Is the Buddha in the Car? 164
Walking on Country Paths 166
One Step 167
Belonging 169
Fierce and Gentle Bodhisattva 171
The Astronaut 173
Autumn Leaf 175
Finding Home 176
Life Is Our True Home 178
I Am Not in Here 180
About Thich Nhat Hanh 183