Brief Description

Mindfulness is the most basic meditation practice--awareness of what is going on in the body, the feelings, the mind, and the world. Nhat Hanh presents three versions of the sutra and explores the psychological implications of these teachings.

"If you were to possess only one book on how to fare through this human existence with joy and self-knowledge, it should be this text."--Karuna Journal

Sample Chapter

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the suffering of others. We have to be in touch with the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others. To do so, we have to put ourselves "inside the skin" of the other. We must "go inside" their body, feelings, and mental formations, and experience their suffering. A shallow observations as an outsider will not help us with their suffering. When we are in contact with the suffering of another, a feeling of compassion is born in us immediately. Compassion literally means "to suffer with" the other. Looking in order to see the suffering in another person is the work of meditation. If we sit cross-legged, follow our breathing, and observe someone mindfully, we can be in contact with his or her suffering, and the energy of compassion arises in us. We can also do this while walking, standing, lying down, sitting, speaking, and acting, not just when we are sitting in meditation. The physical and psychological suffering of that person will be clear to us in the light of our mindful observation. When the mind of compassion arises, we have to find ways to nourish and express it. When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person apologizing or being lovable. We can begin our meditation on compassion with someone who is undergoing suffering of a physical or material kind-someone who is eak and easily ill, poor or oppressed, or has no protection. This kind of suffering is easy to see. We observe it deeply, either during sitting meditation or when we are actually in contact with it. We must have enough time if we are going to be in deep contact with the suffering of that person. We have to observe until the mind of compassion penetrates into our being. Then the mind of compassion will envelop the object of observation. If we observe deeply in this way, the mind of compassion will naturally be transformed into action. We will not just say, "I love her very much," but instead, "I must do something so that she will suffer less." The mind of compassion is truly present when it has the capacity of removing suffering.