In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. Zen master, peace activist and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him, a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to "mindfulness" - the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now. Thich Naht Hahn offers commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories to show how deep meditative presence is available. He provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing - and he also shows us how to be aware of our relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty as well as its pollution and injustices.

Author Biography

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen Master, poet, scholar and peace activist. During the Vietnam War his work for peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and the School of Youth for Social Service. He was exiled as a result of his work for peace but continued his activism, rescuing boat people and helping to resettle Vietnamese refugees. He has written more than 100 books, which have sold millions of copies around the world. He now lives in France where he founded a Buddhist community and meditation centre.