Wednesday, October 15, 2008

SuperForester Jon Presents: Thich Nhat Hanh - "The World We Have"


Good Morning SuperForesters!

Just got an email from the unstoppable Peace machine that is SuperForester Jon, who highly recommends Thich Nhat Hanh's new book - "The World We Have - A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology"

Take it, Jon.

"Jackson, take a look at this article when you have a chance. I read the book when it came out and really wanted to write something about it for Superforest. I haven't had the chance, but here's a great excerpt by Thay himself. In particular, I urge you to look at the Fifth Mindfulness Training.

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family and my society by practising mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I will ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being and joy in my body, in my consciousness and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programmes, magazines, books, films and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practising a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society."

Thay says, "The fifth mindfulness training is the way out of the difficult situation our world is in."

I urge urge urge all Superforesters to read this book.

Enjoy!

Jon


Great! Thanks Jon.
Here's "The World We Have" on Amazon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey - looking at this i am realizing it leaves out a lot of context and information - I will try to put something together that explains it today.

on

Read said...

It really is a great book, and particularly relevant to day what with the rampant destruction of the environment currently going on.

I also wanted to mention that I found this book in large print, which made a fantastic gift for an elderly friend of mine. The sire i found it at is http://www.readhowyouwant.com/pcsWebUI/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=13164. Hope this is useful to someone.