I joined up with a group of online friends to read and discuss books and the first one they picked was this. Even in my yoga readings somehow I had not yet taken on this collection of essays, thoughts, mindfulness-based aphorisms and meditations from renowned spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh (I even, humbly, googled how to properly pronounce his name and it's 'Tick Not Han').
I was not two pages into this and a feeling welled up inside me that was of simultaneous joy and sorrow, that feeling that you are going to cry but not of abject sadness, but overwhelming FULLness of emotion. It is as if my SOUL was just typed out on pages in front of me - that someone KNEW my feelings and was articulate, wise, deep, and profoundly perceptive enough to reach across time and space, and in better words than I could ever conjure, place them on pages for me to read back to myself. I'm not saying I'm anywhere as intuitive as this Zen master. I'm saying that my thoughts and feeling somehow are aligned and I'm prostrate before this small collection of ideas to the point where I cannot believe the I have never ventured to read his work before, and that somehow my little world, my little brain actually has similar ideas to that of such a great Zen master.
I've just started, but here is one poem that is included, that he shared from a friend, that struck me as particularly poignant for these times, evoking a sense of hope, while still respecting the turmoil we currently are experiencing:
I have lost my smile,
but don't worry.The dandelion has it.
You can find a copy of this amazing book in paperback for less than five dollars on Alibris or with other used book sellers. I'll be reading excerpts in online classes for the next few weeks, so consider dropping in (check the schedule and email me for the link), or just drop me an email to discuss. You can also check out https://www.patreon.com/abiscuit/posts if you want to join the fun book club but I can't tell you what else we'll be reading, I just know these are some of the best most heartfelt (and funniest) people I've met (online) and they led me to this amazing book.
