Peace is Every Breath: A practice for our Busy Lives, by renowned Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and published by Rider (2011)
I came by this little book quite by accident. The title grabbed me right away. Peace is every breath – a practice for our busy lives. I thought what an insightful remark. We tend to take breathing for granted until illness takes it away.
The book opens with:
Waking up this morning, I smile, Twenty-four brand new hours are before me, I vow to live each moment fully, and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
I’m always reminded that tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes so I immediately found resonance with twenty-four brand new hours.
Thich Nhat Hanh does not suggest that we escape from reality and put our busy lives on hold. Rather, he provides the insight and tools we need to incorporate the practice of mindfulness into our every waking moment. Having studied Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, I was particularly interested in how the author handles the overlap of Buddhism and psychology in theory and in practice. One of the more interesting things about Acceptance & Commitment Therapy is not fighting your thoughts and emotions but acknowledging and feeling them as a way of defusing them.
Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how we can transcend the mad rush of our days and discover within the here and now our own innate ability to experience inner peace and happiness. If this sounds a little of Zen Buddhism you would be very right.
Zen Buddhism has gained a lot of popularity in the West partly because of this emphasis on the here and now. In Zen there is an emphasis on the interdependence of body and mind. Even if you are not a Buddhist, this little book is a useful guide to bringing mindfulness into your everyday life, or more to the point, it can help us experience life more mindfully. His message is that regardless of how busy we are, we can learn to live mindfully.
Living mindfully means paying attention to whatever is most prominent in our field of awareness in any given moment without judging or evaluating it, and without reacting, as best we can. For example, when having that Delima take a moment to savor the flavor of the tea. The way it feels in your mouth and as it runs down your throat. Notice the feel of the cup in your hands, the way you bring it to your mouth.
The author’s words come from a man who has seen it all. He’s witnessed war in his home-land, he’s been persecuted by the rulers of his country, and in the face of all that, he rises above them to teach us how his experiences can be adapted them into our own lives. Chapters advise on every aspect of our daily lives. Whether it’s showering, driving, etc his wisdom challenges us to slow down, see things as they truly are and to awareness throughout our lives.
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