My son Danny and I discovered this book while reading Rainn Wilson's "Soul Boom" book (which I highly recommend) and found it timely, important, and engaging. I listened to the very meditative audio version - perfect for this type of book. I gained so much from this work that I ordered a hard copy to write notes on. Thầy Nhất Hạnh offers an approach to saving the earth but also provides simple yet clear guidance on how we should interact with ourselves, each other, the planet, and ultimately, the universe.

I highly recommend this book.

Quotes

“My aim is not to give you knowledge. My aim is to help you break free from your views.”

“Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what’s the use of seeing?”

“When you wake up and you see that the Earth is not just the environment, the Earth is us, you touch the nature of interbeing. And at that moment you can have real communication with the Earth… We have to wake up together. And if we wake up together, then we have a chance. Our way of living our life and planning our future has led us into this situation. And now we need to look deeply to find a way out, not only as individuals, but as a collective, a species.”

“You have the right to pursue economic growth, but not at the expense of life.”

“This is the attitude of bodhisattvas: to practice meditation not only for yourself, but for the world, to relieve the suffering. And, when others suffer less, you suffer less. When you suffer less, they suffer less. That is interbeing. There is no separation between yourself and others. You do not live just for yourself; you live for other people. Your peace, freedom, and joy also profit others; you are already helpful. And so, when you breathe mindfully or walk mindfully and create joy and peace, that is already a gift for the world.”

“Sometimes even if we think we want to be heard, we're not always ready for it.”

“We can make the most of the Earth and benefit from its beauty, but in such a way that we respect the Earth, just as a bee respects the flower.”

“Cultivating a strong training in meditation and mindfulness is not an opiate to escape what’s going on but a way for us to truly still the mind and look deeply, in order to see ourselves and the world clearly.”

“It is very important to wake up and see that we don’t need to borrow anymore. What is available in the here and now is already sufficient for us to be nourished, to be happy. And that is the miracle of mindfulness, concentration, and insight: realizing we can be happy with the conditions that”

“You don’t need to be perfect. What’s important is that you have a path to follow, a path of love. If we get lost in a forest and we don’t have a compass at night, we can look at the North Star in order to go north, to get out. Your purpose is to get out of the forest, it’s not to arrive at the North Star.”

“You need to have the gift of non-fear within you in order to be able to offer it to others.”

“Man is present in all things, and all things are present in man."

“In the Diamond Sutra the meditator is urged to throw away, to release, four notions in order to understand our own true nature and the true nature of reality: the notion of “self,” the notion of “human being,” the notion of “living beings,” and the notion of “life span."

“Thay encourages us to boldly reimagine an entirely new way of living and doing things, and to never be afraid to dream. And he reminds us, no matter what, to always work together, never alone.”