Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He guides the reader of this new book how to go about getting rid of the violence he holds inside. As in his book, ANGER, he tells how anger and unhappiness can consume you. Violence is an outmoded response we can no longer afford politically and in daily life with family and friends (we usually tend to lash out and hurt the people we love the most).
Walking can calm our feelings and help us recover out peace. Walk to release your anger and pain. It calms negative feelings, helps you to get in touch with positive elements within and around you. Walking outdoors increases our happiness, peace, and harmony.
He tells us that we can each make a difference by being compassionate and not overbearing toward others; we are not helpless by any means. In our community, where the bigwigs hold sway and money is everything, we need to seek peace but not accept repression. Each individual is precious in God's grace -- I hope Tristan had a peaceful transition. He was a good-looking young man.
We can all work on inner change in personal lives, but global changes are in the hands of politicians, the leaders. So many are inexperienced and unsuited to lead anybody; others are corrupt. As in the movie, 'Kingdom of Heaven,' we will have to hope that God is on our side.
The best feature of this book is the emphasis it makes on being present and mindful in a relationship, especially relationships with loved ones. It is true that authentic peace begins with the individual, and can only be present when the "ego," the "me" in all of its separatist activities is absent. I think it was misleading to suggest that both ego and peace can coexist, since the very nature of the undeveloped self is to behave in divisive fashion. Thich Nhat Hanh speaks from the Buddhist tradition, and like all spiritual traditions, it can only take one so far. A great teacher once said that an ounce of falsehood can spoil a thousand pounds of truth, and although this book is well-intentioned, I believe it is of limited value. If you have a family, then by all means, read it, but for consistent truth, I suggest reading Eckhart Tolle's, Power of Now, and/or exploring the many great works of Guy Finley and J. Krishnamurti. Once the ego has been transcended, there is no longer a need to "cultivate" anything because true peace will emanate naturally from being.
