True Peace Work

Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, bell hooks, Bill McKibben, Gary Snyder, Maha Ghosananda, Charles Johnson, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Matthieu Ricard, and many others are featured alongside each other in this foundational trove of Buddhist essays, poems, and teachings. Now a modern classic, True Peace Work is the premier collection of writings on the practice of Engaged Buddhism, a term that Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh coined in the 1960s as part of his peace work in Vietnam that has grown to become a worldwide movement. The topics covered here are especially relevant in today's world: from creating nonviolent social change, to raising climate awareness, to simply learning how to walk (and enjoy it). This is not purely an activist's manual, however. True Peace Work is a spiritual bedrock that is as timeless as it is timely, one that insists on the connection between peace in oneself and peace in the world. Originally published in 1996 as Engaged Buddhist Reader, this revised edition has been expanded for our current time with a new introduction and additional contributors.

National bestselling author, Thich Nhat Hanh is the world's foremost Zen Buddhist teacher and one of the world's three great spiritual leaders.

Creating True Peace is both a profound work of spiritual guidance and a practical blueprint for peaceful inner change and global change. It is Thich Nhat Hanh's answer to our deep-rooted crisis of violence and our feelings of helplessness, victimization, and fear. As a world-renowned writer, scholar, spiritual leader, and Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh was one of the most visible, revered activists for peace and Engaged Buddhism—the practice he created that combines mindful living and social action. Having lived through two wars in his native Vietnam, he works to prevent conflict of all kinds— from the internal violence of individual thoughts to interpersonal and international aggression. Now, in perhaps his most important work, Thich Nhat Hanh uses a beautiful blend of visionary insight, inspiring stories of peacemaking, and a combination of meditation practices and instruction to show us how to take Right Action. A book for people of all faiths, it is a magnum opus—a compendium of peace practices that can help anyone practice nonviolent thought and behavior, even in the midst of world upheaval. More than any of his previous books, Creating True Peace tells stories of Thich Nhat Hanh and his students practicing peace during wartime. These demonstrate that violence is an outmoded response we can no longer afford. The simple, but powerful daily actions and everyday interactions that Thich Nhat Hanh recommends can root out violence where it lives in our hearts and minds and help us discover the power to create peace at every level of life—personal, family, neighborhood, community, state, nation, and world. Whether dealing with extreme emotions and challenging situations or managing interpersonal and international conflicts, Thich Nhat Hanh relied on the 2,600-year-old traditional wisdom and scholarship of the Buddha, as well as other great scriptures. He teaches us to look more deeply into our thoughts and lives so that we can know what to do and what not to do to transform them into something better. With a combination of courage, sweetness, and candor, he tells us that we can make a difference; we are not helpless; we can create peace here and now. Creating True Peace shows us how.

Bring the profound benefits of meditation into the workplace And discover how to improve all the positives of working life—such as accomplishment, creativity, teamwork—and mitigate the negatives, including stress, exhaustion, and the feeling of being overwhelmed and underappreciated. Created by Sharon Salzberg, one of the foremost meditation teachers in the world, here is expert, easy-to-use guidance for cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and awareness at work. Follow her suggestions and discover how to be committed without being consumed; competitive without being cruel; and how to manage time and emotions to counterbalance stress and frustration. Includes specific meditations designed for workplace issues, "steal meditations that take moments to do and are invisible to office mates, and dozens of exercises, plus helpful Q&As. Includes free downloadable guided meditations.

Peace Pilgrim was born Mildred Lisette Norman to Ernest and Josephine Norman in 1908 on a poultry farm in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was a tailor. Mildred Lisette Norman adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" in 1953 in Pasadena, California, and walked across the United States for 28 years. 'Peace Pilgrim: her life and work in her own words' was compiled by some of her friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1982. Composed mainly in her own words except for the reproduced newspaper articles and the introduction. There are comments by people she met while on her 28 year pilgrimage for peace.

In this little treasure, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a Buddhist view of love along with techniques for manifesting it in our daily lives. In his characteristically direct, simple, and compassionate style, he explores the four key aspects of love as described in the Buddhist tradition: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and freedom. In order to love in a real way, Thich Nhat Hanh explains, we need to learn how to be fully present in our lives. In True Love he offers readers the technique of conscious breathing as a method for synchronizing the mind and body to establish the conditions of love. He goes on to offer a mantra practice for generating love that consists of expressing four key statements or intentions in our relationships. These include: "Dear one, I am really there for you"; "Dear one, I know that you are there, and I am really happy about it"; "Dear one, I know that you are suffering, and that is why I am here for you"; and "Dear one, I am suffering, please help me." In the concluding section of the book, Thich Nhat Hanh explains how love can help us to heal our own pain, fear, and negativity. He explains that we must not regard negative emotions as bad and repress them. We must recognize them as part of us and allow them into our consciousness, where they can be cared for by the "loving mother of mindfulness."

One Peace celebrates the "Power of One," and specifically the accomplishments of children from around the globe who have worked to promote world peace. Janet Wilson challenges today's children to strive to make a difference in this beautifully illustrated, fact-filled and fascinating volume of portraits of many "heroes for today." Canadian Craig Kielburger, who started Free the Children to help victims of child labor at the age of twelve, has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Farlis Calle, forced to identify the body of a young friend—a victim of her country's civil war—started the Columbia Children's Movement for Peace. At age ten, Kimmie Weeks, a refugee from the Liberian civil war, came within a whisper of being buried in a mass grave. Almost miraculously he survived and vowed to make a difference in the lives of other children. At thirteen he established Voices of the Future, Liberia's first child rights advocacy group. Other portraits feature the accomplishments of children from Sarajevo, Japan, the United Kingdom, Cambodia, Afghanistan and the United States. These moving testaments to the courage and initiative of youth will inspire readers young and old.